Lovely analogy, sky diving, Susanne. Thankyou for it! I absolutely
agree, getting the gear in the right place is a first and necessary
condition. But not sufficient - then you still have to jump! (I've used
the analogy of balloon flights - all that predawn organisation and
laying out of silk and equipment in order to take off - but then a quite
different view. But yours is nicer as it encapsulates the fear of
stepping out away from the "factual" topic into the unknown.) I think
that what I call "topic coding" is more often done like going into the
apartment than skydiving - necessary to discover what's in there, but if
coding is seen as an end in itself it all too often means we go in and
shut the door.
We all do so much more coding now that it is so much easier, and
collaboratively we're inventing new ways of going beyond the gathering
of material at a topic.
cheers,
Lyn
Lyn Richards,
Director, Research Services, QSR.
(Email) [log in to unmask]
(Ph) +61 (03) 9840-1100. (Fax) +61 (03) 9840-1500
(Snail) Second floor, 651 Doncaster Rd.,
Doncaster, Vic 3108, Australia.
http://www.qsrinternational.com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: qual-software [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
> Susanne Friese
> Sent: Tuesday, 15 June 2004 6:08 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: CAQDAS & discourse analysis (was: Re: Freely available
> comparisons of Atlas vs. NVivo)
>
> RE: CAQDAS & discourse analysis (was: Re: Freely available comparisons
of
> Atlas vs. NVivo)>Whatever your method you will need to do some "topic
> coding" and description. But it ain't analysis and is not usually a
step
> to
> >analysis.
>
> I would not go that far - coding is not the end, but it is the first
step
> (as you wrote later) and I would call it PART of the analysis....
without
> it
> how will you move deeper into the data and find answers to your
questions?
> What is is if not part or the first steps of analysis? You surely
start to
> think about your data while coding and you build upon that. You cannot
> skydive off a plane before first putting on the gear, stepping into
the
> airplane and flying up into the air - or open the door of a first
floor
> apartment without first going up a flat of stairs (this may be stupid
> comparisons, but they just came to my mind - there might be better
> examples)
>
> Susanne
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