Securitizing HIV/AIDS: a game changer in state-societal relations in China?

Lo, Catherine Yuk-ping

A total of 47 semi-structured interviews were conducted along with the discourse analysis. Apart from the background information of the respective NGOs, the interview questions used in this study are categorized into three main dimensions: (1) the priority of HIV/AIDS on the government agenda; (2) the perceptions on the changing international and national financial commitment on HIV/AIDS interventions; and (3) civil society involvement and coordination in national HIV/AIDS policies. The first dimension aimed to ensure that the NGOs respondents were knowledgeable about the changing national government perceptions and policy priority towards HIV/AIDS in China, therefore, the researcher could rule out those comments given by unknowledgeable respondents so as to enhance the internal validity of the data collected. The second dimension was included to study their perceptions on the level of HIV/AIDS funding and effect (if any) on the service provision. The third dimension aimed to discover the actual level of involvement of NGOs in national HIV/AIDS interventions as well as the level of coordination and cooperation between different NGOs working on HIV/AIDS. Two types of non-probability sampling-purposive sampling, including "theoretical sampling" and snowball sampling-were employed in the selection process of key informants. For purposive sampling method, samples were selected based on the "logic" or "commonsense" of the researcher in terms of the target population, its elements, and the purpose of the study. In this study, the target population consisted of the individuals working in HIV/AIDS-related NGOs at global, national, and grassroots levels. In the course of the data collection, "theoretical sampling" was also applied to understand the subjects from a theoretical perspective. Hence, academic scholars who have conducted research on HIV/AIDS policies in China were also included in the interviewee list. Interviewees were also recruited via snowball sampling. The researcher collected data on the few members, and each respondent was asked to suggest people whom the respondent believed to be the most influential for interviewing.