Qualitative_data_analysis

150 QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
Figure 10.3 Incorporating categories, and distinguishing more and less important lines of
analysis
Figure.10.4 Reassessing relationships between categories—1
The first thing we may want to consider is whether or not the distinction between
these categories is worth making, Have the categories discriminated effectively
between databits in a way which contributes to our analysis? This question can be
posed at both conceptual and empirical levels. Conceptually, we may doubt whether
the distinction we have drawn makes much sense, at least in the terms in which we
have drawn it. We began with the category ‘tasks’ to capture differences between
occupational tasks because these differences made an overwhelming impression on
our first encounter with the data. It was very obvious that Vincent entertained
conceptions of his dental tasks inspired by artistic concerns and quite at odds with
the tasks we expect dentists to perform. Closer analysis during categorization obliged
us to create another category, ‘occupation’ to encompass other occupational
differences to be found in the data.
Now we may doubt whether this conceptualization is very satisfactory, as ‘task’ may
be more logically regarded as one aspect of occupation. In other words, we might be
better to regard ‘task’ as a subcategory of ‘occupation’ rather than regarding them as
two categories of equal status (Figure 10.4).