3.5 Data analysis methods
3.5.2 Using Atlas.ti to conduct data analysis
Creswell (2007) advises the use of computer software to code, annotate and compare data segments in qualitative data analysis. The qualitative aligned works of a number of other researchers such as Yin (2009) and Neuman (2003) were consulted to ensure a manageable and reliable approach was followed. CAQDAS is a tool that can be used to manage a large pool of evidence. It does not analyse data but rather facilitates the data analysis (Yin, 2009).
It ensured a manageable approach to a large body of textual evidence. The transcriptions were loaded onto a CAQDAS, Atlas.ti (see Appendix E for the list of transcripts report). The evidence was then coded through the labels (see Appendix F for the list of the labels) of the identified key concepts that were aligned to my research questions as informed by Allan (2003) and Creswell (2007). The software facilitated the linking of concepts to the matching quotations (see Figure 3.4 for the demonstration of the concept coding in Atlas.ti and Appendix L for the Atlas.ti report of concepts labels linked to their quotation).
Figure 3.4: Concept coding with Atlas.ti (screenshot from Atlas.ti)
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Informed by Creswell (2007) the concepts represented:
the facts that I had expected to find;
information I had not expected; and
any other conceptually interesting facts.
The software facilitated the management and splitting of the text into smaller chunks, seeking evidence from the different transcripts. A number of labels were derived from the underlying meanings of the concepts (see Appendix F for a report of the list from the Atlas.ti). Even though frequencies prompted further analysis of concepts, they did not form the basis from which the findings of this study were derived (see Appendix K for a statistical report detailing the relevant frequencies of each concept). Each concept is depicted as per each interview transcript, showing the number of times not only as the transcript but also the total number of references.
Further reflection on the codes enabled the discovery of not only major but also related concepts. For example, concepts labelled as the ―Resultant ERP benefits‖, ―System Value‖,
―ERP Implementation Status‖, ―Status quo‖ and ―ERP Implementation‖ were identified.
Related concepts were then grouped into categories of those that pertained to related phenomena. Axial coding was used to re-assemble the coded quotations by linking the user- defined set of labels representing concepts from the data that shared a common meaning. The categories were then subjected to further analysis and reflection with the advanced handling and manipulating features of Atlas.ti to get thematic patterns. User defined parameters were used to annotate, edit and hyperlink the categories to quotations in the transcripts.
More than thirty concepts were grouped into ten categories (see Table 3.5 for the related concepts that were grouped). Related concepts such as system benefits, single customer record, merged municipalities, etc., were grouped into the core citizen benefits category (see Appendix G for the list of categories that emerged with their descriptions). Appendix G1 has the Atlas.ti report depicting the grouping of the categories. The related categories were streamlined by grouping them, for example the ―integration of legacy systems‖ is based on the ―process standardisation‖ and is related to the ―core citizen benefits‖. These categories resulted into a theme ―indirect ERP system benefits‖. The categories contributed to more than one theme, as potrayed in Figure 3.7 below.
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Most of the links were facilitated by Atlas.ti to group those categories as they were linked by the same quotations (see Figure 3.4). These are the themes that were inductively derived from the evidence and came out as a brief summary of the expectations from the theoretical framework that was adopted. Thematic links also emerged through the use of the advanced features of the software. At this stage these themes were not regarded as findings as they only facilitated the analysis and interpretation of the evidence and hence shaped the findings.
The use of Atlas.ti enabled faster and easier access, retrieval and viewing of evidence as I manipulated the themes into the findings.
73 Table 3.5: Categories mapped against themes
CATEGORIES GROUPED
CONCEPTS
EMERGED THEMES Indirect
ERP-System Benefits
Direct Public ERP-System
Benefits
Efficient Public taxes use
Effective Benefits Management Citizen
benefits
citizen benefits, legacy system, merged municipalities, single customer record
Future of ERP
Municipality objectives, future of ERP, System Value, citizen expectation
Improved service delivery
motivation for ERP System Efficiency, efficiency and effectiveness, citizen expectation
Integration of legacy systems
Integration, citizen benefits, legacy system, merged municipalities, single customer record, value chain, streamlined processes, System Value
Mobile access to
services
mobile access, citizen benefits, efficiency and effectiveness, citizen expectation
Public sector ERP system
functions
public sector ERP, value chain, merged municipalities, single customer record, Trusting the City, system efficiency
Reliable Services
Strictness, standardisation, Trusting the City, citizen benefits, asset rich, ERP costs
Single customer
record
citizen benefits, integration, status quo,
alternative solutions
Process standardi- sation
Transparency,
integration, merged municipalities,
streamlined processes
Functional ERP system
value
citizen benefits, ERP Implementation Status,
value chain,
Integration, legacy system, System Value
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As indicated in Figure 3.5, the CAQDAS helped me identify links among the categories (see Figure 3.5 below). Those relationships assisted in themes identification and finally in answering the sub-research question which inquired whether there were any relationships among the various citizen benefits. CAQDAS defined relationships were used to describe the links that emerged. For example, a description of ―is associated with‖, denoted by double arrows, meant that the themes are dependent on each other, giving them the same level of importance; while ―is cause of‖, with single directional arrows, resembled dependency and form meant that the latter cannot exist without the former. Figure 3.5 demonstarte most of the relationships that emerged from the CAQDAS evidence manipulation (see also Appendix M for the Atlas.ti full report of the categories). A comprehensive report with all the categories and their related codes and part of their quotations is found in Table 3.5 above.
Figure 3.5: Categories’ links as portrayed by the CAQDAS
Finally, qualitative content analysis data analysis techniques as proposed Yin (2009) were used because the nature of the evidence that was collected was complementary and could not be divided into ―cases‖ as interviewees contributed to the research from different perspectives. I organised and analysed the evidence to produce an informed interpretation and explanations, as advised by Vital and Jansen (2003). An overview of the evidence analysis process is given below and in Figure 3.6.
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Figure 3.6: An overview of the evidence analysis process (From Figure 3.4)