Hi Louise,
I consult on a large number of projects and I just had a look at some of
them. While quite a lot don't go more than 3 levels down, I have a few that
are 4-5 levels down. They are logically constructed as well. I think Helen
has explained well below the value of nesting codes - or creating a
catalogue of codes. Pat Bazeley discusses the logic of it very well in her
book Qualitative Data Analysis in NVIVO (2007) published by Sage. I think
the relevance is not only for NVIVO but also for other QDA packages. For
example, in ATLAS.ti you would use code families to group together relevant
codes and could also use the network tool to construct relations between
codes. MAXqda also allows for a catalogue of codes. In my experience, most
projects don't need more than three levels but a few need to go deeper.
Best wishes,
Silvana
Silvana di Gregorio, PhD
SdG Associates
T/F +44 (0)20 8806 1001
E [log in to unmask]
W www.sdgassociates.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Helen Marshall" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, August 23, 2007 5:00 AM
Subject: Re: nesting...how deep do we go?
An interesting question Louise. I don't' think I've seen more than three in
any project, and certainly I have not used more than three myself.
I wonder, however, if the over all number of nodes and the structure of the
project is of more concern than the number of levels?
I use NVivo, and if I manage to get a treed structure with material that is
coded for analytic purposes rather than simply indexed by topic I feel
very pleased. Categories, subcategories and perhaps sub sub categories
create a structure in my head and on the screen. If I've got clear trees,
and not too many of them, I can display the structure quite well in the list
view of NVivo7. So if I'm coding I have my data open on the detail view and
at the side I have my trees, with all the sub categories and sub sub
categories visible. I can drag and drop for coding. It feels rather like
sorting the laundry into a well organised wardrobe and the complexity
doesn't matter. If I'm thinking about the project, I can look at the nodes
and work out what I might want to ask next. A node structure fits well
with drawing models.
But if I have nothing but lots of free nodes, I find myself looking at a bit
of data, creating a new node, then deciding that an existing node will do,
checking the node properties for the definition, and then fretfully
re-creating the new node* I don't have a vision of where I'm going. It's as
if I didn't have a wardrobe, , so I can't tell where to put the laundry, and
I know that tomorrow morning I won't be able to find any clean socks. I
look at the free nodes and can't think what I can ask about them, or how
they might hang together in a model*
Of course I often need that first phase of free nodes and messy complexity
when coding up from data, but because it's daunting, I try to limit the
number of free nodes, and where possible to move my free nodes into orderly
trees (building wardrobes I guess).
The laundry metaphor was coined by Leonie Dawes and Pat Bazeley uses it in
her recent book 'Qualitative Data analysis with NVivo' (Sage 2007) She
also discusses lumping and splitting very helpfully, pointing out they are
very much a matter of personal preference. I'd love to know what other
people think about the issue of complexity.
Hope this helps
Helen Marshall
Dr Helen Marshall
Senior Associate, Centre for Applied Social Research
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
GPO Box 2476V Melbourne 3001
Victoria Australia
ph 61 3 99259073
fax 61 3 9925 3088
email [log in to unmask]
"The best cure for being sad...is to learn something" (T.H White 'The Once
and Future King')
>>> "Corti, Louise" <[log in to unmask]> 22/08/2007 23:06 >>>
Hi all,
I'm looking for an indication of the extent to which the average
researcher creates nested codes. How complex do coding trees usually
get? How many levels deep do codes typically be nested? Personally, Ive
never gone more than about 3 levels deep as I find it becomes too
complex.
Thanks!
Louise
Louise Corti
Associate Director & Head ESDS Qualidata, Outreach & Training
UK Data Archive - a service provider of the Economic and Social Data
Service (ESDS)
University of Essex
Colchester CO4 3SQ UK
Tel: +44 (0) 1206 872145
Email: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Web: http://www.data-archive.ac.uk <http://www.data-archive.ac.uk/> and
www.esds.ac.uk <http://www.esds.ac.uk/>
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