Coding
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Coding/indexing/categorizing
N.B. confusion because used in quantitative
data where it means putting numbers to
answers.
 “indexing” “categories” “codes” “themes”
= linking chunks of data (text) as
representative of the same phenomenon.
 Not necessarily to count them (cf. Content
analysis)
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Analysis. Bryman suggests
these stages
Stage 1
 Read the text as a whole, Make notes at the
end
 Look for what it is about
 Major themes
 Unusual issues, events etc
 Group cases into types or categories (may
reflect research question – e.g. male and
female)
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Stage 2. Read again
Mark the text (underline, circle, highlight)
 Marginal notes/ annotations
 Labels for codes
 Highlight Key words
 Note any analytic ideas suggested.
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Stage 3. Code the text
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Systematically mark the text
Indicate what chunks of text are about – themes
– Index them.
Review the codes.
Eliminate repetition and similar codes
(combine)
Think of groupings
May have lots of different codes (Don’t worry at
early stage – can be reduced later)
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Stage 4. Relate general
theoretical ideas to the text.
Coding is only part of analysis
 You must add your interpretation.
 Identify significance for respondents
 Interconnections between codes
 Relation of codes to research question
and research literature.
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Thematic Coding
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Grounded Theory (Glaser and Strauss + Corbin
+ Charmaz)
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
(Jonathon Smith)
Template analysis (Nigel King)
Framework analysis (Ritchie and Lewis)
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All are types of thematic analysis.
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How is coding done?
Text
In a village like this ... the young
fellows in the village don't seem
to have much difficulty when
they're out of work – a fortnight
and they're back again – word of
mouth, I'd say. It’s a different,
tricky situation that I'm in – I just
can't say, “Oh, I heard there's a
job going on building site, I’ll go
and have a go for it.” I wouldn't
be able to do that.
Code
Age contrast
Residence focus
Young find work easily
Word of mouth
Contrast situation
Constrained
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Applying the codes to the
data
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Need to take code and its definition and
apply in standard way to the text.
Identify chunks of text to which code
applies
 Can be phrases, sentences, several
sentences or even paragraphs
 Coded passages may overlap
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Questions to ask
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"What is going on?
What are people doing?
What is the person saying?
What do these actions and statements take for
granted?
How do structure and context serve to support,
maintain, impede or change these actions and
statements?"
(Charmaz 2003: 94-95)
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What can codes be about?
Lofland suggests:
1.
Acts – usually brief events
2.
Activities – of longer duration in a setting, people involved
3.
Meanings – what directs participants’ actions?
a)
b)
4.
5.
6.
What concepts they use to understand their world
What meaning or significance it has for them.
Participation – People’ involvement or adaptation to a
setting
Relationships – between people, considered
simultaneously
Settings – the entire context of the events under study
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What can codes be about? 2
Strauss suggests
 Conditions
 Interactions
 Strategies and tactics
 Consequences What happens if…
Sabatier in Policy context suggests:
 Causal adequacy
 Financial resources
 Legal/bureaucratic powers or constraints
 Political/interest group support
 Official/bureaucratic commitment
 Social/economic environment
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What can codes be about? 3
Mason suggests
 Literal - words, dialogue used, actions, settings
systems etc.
 Interpretation - implicit norms, values, rules,
mores, how people make sense of phenomena
 Reflexive - researcher’s role in the process how intervention generated the data.
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Ways to identify themes
Ryan and Bernard (2003)
 Repetitions
 Indigenous typologies (in vivo)
 Metaphors and analogies
 Transitions (pauses, sections)
 Similarities and Differences
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Linguistic connectors
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Constant comparison
Because, before, after, next, closeness, examples
Missing data (what is omitted)
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Coding supports 2 forms of
analysis
Retrieval
 Using the coding frame
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1. Retrieval
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Retrieve all the text coded with the same label =
all passages about the same phenomenon,
idea, explanation or activity - Literally cut and
paste
Used envelopes/files - Now done using
software
Enables cross case comparison on same
theme.
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2. Using the coding frame
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Use the list of codes to examine further
kinds of analytic questions, e.g.
relationships between the codes (and the text
they code)
 grouping cases
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Data driven or concept
driven?
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Inductive or deductive
Most qualitative analysis does both
i.e. start with some theoretical ideas
these derived from literature, research
brief/questions, interview schedule
and
discover new ideas, theories, explanations in
the data.
Strauss - sociologically constructed codes vs.
in vivo codes
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Example
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BARRY
Well, the only thing that we've really given up is - well we used to
go dancing. Well she can't do it now so I have to go on my own,
that's the only thing really. And then we used to go indoor bowling
at the sports centre. But of course, that's gone by the board now. So
we don't go there. But I manage to get her down to works club, just
down the road on the occasional Saturdays, to the dances. She'll sit
and listen to the music, like, stay a couple of hours and then she's
had enough. And then, if it's a nice weekend I take her out in the
car.
