Qualitative_data_analysis

202 QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
Figure 13.1 Textual and diagrammatic displays of information
Diagrams are not immune to the problems which can afflict text. Overburdened
with detail, they can become cluttered. Overburdened with complexity, they can
become inaccessible. In using diagrams, the watch-words ‘simplicity’ and ‘clarity’
have much to commend them. Diagrams can also be very seductive. They can
tempt us to impose an order on the data, perhaps for the sake of simplicity and
clarity, which is neither adequate nor accurate. We can therefore add ‘relevance’ and
‘appropriateness’ to our list of watchwords. Precisely because they are such powerful
tools for condensing data and comparing categories, diagrams must be handled with
care.
In this chapter I shall consider two sorts of diagrams we might use: matrices and
maps. A matrix means a rectangular array of data in rows and columns, though it
can also mean a womb or a place where a thing is developed (Concise Oxford
Dictionary 1976:674). Both meanings are apt; the latter tells us what we can
accomplish through a matrix, namely the development of our analysis; and the former
tells us how it can be accomplished, namely by systematic organization through
cross-tabulation of our data. Maps are less structured representations of selected
features of our analysis, which can be used both to denote significance (giving
prominence by putting something ‘on the map’) and to relate the different elements
of our analysis.
MATRICES
We can use matrices to compare information across cases. For example, Table 13.1
shows how we can analyse information about the letters Vincent has written to