Analysis- Where do I begin?

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Today I sat down at my desk with my laptop, opened my notebook and module handbook and thought, where on earth do I start! I have just completed my first draft of my literature review, have conducted my interviews, and now the daunting task of analysing my data must commence. 

Triangulation- Something mentioned in the handbooks. It is done to increase validity in research and enhance the researcher and consumers confidence in findings. The idea is to compare my data from interviews, to data found in literature, to my personal experience. However, again the question arises, where do I even start!

I decided to research into how to analyse qualitative data. Despite looking into this through module 2, I felt my brain needed a little refresh. I discovered a video that I have attached below that discusses the analysing process. The host of the video says the key to beginning your analysis is by reading the data.
 
  • Read the data and then read it again! This is the only way that you will ever understand it.  
  • Conduct Content Analysis (Literally what do people say in the data and what is shown in the data)
  • Conduct Thematic Analysis ( Look for Themes and Topics and think about what kinds of subject areas are people talking about)
  • Conduct Discourse Analysis (How people say things- Examining their use of language)
The videos reminds us to constantly look and examine what people are saying but also recognise what they are not saying too! Discover the hidden subtlety's and find subtext.

It then suggests to code the data. After speaking with my supervisor, I will be doing this with different colours to recognise where emerging themes which will help form my report later on. 

The video suggests to constantly look for relationships and connections between the data. Look at the different data from different people, the connection between this data and a different time, compare with different categories. It encourages us to look for what things are the same and what things are different. 

Finally, the video says to Interpret the data. This is what will form our report. Explain the story of the data and what it means. Find what is important and search for the bigger picture. 

Due to the time restraints of this course, I am going to use the next few weeks to begin analysing my data to find emerging themes before beginning writing my report in a few weeks time. 

Wish me luck! 



How to Analyze Qualitative Data - YouTube


Comments

  1. Emily Smith22 March 2021 at 05:42

    Thanks for sharing! Good luck with your write up!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Laura Vyas22 March 2021 at 07:21

    This is so helpful thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alice Pettini22 March 2021 at 13:13

    Good luck Emma! This was really helpful, thank you for sharing! x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Katie Malone23 March 2021 at 05:54

    This is so helpful thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Alys May-James23 March 2021 at 14:12

    Hi Emma,
    Thank you for sharing this. I am also analysing my data at the moment. It is really interesting but there is so much information to get through!
    Alys xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Clare Isaacs24 March 2021 at 09:37

    Thank you Emma, great post and one ill defiantly come back to during my m3. Ill take a look at the video.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lauren Mitchell20 April 2021 at 05:21

    Hi Emma,
    Thank you for this blog, the video is super insightful and very helpful. I agree, after collecting so much data it is overwhelming to know where to begin to try and make sense of it all, or where to begin looking to find meaning within it.
    I hope everything goes well for you,
    Lauren X

    ReplyDelete

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