‘Dancing’, ‘Indoor bowling’, ‘Dances at works club’,
‘Drive together’
‘Joint activities ceased’, ‘Joint activities continuing’
‘Loss of physical co-ordination’, ‘Togetherness’,
‘Doing for’, ‘Resignation’, ‘Core activity’
Descriptive codes
Categories
Analytic codes
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Example showing coding
marks
Togetherness
Core activity
1 BARRY
2 Well, the only thing that we’ ve really given up is – well we used to
3 go dancing.Well she can't do it now so I have to go on my own,
Dancing
4 that's the only thing really
. And then we used to go indoor bowling
5 at the sports centre. But of course, that's gone by the board .now
So
Indoor bowling
6 we don't go there. But I manage to get her down to works club, just
7 down the road on the occasional Saturdays, to the dances. She'll sit
Dances at works
8 and listen to the music, like, stay a couple of hours and then she's club
9 had enough.And then, if it's a nice weekend I take her out in the
10 car.
Drive together
Joint activities ceased
Joint activities continuing
Doing for
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Code list = Code scheme =
Coding frame = Template
List of codes with definitions
 Separate from the documents
 May be hierarchical
Used:
 To apply the code in a consistent way.
 To share codes with others, especially in
a team
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Code Definitions
Typically records:
1.
The label or name of the code.
2.
The name of the researcher. (Not needed if you are
working alone.)
3.
Date when coding was done or changed.
4.
Definition of the code. Analytic idea it refers to.
5.
Other notes about the code, e.g.
1.
2.
ideas about how it relates to other codes
a hunch that the text could be split between two different
codes.
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Coding hierarchy
Codes can be arranged in a hierarchy
e.g. with these codes from a study of friendship
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Close, generalised friendships
Sporting friendships
Sports club members
Work friends
Making new friends - same sex
Making new friends - different sex
Losing touch with friends
Becoming sexual relationships
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Example code hierarchy
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Friendship types
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Close, generalized
Sporting
• Club
• Non-club
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Work
Changes in Friendship
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Making new friends
• New same sex friends
• New different sex friends
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Losing touch
Becoming sexual relationships
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Code Big or Small Chunks
Pro
Wide/ high
level
Con
Maximize usefulness of code Few episodes can be
- applied to enough chunks to identified to match code.
justify recontextualization.
Includes lots of less relevant
material
Avoids prejudicing later
analysis
Coding vague
Narrow/detai Greater differentiation. Clear
led
definition. Easier to identify
chunks in text
Important contextual data
may be lost.
Loss of meaning.
Too many codes to remember
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Example showing analysis
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One of a set of interviews by Wendy Hollway and Tony
Jefferson.
On fear of crime
Will use some of this for a group work exercise.
Part of interview with:
Barbara 65, F, White,Retired nursing auxiliary,
Interview covered, Husband's death, ill health,
sister - prison, stealing & drug taking, tenants
association. From low crime area.
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INT
So you say - well 2 of those things happened after - when you've
been talking to this accountant friend of yours. How did it come
up? I mean that's er, you'd been alone for quite a while ....
BARBARA They'd been burgled.
INT
Right.
BARBARA And they got through a little window like this. Actually 'e'd got a
young lad with 'im. And er, Margaret's engagement ring and she
says "that was the one thing - that was the one thing, it grieved
me more than anything" she said. "They could 'ave the
television, the lot" she said. But the fact that they took 'er
engagement ring…
INT
Yeah.
BARBARA That upset 'er. And er, we were just talking in general and - and
it came up and I says er, "I've got a chain on my door." And 'e
says er, "it's not strong enough that, Barbara." He says "you
really want something else on" and 'e went - his daughter lived
up Stokebridge and 'e went to a little shop up there, or
something. And got me that chain…
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BARBARA …And 'e put it on and you can lock it. If you put it on as you're
going out, er, its 'ook, and then you 'ave to unlock it to let it drop.
INT
Ah ha.
BARBARA When you come in.
INT
Oh right.
BARBARA You know, you can push the door and it - oh and it is strong as
well.
INT
Ah ha. And the 4 locks on the back? Do they date back further?
BARBARA Oh God, yeah.
INT
So you had lots of security even when your husband was alive?
BARBARA Oh yeah, mmm. Mmm. Em, I've got one of those dead locks at
the top.
INT
Yeah.
BARBARA You know, they're just a hole in the door and they're not from
outside, they're only from inside. And even that locks wrong
way. You 'ave to turn it that way to unlock it. (laugh).
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Notice
Interviewer and respondent names are in
capitals
 Wide margins and space and a half
between lines
 Use of contractions
 Place names and people’s names
anonymised
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Read through
About neighbour being burgled
 Lost TV etc. and engagement ring
 Old and new security on front door.
 Replaced by friend.
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Mark up text
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Annotations and codes.
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Coding Frame
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Crime experienced (the type of crime
participants discuss having experienced
themselves or by their friends and neighbours).
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Burglary
Vandalism
Violence
But these descriptive. Be analytic. E.g.
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Low level (not reported etc.)
Significant (with emotional impact)
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Coding Frame, cont.
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Security measures (What measures people have taken
to protect themselves, their property etc. both in the
past and more recently).
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Chain
Dead lock
Burglar alarm
Safe
Car alarms
Personal Alarm
Stay in
Walk with others
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Coding Frame, cont.
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But these descriptive. Be analytic. E.g.
Physical, technology
 Behavioural
 Psychological (lights on timer etc.)
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Coding Frame, cont.
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Feelings about experience of crime
Frightened
 Hurt by loss (especially personal items)
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Descriptive vs
Analytic/theoretical
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Descriptive
Just what the people said
 What happened
 Their terms
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Analytic
Use social science theory
 Groups codes together
 Use terms the respondents don’t or wouldn’t
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