Qualitative_data_analysis

Table 15.1 Databits assigned to categories ‘active’ and ‘passive’
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the dental chair for several days waiting for Vincent to return from his blackout by
the seashore, or Mr Feldman taking advantage of Gauguin’s distraction to bolt from
his chair and race out of the office. The contrast between these portrayals could be
taken as evidence of sexual stereotyping. To examine this issue, we categorized
patient responses according to whether they seemed ‘active’ or ‘passive’. We took
passive responses to refer to lack of action by patients in situations which could be
regarded in some way as provocative. This lack of action implied a submissiveness
on the part of patients, either in the sense of a lack of assertiveness concerning their
own interests, or in the sense of a lack of any opposition to the indignities they
suffered. By contrast, an active response involved an overt response to direct or
indirect provocation, either implying assertiveness concerning the patient’s own
interests or some resistance to the impositions they experienced. Using these
criteria, databits were assigned to these categories as in Table 15.1.
Most of these examples could be assigned to either category with reasonable
confidence. The patients either accept treatment which is provocative, or they resist
it in some way. Sometimes responses were divided into more than one element, as
with Mrs Schwimmer and Mr Greenglass, allowing us to recognize where a patient
both accepts and resists treatment as distinct responses.
A borderline case is that involving Mr Kaufman, where although the patient is
‘active’ in retrieving his toupee, this is indicative of assertiveness on his part rather