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Qualitative_data_analysis

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174 QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS<br />

DataRef1 Vincent<br />

DataRef2 Theo<br />

Date 1.4.91<br />

Analyst Ian Dey<br />

Comment Is ‘occupation’ assigned correctly?<br />

Links Explains ‘Will life never’<br />

Explained by ‘Because I made’; ‘Now she’s upset’; ‘I tried forcing’;<br />

‘But it sticks’; ‘Still I find’<br />

From an empirical point of view, we can weave a complex web of links between<br />

different bits of <strong>data</strong>. How does this help us conceptually? I shall consider this<br />

question in more detail in the next chapter. Meantime, let us conclude by noting two<br />

contributions which linking <strong>data</strong> can make to our <strong>analysis</strong>.<br />

One way linking can help our <strong>analysis</strong> is in the description of singularities. By<br />

recording each link in a chain of events, we can observe chronological or causal<br />

sequences, making it easy to extract from the <strong>data</strong> a series of events and the<br />

relationships between them. Linking thereby allows us to give a dynamic account of<br />

what has happened. Let us take another of Vincent’s letters as an example.<br />

Dear Theo<br />

I think it is a mistake to share offices with Gauguin. He is a disturbed<br />

man. He drinks Lavoris in large quantities. When I accused him, he flew<br />

into a rage and pulled my D.D.S. off the wall. In a calmer moment, I<br />

convinced him to try filling teeth outdoors and we worked in a meadow<br />

surrounded by greens and gold. He put caps on a Miss Angela Tonnato<br />

and I gave a temporary filling to Mr Louis Kaufman. There we were,<br />

working together in the open air! Rows of blinding white teeth in the<br />

sunlight! Then a wind came up and blew Mr Kaufman’s toupee into the<br />

bushes. He darted for it and knocked Gauguin’s instruments to the<br />

ground. Gauguin blamed me and tried to strike out but pushed Mr<br />

Kaufman by mistake, causing him to sit down on the high speed drill. Mr<br />

Kaufman rocketed past me on a fly, taking Miss Tonnato with him. The<br />

upshot, Theo, is that Rifkin, Rifkin, Rifkin and Meltzer have attached my<br />

earnings. Send whatever you can.<br />

Vincent.<br />

In Figure 11.11, this incident out-of-doors is presented through a number of links<br />

in a chain of events which again culminate in litigation. To elucidate this simple<br />

episode, I have used only two links, conditional and causal, but obviously more<br />

links might be required to identify relationships within a more complex sequence of

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