CHAPTER 8 TEACHING AND LEADERSHIP
4.5 DATA ANALYSIS
“I question the data, and the data questions me”
(Weber, 1786-1926)
The business of data analysis involves making choices, weighing priorities and preferences, and submitting to compromises based on the reality of the available resources of time, money, technology and insight. Eisner’s connoisseurship model “promotes developing a contextual holistic understanding of the research context [...] his framework tends to emphasize emergent understanding” (Willis, 2007, p. 300).
My analysis of the data has been characterised by trial and error, by learning on the job, by
“ad hoc fumbling about” (Farraday and Plummer, 1979) and measured progress, and by including the following three steps (as quoted from Vithal and Jansen, 2004, p. 27):
1. Scanning and cleaning the data, 2. Organising the data,
3. Re-presenting the data
4.5.1. Scanning and cleaning the data
110 The data collected from the fieldwork phase of this study is qualitative in nature. It includes the transcripts from twenty-eight interviews, from observation, from the film- stimulus focus groups, and from audio and video tape recordings made during the process of operating ‘in the field’. All this material was transcribed by me, the researcher, so that it would benefit from my familiarity with the content. It was my wish to obtain such a sufficiency and variety of data so as to enable meaning to be ascribed to the emerging mosaic and yet remain manageable when it came time to find coherence.
Mertens (1998, p. 350) suggests that the “analysis process begins with reading all the data at once, and then dividing the data into smaller, more manageable units”. It was anticipated that such “units” as categories and manifest themes would emerge as a result of the nature of the semi-structured interview questions, but it was also realised that most of the units would have to be imposed onto the received data and may in fact be suggested by the theoretical framework of the study. This was indeed how the analysis occurred;
recurring themes delineated their own categorisation, anticipated issues were identified, and those issues that were unexpected were recorded and noted for their value and contribution. My first reading of the data allowed for familiarisation with the material and excited thought and reflection on emerging concepts. Red herrings (i.e. abstractions and irrelevancies) were noted, particularly when they concerned favoured targets for criticism or confusion with regard to roles. Subsequent readings allowed for specific searches for
‘gems’ i.e. unusual nuances on themes and concepts, and the variety of thought that had emerged on each of the identified themes. It was from here that new and interesting ‘side- shows’ moved to centre stage, as in the case of the concept of ‘presence’, which came to the fore when I was considering respondent voices discussing issues of control and influence.
4.5.2 Organising the data
“The main analytic process is one of comparison” (Mertens, 1998, p. 350), where similarities and differences within the data are noted and emerging patterns are examined.
111 Units of analysis in this study were collected, collated, considered and cross-referenced.
Meaning and understanding was induced from the units and prepared for the text of the chapters.
‘Coding’ describes the process within the data analysis proceedings where units of analysis are labelled as a consequence of the researcher’s close reading and study of the collected data as well as his/her first interpretation of the meaning of data as described by teacher respondents. While this suggests the possibility of an orderly ‘filing system’, with everything in a ‘right place’, my experience was that research does not allow for the neat pigeon-holing of data and emergent themes. The words and concepts that arose took on multiple interpretations and implications, and necessitated that I make judgement calls as to what goes where. The coldness of a text can hide the warmth of living meaning, and so it was necessary that I recall nuance and context in order to search for real understanding.
I employed a process whereby I recorded and noted the sources of similar, contradictory and various views and commentaries. Thus, for example, the repeated references to ‘role modelling’ as a means of influencing and leading pupils were noted in a separate register for their source and context. For example, ‘Topaz 3 f 5’ refers to: (1) the transcript of the focus group discussion that was held between members of the ‘Topaz’ school, (2) the topic, which can in this case be found on page 5, and (3) the teacher who made the statement, who has been designated as ‘Topaz 3’. I had attended an Invivo course at the Edgewood campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal on the use of a technologically based coding system. Tentative use of this left me feeling that I was becoming estranged from the data I had gathered, and I abandoned it in favour of using paper, notebook, coloured pen and file. This was almost certainly more laborious, but it allowed for my continuous contact with the material and I felt more comfortable with what I was doing.
Coding, ‘filing’ and organising the data consumed a great deal of time and demanded great attention to detail. As a result, I was perpetually aware of the danger of becoming too involved in the detail so as to lose the bigger picture. On the other hand, I also did not want to overlook any important nuances and understandings. It was a tight rope of choice.
4.5.3 Presenting the data
112 Chapters 5, 6 and 7 of this study contain the final presentation of the data collected during the fieldwork period. The data in these chapters has been collated and reorganised so as to provide a cohesive and logical story in accordance with the voices and actions of the respondents that were consulted and observed and as interpreted through my own analysis.
The data assembled has been so aligned as to offer a deeper understanding of the prevailing conditions that were garnered from the collected data.
Ever present in my mind was an awareness of the potential pitfalls and problems that exist when one is reporting on others’ voices in a document that is subject to the researcher’s own analysis and interpretation. A constant (and sometimes insurmountable) challenge was how to use the words of another in quotation so as to contextualise meaning for the reader, who cannot witness the intonation, pauses, facial gestures and other non-verbal cues. Constant reference to the written transcriptions of the interviews and observations, in conjunction with the video recordings, assisted to attempt to capture mood, tone and meaning.