The obstacles of third-party agency as quality assurance body in higher education, China: Case studies from Yunnan Province

The researcher adopted a qualitative case study with semi-structured interviews, and in-depth interviews as instruments, the data was analysed by thematic analysis, and inductive analysis. This study mainly utilised purposive and convenient sampling because of the special experience and professional views of the respondents. Six experts from one evaluation centre (organisation A), and four directors from PUCs in Yunnan (College B and College C) from the employment department and academic teaching affairs office respectively, were selected as cases in this research, because of their deeper profession and rich working experience in EQA. The teachers, other stakeholders, and persons who were under 18 years old were excluded from the study.