4.2 Methodology

It was decided to follow the structure and methodology of Kuglin’s (2004) study reasonably closely in the hopes of producing comparative data. Though some research on genealogists, such as that of Duff & Johnson (2003) or Yakel (2004), has utilised qualitative methods such as interviews to gather data, this would require the researcher and interviewee to be in the same location. As this study sought to cover as broad a geographical spread of the country as possible this method was ruled out as impractical. As has been stated above this piece of research follows the format used in Kuglin’s study of using questionnaires distributed to several libraries in New Zealand. There were some differences in terms of the content of the questionnaire and distribution and these will be discussed further in this section.