{"id":837,"date":"2015-07-23T08:43:44","date_gmt":"2015-07-23T08:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/ethnographicencounters\/?p=837"},"modified":"2015-08-11T12:02:42","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T12:02:42","slug":"data-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/generic.wordpress.soton.ac.uk\/ethnographicencounters\/2015\/07\/23\/data-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Data Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Analysing your Data<\/h3>\n

There is no hard and fast line between ordering your data and analysing it.\u00a0 As you begin to order and index it, so the process of analysing starts.\u00a0 Analysing data is a continuing process from the moment you collect your first piece of data<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0 You may find, as you analyse, that your study is about something different from what you first thought.\u00a0 An important aspect of analysing data is keeping your own field diary in which you can write down all your personal thoughts, feelings and anxieties about the whole process.\u00a0 You may find this very useful when you come to write up your ethnographic project.<\/p>\n

Remember to describe before you interpret and explain, to avoid quick and slick evaluations.\u00a0 As you analyse your data and constantly review what you have collected, certain concepts and themes will start to become important.\u00a0 As they emerge, keep checking your data to see how far it gives further evidence of these themes.\u00a0 But it is important to check for examples of disconfirming evidence<\/em><\/em> as well, i.e. accounts, observations and interactions which either do not exemplify these themes or actually contradict them.<\/p>\n

Your data analysis will therefore roughly follow the steps below:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Collect lots of data<\/li>\n
  2. Become steeped in the data, reading and re-reading it for further illumination and triangulating one piece or set of data with another.<\/li>\n
  3. Keep on questioning, comparing and relating so that you move from description to conceptualisation. There is a continual process of finding themes and seeking connections within the data, and\u00a0 relating this to a more abstract theoretical framework.<\/li>\n
  4. Look for patterns in the data but also take account of data which seems to cut across or contradict those patterns, e.g. interview data may contradict the ‘foreshadowed’ problem you went in with etc.<\/li>\n
  5. Be reflexive about the data and think about how it came to be produced as you analyse it. Remember ‘data must never be taken at face value’ (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1983: p200).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Writing Up<\/h3>\n

    You will need to allow plenty of time for writing up and should be prepared to go through a number of drafts. You will have quite a lot of data that you need to boil down.\u00a0 Think about different ways of presenting your data, e.g. thematically or as a life history, etc. and make sure that you:<\/p>\n