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Qualitative_data_analysis

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82 QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS<br />

Q1 Not worth being qualified as there are so few jobs? S1 interviewer<br />

Q2 Is there much sleeping around amongst young people? S2 Jeanette<br />

Q3 Do you drink? S3 Marie<br />

Q4 Do you sniff glue?<br />

There is no point in filing separately information which only appears once in the<br />

text, such as the questions about filming and prostitution. These may be properly<br />

regarded as part of the <strong>data</strong>. By filing repetitive information separately we can record<br />

our <strong>data</strong> much more economically. We can still have access immediately to the full<br />

reference: if we have forgotten that Q1 is about qualifications and jobs, we can ask<br />

the computer to display Q1 in full. So the loss of intelligibility, which may seem a<br />

significant problem on paper, in practice is negligible (Illustration 6.4).<br />

ILLUSTRATION 6.4<br />

DATA FILED EFFICIENTLY<br />

Q1 S2 There is lots of jobs. The Government wants to<br />

keep us unemployed so we won't smoke on the<br />

buses… I could have been in a film but it was<br />

boring…<br />

S1 What film was that?<br />

S2 Documentary on child prostitution.<br />

S1 You've actually been a prostitute?<br />

S2 Yeah but it was boring. The sex was all right but<br />

they kept wanting you to talk to them…<br />

Q2 S3 No, it's boring.<br />

S2 It's like for your Mums and Dads really, isn't it?<br />

S3 Like drinking.<br />

Q3 S2 We used to drink battery acid.<br />

S3 But it burns holes in your tights.<br />

Q4 S2 That's for snobs, really, isn't it?<br />

S3 Grammar school kids sniff glue.<br />

S2 We sniff burning lino.<br />

There is obviously a trade-off here between efficiency and intelligibility. However,<br />

the computer, by giving us instant access to the appropriate reference information,

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