Analysis of the data

4.3.4.1 Introduction to Data Analysis

According to Strauss and Corbin (1998), researchers code data so that the data can be statistically analysed. This does not mean that we quantify qualitative data. It is, however, a way of identifying and extracting concepts, patterns and relationships from the data gathered and then categorising them to enable theory construction. They further explain that coding is used to construct theory, and to provide the researcher with a way of reducing huge amounts of raw data that is gathered during the data-gathering phase of the research. Open coding, axial coding and selective coding were used for analysing the data. The data was analysed throughout the data-gathering process using the three coding methods mentioned above (Charmaz, 2006; Glaser &

Strauss, 1967) Strauss and Corbin (1998) recommend that researchers use open and axial coding to micro-analyse the raw data. This detailed analysis allowed the researcher to determine emerging relationships, concepts and patterns at the beginning of the study, and allowed her to explore the emerging categories further as the data-gathering progressed (Glaser, 2013).

Strauss and Corbin (1998) define open coding as the systematic process whereby formative aspects of concepts in the raw data are identified. Axial coding is used to identify sub-categories of the concepts generated from the open coding process.

Selective coding was used to incorporate and enhance the major categories that have emerged to enable the construction of a theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). In this study the data was analysed utilising coding by categorising the raw data obtained (Charmaz, 2006). Emergent and common themes were reviewed by means of coding.

From the themes identified 16 major categories were identified using axial and selective coding. This process guided the data-collection process as the analysis and data-collection processes took place simultaneously. By using this method, the researcher was able to review and test the emergent patterns in the next set of data collected (Glaser, 2013). Open, axial and selective coding will now be discussed.

4.3.4.2 Open Coding

Open coding is defined by Strauss and Corbin (1998, p. 101) as “the analytic process through which concepts are identified and their properties and dimensions are discovered in data.” They further define concepts as the “building blocks of theory”

(Strauss & Corbin, 1998, p. 101). According to Charmaz (2006), coding allows the researcher to fulfil the fit and relevance criteria that are required to complete a grounded theory analysis. Open coding also allows the researcher to establish tentative links between categories (Glaser, 2013). During the data- gathering phase of the study, the researcher applied open coding after each set of data was collected.

The researcher used a two-step approach when open coding was applied. This allowed the researcher to thoroughly analyse the data to determine emerging categories and work towards saturation of the data. The two-step approach will now be explained.

In Step 1 the researcher listened to the recorded interview after the session and noted down the responses phrase by phrase in an MS Word document (Appendix E). By applying this process, the researcher was refrained from making conceptual assumptions, assigning pre-existing categories and adopting existing theories during these initial stages of the data-gathering process (Charmaz, 2006). The focus of the research during this initial step of coding was to understand the responses provided by the participants to the open-ended questions asked during the exploratory interviews. With this process, the researcher was able to analyse and deconstruct the responses provided, and to determine whether it contributed to addressing the research problem and the aim and objective of the study. With this approach, the researcher was able to analyse the data for similarities and differences (Strauss &

Corbin, 1998), and to constantly compare the data provided (Glaser & Strauss, 1967).

It also afforded the researcher the opportunity to seek clarity on information provided by the participants to avoid misinterpretation of data during the initial stage of data-gathering.

In the second step of the open coding process, the data provided in Step 1 was analysed, and the researcher captured relevant phrases into an MS Excel document (Appendix F). The researcher examined the data in smaller portions and made a comparison to determine similarities and differences. Using MS Excel to capture the phrases enabled the researcher to better manage the large amount of data that had been collected. It also allowed the researcher to sort, synthesise, compare and arrange the data collected and reorganise it according to the emerging exploration as a result of the initial analysis (Charmaz, 2008). Open coding allowed the researcher to open up and uncover the thoughts and views of the participants and any meaning attached within. It enabled the researcher to explore and analyse the views of the participants in terms of their experiences as females in a senior management role in the organisation. The aim of open coding was to enable the researcher to initially code the emerging themes as analysed from the exploratory interviews. Axial coding was then applied to this information.

4.3.4.3 Axial Coding

Strauss and Corbin (1998, p. 123) define axial coding as “the process of relating categories to their subcategories, termed ‘axial’ because coding occurs around the axis of a category, linking categories at the level of properties and dimensions.” The data is initially dissected piecemeal. It is then consolidated into a comprehensible whole by axial coding. After the open coding process as described in paragraph 4.3.4.2, the data was further analysed by the researcher to construct categories. The researcher then collated these categories into emerging themes (Charmaz, 2008).

According to Charmaz (2006), open coding provides the linkage of categories to sub-categories and poses the question of how they relate to one another. The researcher compared the categories across the data analysed during the open coding process to develop themes using axial coding.

After each explorative interview, the data was analysed collectively by the researcher to determine the categories that had emerged from the collected data and coded it using open coding. During this process the researcher was able to compare the responses across the participants, and therefore to compare similarities and differences in the views of the participants. MS Excel was again used for this process as it allowed the researcher to easily organise the large amount of data. The researcher then organised these categories into emerging themes. During this process, the researcher was conscious of the research problem as well as the aim and objective of the study. The overall objective during the axial coding process was to ascertain whether the data collected held relevance to the research problem and contributed to achieving the aim and objective of the study. Selective coding was then applied to the data.

4.3.4.4 Selective Coding

Selective coding is defined by Strauss and Corbin (1998, p. 143) as “the process of integrating and refining the theory.” The researcher used the data where axial coding was applied to arrange the categories around a central expounding category. When the researcher applied selective coding, sixteen major categories emerged. Within these sixteen categories, six of the categories could be grouped further into a single theme. Therefore, the researcher re-assessed the categories and ten central themes emerged. As was the intention with open and axial coding, the researcher strove to find linkages between the themes that emerged and the aim and objective of the study.

This would in turn, assist the researcher to answer the research problem. The ten major categories will be discussed further in Chapter 5. The outcomes of the applied grounded theory will be presented in Chapter 6.

4.4 Conclusion

In this chapter, the researcher provided an overview of the research design that was applied to the study. Justification for the use of the interpretivistic paradigm and

grounded theory was presented. The sampling techniques employed were discussed as well as how the data was gathered and analysed using open, axial and selective coding. The researcher also presented the ways in which to deal with literature in a grounded theory study, and provided justification for how and when she used literature in the study. In Chapter 5, the research question will be discussed further in terms of the research findings that will be presented there.