Dataset title: Appendix 1: List of interview questions for military personnel

Author: Janar Pekarev
Sociology, Institute of Social Studies
University of Tartu, Estonia
Contact: janar.pekarev@ut.ee

Dataset License: this dataset is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Publication Year: 2022

Project info: The iMUGS (Integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System) project is funded by the EDIDP (European Defence Industrial Development Programme) and implemented from 2020-2023 by a consortium of seven EU Member States. The project aims to develop hybrid manned-unmanned systems to address an extensive range of missions and functionalities. The sub-objective of the Estonian research group, nr R-012 01.12.2020–31.03.2022 (funding: 152 000 EUR, principal investigator: prof Wolfgang Wagner) was to analyze unmanned ground systems' legal, social, and ethical aspects. This paper examines the attitudes of military personnel towards unmanned ground systems exclusively. The primary goal of this study was to explore thoughts and opinions about the development of unmanned ground systems and the implications of their use in the military context. The research report is available upon request.

Sample and participants
Eighteen respondents participated in the study. The sample contained active and retired members and employees of the EDF and EDL. There were 14 officers, two non-commissioned officers and two civilians among them. Most of the persons interviewed are currently on active service. The officers’ ranks ranged from second lieutenant to lieutenant general. Most of the interviewees had no extensive background knowledge of robotics, AI or other topics related to systems engineering. A list of interviewees was compiled of people who can be divided into two groups – eight people with some knowledge of operating a UGV (who had passed operator training or served in the units that tested and used UGVs) and ten senior officers without practical experience. The quotations of participants’ opinions are marked with P(x) codes as practitioners and O(x) as officers.

Procedure and interview format
The study was conducted by two members of the research group of iMUGS (details in notes) from July to September 2021. Most of the interviews took place in person, with one exception conducted via video application. The interviews consisted of 21 leading questions that were not given to the interviewees beforehand. The questions were open-ended and the interviewees encouraged to speak freely. If necessary, the interviewers asked the interviewee to specify or elaborate on their thoughts and asked additional questions to encourage conversation. This allowed us to theorize and conceive of substantiating the topics discussed to a greater extent. All of the interviews, except for one, were recorded. On average, the interviews lasted for one hour. All interviews were transcribed and marked with anonymous code names for each interviewee and the audio files were deleted. Transcripts are translated into English so that transcripts for all interviews are available in both languages.

Data analysis
In order to systematically examine participants’ thoughts and interpretations, the analysis of the transcribed texts followed the two-step qualitative content analysis approach. Both interviewers applied deductive and inductive category assignment steps to discern participants’ attitudes, underlying ideas and assumptions. First, deductive categories were created based on a systematic literature review of multiple scholars’ opinions regarding autonomous weapons. The most salient aspects and shared concerns about the development and use of AWS were identified and then used to formulate the primary themes of the study. The primary themes (command and control; decision-making; ethical and legal issues) were then used to guide the formulation of the interviews. Data analysis was primarily conducted deductively in order to find particular themes that could cover the entirety of the transcripts. Second, inductive categories were developed by separating the answers within topics to grasp the variety of opinions (prevalent themes; side topics; oppositions) and introduce different views about autonomous weapons.