Qualitative Data Management and Analysis

Transcription

1 Qualitative Data Management and Analysis RRPP Training Seminar 5-6 February 2016, Belgrade, Serbia Dr. Roy Gava University of Geneva Dr. Lea Sgier Central European University (CEU), Budapest Content and aims Qualitative data are notoriously difficult to analyse: invariably described as "voluminous, unstructured and unwieldy" (Bryman and Burgess 1994:216) and, more generally "bulky", they are often hard to "reduce" and make sense of beyond simple description. Also, they are often highly context-specific and therefore impossible to submit to standardised analytical procedures. Finally, qualitative data are typically and inherently multi-layered, hence open to multiple interpretations, which complicates data analysis and makes it vulnerable to various analytical shortcomings (over-interpretation, one-sidedness in the analysis etc., cf. Antaki et al. 2003). This workshop aims to problematise the process of qualitative data management and analysis and provide practical tools to deal with it. The workshop is structured around various ways in which unstructured data can be turned into structured data before being processed further either qualitatively or quantitatively. The workshop starts from the "core" of qualitative data analysis, i.e. the coding process. From there, we then move to the preceding step of operationalisation (which turns abstract or/and general concepts into observable or "measurable" entities). Finally, we will link the process of data analysis to the wider research process (including data collection and transformation, and possibly writing up etc.). These various steps will be made more tangible by various examples and exercises in content and interpretive analysis. In the course of the workshop, we will also introduce various software tools that can be helpful for qualitative data analysis and data and information management (MaxQDA, databases, etc.). 1

2 Format The workshop will run on two days and will include various activities: - introductory lectures by the instructors; - practical exercises in data analysis (manual and software assisted including computer lab sessions on day 2); - presentations of practical applications by the instructors. Public The workshop is intended for participants living and working in the Western Balkan countries: - junior researchers in social sciences (MA graduates willing to pursue academic career, PhD students) who are relatively new to qualitative research and wish to gain a general understanding of the process of qualitative data analysis; - senior researchers in social sciences who are in charge of RRPP (or other) projects of some scale who would like to know about more sophisticated or complex tools for data analysis. There will be some space on day 2 (computer lab sessions) for participants who would like to try out software tools with their own data (interviews, documents etc.). Participants who wish to take this opportunity should please bring along their data for day 2 in some form (USB key, etc.). The participants are expected to: arrive on time; be actively present throughout the workshop, including for the practical exercises; refrain from using internet or the phone during class hours. Application proceedings Please send the following information to magdalena.solska@unifr.ch by 5 January 2016: a letter of motivation (max. 1 page); completed Application Form. 2

3 Once selected, you will be asked the following: Preparation The registered participants should please send a short description of their profile and research to sgierl@ceu.edu and Roy.Gava@unige.ch by January 25 th. They should please: 1) indicate their name, status and background [for example: PhD student in sociology and researcher in the project xy, etc.]; 2) provide a short description of the research they work on (1-2 paragraphs). (Participants who are in the same project may group the information for all their participants in a single mail). The participants are required to read the following mandatory readings and some additional materials that will be distributed ahead of the workshop: Baumgartner, Frank R, Jones, Bryan D. and MacLeod, M.C. (1998). Lessons from the trenches: quality, reliability and usability in a new data source. The Political Methodologist (8): Braun, Virginia and Clarke, Victoria (2006). Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2): Butcher, Howard Karl et al. (2001). "Thematic Analysis in the Experience of Making a Decision to Place a Family Member With Alzheimer's Disease in a Special Care Unit". Research in Nursing&Health 24: Mortensen, Peter. et al. (2011). Comparing Government Agendas: Executive Speeches in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Denmark. Comparative Political Studies 44(8): Optional readings that might also be of interest (even after the workshop): Fereday, Jennifer and Muir-Cochrane, Eimear (2006). "Demonstrating Rigor Using Thematic Analysis: A Hybrid Approach of Inductive and Deductive Coding and Theme Development". International Journal of Qualitative Methods. 5(1) Miles, Matthew B., Huberman, A. Michael and Saldaña, Johnny (2014). Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook. Thousand Oaks: Sage, ch. 1, 2 and 4. Munzert, Simon, Rubba, Christian, Meissner, Peter and Nyhuis, Dominic (2015). Automated Data Collection with R: A Practical Guide to Web Scraping and Text Mining. Chichester: Wiley. Saldaña, Johnny (2009). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. London: SAGE. UK Data Archive (2011). Managing and sharing data. Best practices for researchers. Colchester: University of Essex. 3

4 Programme Friday 5 th February Lecture room 09:15-10:45 Welcome and overview of the workshop Introduction to qualitative analysis and coding (Lea) 11:00-12:30 Exercises in thematic coding (inductive and deductive) and mapping (Lea and Roy) Lunch break 14:00-15:30 Content analysis (Roy) 16:00-17:30 Interpretive analysis (Lea) 09:15-10:45 Saturday 6 th February Computer lab Introduction to MaxQDA setting up the data, coding and retrieval functions (Lea) 11:00-12:30 Inter- and intra- coder agreement (Roy) Reproducibility and data documentation (Roy) 14:00-15:30 Advanced functions in MaxQDA (Lea) Lunch break 4

5 :30 Tools and techniques for digital data collection exercises (Roy) The instructors: Dr. Roy Gava is a lecturer and post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Geneva. His research interests include comparative public policy, financial regulation and legislative production. He is involved in various national and international collaborative projects that rely on the analysis of large quantities of textual data from diverse sources. Roy.Gava@unige.ch Dr Lea Sgier is an assistant professor in political science at Central European University in Budapest. She also lectures at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, at the Essex Summer School in Social Science Data Collection and Analysis, University of Essex UK, at the ECPR Schools in Methods and Techniques, and at Concordia University Montreal, Canada. She is the co-convenor of the ECPR Standing Group on Political Methodology. sgierl@ceu.edu or Lea.Sgier@unige.ch The RRPP is coordinated and operated by the Interfaculty Institute for Central and Eastern Europe (IICEE) at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). The Local Coordination Unit in Serbia is the Institute of Economic Sciences from Belgrade. The programme is fully funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. 5