Qualitative_data_analysis

58 QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS
skills can speed up the process of inputting data. Editing facilities allow mistakes to
be easily located and corrected. More sophisticated technology, such as scanners,
may allow data to be read into the computer without typing. Laptop computers
allow data to be input ‘in the field’ and then transferred to the desktop. The day has
not yet come when computers can record data directly from audio, but even present
progress represents a significant advance over pen and paper or the traditional
keyboard.
The computer provides an excellent medium for storing data. As qualitative data
is notoriously voluminous, this is an important contribution to managing data
efficiently. The vast filing cabinet is replaced by the small box of disks. The sheer
volume and variety of data which can be conveniently stored for analysis is
increasing exponentially. Optical storage technology will allow notebook sized
computers to carry millions of pages of information. Improvements in capacity and
compatibility are rapidly extending computer access to stores of graphic, audio and
video as well as textual information. Computers also facilitate access to stores of data
held elsewhere, Disk data can be readily transported from one location to another,
whether physically or by phone, facilitating collaborative research and cooperative
use of data. Computers with notebook-sized satellite receivers already (as I write in
1991) allow communication between computers without connecting wires.
Computers provide notably efficient filing systems which allow quick and easy
access to data. Files can be opened, closed, copied, printed, created and amended by
a few simple procedures. Through hierarchical file systems users can manage data in
a logical manner. Files can be located together within folders, folders within folders,
in a systematic and meaningful order. That lost file, crucial of course to the whole
analysis, should be a thing of the past. Unlike us, so long as it continues to function
the computer never forgets. That mislaid file can be readily located using the
computer’s list or search facilities.
Of course, this paradise has pitfalls, and it will be a perfectionist indeed who does
not sometimes fall into them. A hierarchical system facilitates but does not compel a
logical approach to filing. It is as easy to delete files as to create them. And
computers sometimes break down. However, the ease with which data can be copied
provides a crucial safeguard against major disasters. Beyond its utility in backing up
files, efficiency in copying data has a special significance for qualitative analysts
concerned to retain their original data in pristine condition. In days gone by,
copying files for use in analysis was a time-consuming chore. Now files can be
copied in seconds, and bits of data can be repeatedly reproduced as often as required
for analysis.
The indexing of data was another laborious chore which dissipated the energies
and taxed the enthusiasm of the most committed pen- and- paper analyst. Every time
a file was copied or a bit of data reproduced, a thorough approach required