Hi Corey,
I have found that it is not unusual for those new to qual research and new
to qual software to get into a 'coding trap' (regardless of which package
they use). There was quite a lot of discussion about this issue about 2
years ago on the QSR listserv. To get out of the trap I recommend that
people do not spend more than 45-90 minutes coding before switching to
reflection mode - by writing up their latest insights in memos. Analysis is
a combination of coding and memo writing. And it is in the memos that you
start to write up your project. If you are using NUD*IST you can attach
memos to particular nodes to discuss insights about that particular
category. But you can also create more general memos by creating a node far
from your coding scheme (e.g. a node 800 or 1000) which you do not code to
but use it's memo for more general thoughts. I recommend that you create a
coding strategy memo and/or research journal in the software in this way.
For more ideas of how to combine coding and memo writing, I recommend Ch.9
Developing Analysis in Lofland, John and Lofland, Lyn (1995) Analyzing
Social Settings: A guide to qualitative observation and analysis, Third
Edition, Wadsworth
I hope this helps.
Silvana
Dr. Silvana di Gregorio
SdG Associates
Research & Training Consultants
Tel/Fax: +44-(0)20-8806-1001
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Web-site: www.sdgassociates.com
> This brings up an interesting issue that I'm working through at the
moment.
>
> I have a relatively large collection of data (not huge mind you... about
800 pages,
> which is still a lot to code). I started out using NUD*IST and quickly
found myself
> wanting to code *everything* because I could. That is, while coding I
would tag bits
> of text for typical things that repeat often within the data. I started
doing this out of
> the anxiety that I might miss something by not tagging every single line
in my documents.
> After spending several days on just one document and mulling through
dozens of codes,
> my anxiety changed to worry that I'd never complete the project!
>
> To resolve the issue (and keep moving forward on completing the project),
I stopped
> using NUD*IST temporarily for coding, and started doing everything on
paper the
> old-fashioned way. I'm still using NUD*IST to search and retrieve
pertinent subsets
> for coding in this fashion, and I'm using the system's text unit
addressing system
> to reference units.... but I have yet to enter these codes back into the
software program.
>
> My question... Is this a typical struggle for new users of Qualitative
software packages?
>
> Yes I know that there are many different approaches to qualitative
research. My
> approach in this project is focused on conceptual discovery, elaboration,
and the
> development of theory. I may later be interested in comparing frequencies
of phenomena,
> but not now.
>
> Since the software is so good at storing coding references, does anyone
else worry
> about losing the forest for the trees? Perhaps someone has some
recommendations
> for maximizing the power of QDA software while still staying focused on
the conceptual
> development. [In re-reading this, it seems like a naive question, but I'm
going to ask it
> anyway. Please feel free to respond on or off list... experiences and
strategies with
> different systems are welcome.]
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> /Corey
>
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Corey J. Colyer
> Research Associate
> The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive
> ICPSR - The University of Michigan
>
> (734) 615-9526 [phone]
> (734) 998-9259 [fax]
> (888) 741-7242 [toll-free helpline]
>
> http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/SAMHDA
> [log in to unmask]
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