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Qualitative_data_analysis

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Figure 12.5 Following a trail of different links through the <strong>data</strong><br />

MAKING CONNECTIONS 191<br />

In Figure 12.4 I have presumed that in browsing through <strong>data</strong>bits our pathways<br />

are dictated by the type of link we are following. However, we may also browse<br />

through the <strong>data</strong>bits following (or rather, constructing) a pathway composed of<br />

different types of link (Figure 12.5).<br />

All this looks like a frightful mess! In practice, the analyst following a trail of links<br />

will not see the entanglements which arise as his path criss-crosses the <strong>data</strong>. This is<br />

because the focus is always on the previous or the next step, so that the pathways<br />

followed through the <strong>data</strong> remain invisible unless we deliberately try to plot them.<br />

And plot them we can, for another thing we can do with electronic links is<br />

‘retrieve’ them, or rather retrieve all the <strong>data</strong>bits which have been linked together in<br />

some way. We can then examine and compare all the linked <strong>data</strong>bits collected<br />

together through our retrieval. For example, we can look at all the causal links we<br />

have made between <strong>data</strong>bits. We can then compare these causal links, and examine<br />

more thoroughly the basis on which we have linked the <strong>data</strong> in this way.<br />

Fortunately, our retrievals can be presented in more orderly fashion. Figure 12.6<br />

shows the causal relationships between <strong>data</strong>bits as a ‘chain’ of links. Sometimes<br />

there are ‘missing’ links in the chain where there has been no link noted between the<br />

<strong>data</strong>bits.<br />

If each <strong>data</strong>bit represents a unique event in the <strong>data</strong>, then we can also use this<br />

procedure to identify the main strands linking events. Our purpose is descriptive<br />

rather than conceptual. Such descriptive work may be an end in itself or it may lay<br />

the foundation for an assessment of how categories can be connected.<br />

Suppose for example we want to tell the story of Vincent’s affair with Claire<br />

Memling, and we have linked together the bits of <strong>data</strong> which constitute the main<br />

elements in this story (Figure 12.7). We may have categorized these <strong>data</strong>bits under<br />

‘Memling’ so that we can retrieve only those links pertaining to this story. For

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