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184 QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS<br />

Table 12.5 Retrieval based on categories assigned to proximate bits of <strong>data</strong><br />

This has limitations, for what if there are relationships between <strong>data</strong>bits which have<br />

been assigned to non-concurring categories? We may want to look for evidence<br />

where categories may not concur, but are nevertheless close to each other in the <strong>data</strong>.<br />

For example, we could look for categories which have been assigned to consecutive<br />

<strong>data</strong>bits, or categories which have been assigned to <strong>data</strong>bits which fall within a<br />

certain distance of each other in the <strong>data</strong>. This distance could be defined in terms of<br />

a number of characters, a paragraph, section or even a whole case. Using either<br />

sequence or proximity as a condition for our retrieval, we can produce a crosstabulation<br />

of all the <strong>data</strong>bits which have been assigned to one or other categories<br />

and do or do not fulfil this condition. For example, in Table 12.5 we have a crosstabulation<br />

of categories where they have been assigned, not to the same <strong>data</strong>bit, but<br />

to one falling within a specified distance. Of course, a condition of proximity<br />

includes all the <strong>data</strong>bits where categories are concurrent, overlapping or consecutive<br />

within the <strong>data</strong>. We could even impose the requirement that categories should have<br />

been assigned to the <strong>data</strong> in a certain order.<br />

So far we have made no comment on the numerical aspects of our crosstabulation.<br />

As well as assessing the <strong>data</strong>bits we have retrieved, we may also take<br />

account of the number of <strong>data</strong>bits accumulated in each cell (Table 12.6). For example,<br />

if virtually all the <strong>data</strong>bits are concentrated in the first cell, and display the suspected<br />

association between categories, then we will doubtless feel more confident in<br />

inferring a connection between the categories than if the converse holds true, and<br />

only a small minority of <strong>data</strong>bits are located in the first cell. For each category, we<br />

can consider the proportion of <strong>data</strong>bits which is associated with the other category.<br />

Table 12.6 Retrieval based on categories ‘temperament’ and ‘suffering’ assigned to proximate<br />

bits of <strong>data</strong>

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