Making Sense of Qualitative Data : Complimentary Research Strategies

by Amanda Jane Coffey

• ISBN13: 9780803970533
• ISBN10: 0803970536
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1996-03-14
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc
• More Book Details

Summary

Once a research project has been designed and the data have been gathered, what is the best way to transform this information into something useful? The authors of this practical volume highlight the range of approaches available to qualitative researchers by using a single data set which they analyze using a number of techniques. With special attention paid to the possibilities in computer-aided analysis, this book will be an invaluable resource for the relatively new qualitative researcher.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	ix
Varieties of Data and Varieties of Analysis	1	(25)
Setting the Scene	1	(3)
Varieties of Perspective	4	(6)
Why We Wrote This Book	10	(6)
About Our Data	16	(6)
About the Book	22	(2)
Suggestions for Further Reading	24	(2)
Concepts and Coding	26	(28)
Linking Concepts and Data	26	(6)
The Coding Process	32	(13)
Beyond Coding and Toward Interpretation	45	(6)
Conclusion	51	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	52	(2)
Narratives and Stories	54	(29)
Collecting and Analyzing Stories	54	(3)
Formal Narrative Analysis	57	(5)
Narrative Forms and Functions	62	(13)
Success Stories and Moral Tales	63	(5)
Narrative as Chronicle	68	(7)
Ethnopoetics, Oral Performance, and Voice	75	(5)
Conclusion	80	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	81	(2)
Meanings and Metaphors	83	(25)
Meaningful Data	83	(2)
Metaphors	85	(4)
Domain Analysis	89	(3)
``Fieldwork'': A Domain Analysis	92	(7)
Where Is Fieldwork?	93	(1)
When Is Fieldwork?	94	(2)
What Is Fieldwork Like?	96	(2)
What Are the ``Products'' of Fieldwork?	98	(1)
Accounts	99	(6)
Conclusion	105	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	106	(2)
Writing and Representation	108	(31)
Analyzing and Writing	108	(2)
Analyzing and Reading	110	(2)
Units of Narrative, Levels of Generality	112	(6)
Audiences and Readers	118	(3)
Alternative Literary Forms	121	(10)
Visual Representations	131	(6)
Conclusion	137	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	138	(1)
Beyond the Data	139	(26)
Analyzing and Theorizing	139	(7)
Anthropology Revisited	146	(7)
Theorizing and Generalizing	153	(9)
Conclusion	162	(2)
Suggestions for Further Reading	164	(1)
Complementary Strategies of Computer-Aided Analysis	165	(24)
Using Computers	165	(3)
Creating and Managing Data	168	(2)
Coding and Retreving Data	170	(2)
Language, Meaning, and Narrative	172	(5)
Theory Building Hypothesis Testing	177	(4)
Hypertext and Hypermedia	181	(6)
Conclusion	187	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	188	(1)
Coda	189	(6)
References	195	(8)
Index	203	(3)
About the Authors	206