Qualitative_data_analysis

132 QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
computer to retrieve it for you before you can look at it. Illustration 9.7 is an example
of the information which might be held by the computer for our first databit.
Categorizing the data is anything but mechanical, for it requires a continual exercise
of judgement on the part of the analyst. This judgement concerns not only how to
categorize the data but also whether and how to modify categories in view of the
decisions being made. As we encounter more data we can define our categories with
greater precision. It is important to note and reflect upon decisions to assign—or not
to assign—a category, especially where these decisions are problematic, and to use
this as a basis for defining criteria for inclusion and exclusion more explicitly. Even
an established category set is not cast in stone, but subject to continual modification
and renewal through interaction with the data.
ILLUSTRATION 9.7
DATA STORED FOLLOWING CATEGORIZATION OF A
DATABIT
Index Will life never
Databit Will life never treat me decently? I am wracked by despair! My
head is pounding
Categories Temperament Transposing Suffering
Case Letter01
DataRef1 Vincent
DataRef2 Theo
Date 19.1.91
Analyst Ian Dey
Text location Vincent’s letters Letter01 characters 1–80
Comment ‘Suffering’ should involve ‘emotional release’ through ridicule
etc.—does this databit meet this criterion?
We seem to have spent a surprisingly long time over one bit of data. However,
the first stages of any initial categorization of the data are bound to be rather slow
and tentative. It is a case of learning to walk before we can run. As we progress with
categorizing, our decisions should become more confident and more consistent as
categories are clarified, ambiguities are resolved and we encounter fewer surprises
and anomalies within the data. This should improve considerably the speed and
efficiency with which we can categorize the data.
General decisions in assigning categories