Qualitative_data_analysis

162 QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
Figure 11.1 Single hyperlink between two bits of data stored separately
relations may be as significant as necessary relations in understanding how things
interrelate.
In categorizing Vincent’s letters, we have explored the formal character of Woody
Allen’s humour—for example, his use of incongruous images created by the
transposition between dentists and artists, and the element of cathartic humour in
his treatment of patients. We have not examined the substantive connections
between these different aspects of humour. For example, is there a connection—
internal or contingent—between the two types of humour we have identified? How
can we begin to answer this question?
In relation to categorizing data, the computer facilitates a traditional
methodology; in relation to linking data, the computer transforms it. The ‘links’ we
can now make electronically between one bit of data and another have only become
practically possible with the advent of the computer. I shall refer to these electronic
links between bits of data as ‘hyperlinks’. These simply could not be achieved by
paper and pen, or even xerox machine. Indeed, it is only with recent software
developments, and in particular the availability of electronic card index applications
with Hypertext facilities, that the tools could be created for analysing data in this
way. These facilities are still not commonly available amongst the range of packages
produced for analysing qualitative data.
Let us look first at what a hyperlink between two bits of data looks like. In
practical terms, a hyperlink involves an electronic connection between the two bits
of data, so that whenever we want to, we can go directly from one bit to the other.
If we take two bits of data, X and Y, then whenever we encounter X we can go
directly to Y (and vice versa). We could compare our hyperlink to a piece of string
which we sellotape to two cards holding separate bits of data and stored in separate
locations, perhaps even separate filing cabinets. We know from the existence of the
string that there is a hyperlink between the two cards, and by following the string
we can go from one directly to the other (Figure 11.1).
This is a simplified view. In practice, we may attach many strings to each bit of
data, each string attached to other bits of data held on other cards or files. There is
no limit (at least in theory) to the number of strings we can attach, making a set of