Analysis Phase 2: developing descriptive and explanatory accounts

presenting findings

Once coding had been completed the next phase of analysis involved carefully reading through the assembled ‘chunks’ of data under each thematic heading in NVivo, before developing descriptive accounts of the main issues occurring under each theme. While Ritchie and Spencer (1994) recommend the development of charts to aid this process, I found that descriptive writing which grouped some of the main themes together under broad headings such as ‘applying for benefits’,

‘experiencing financial constraint’, and ‘independent living’ better enabled me to understand and explore the data under each theme. In addition to summarizing

participant’s experiences under these main headings, I began to collate quotes that supported these ideas, as well as to highlight divergent cases. These descriptive accounts formed the basis of draft findings chapters.

Subsequent drafts sought to synthesize ideas and relate these more closely to existing theory in order to develop more explanatory accounts (Spencer et al. 2003). However, this was very much an iterative process, involving drafting and redrafting material and reclassifying themes. A challenge that I encountered in the transition from descriptive to interpretative exploration of the data (Mason 2002) was the need to balance concise and analytical accounts of trends with being able to capture the depth and complexity of participants’ experiences (Ritchie et al. 2003b). Ritchie et al. (2003b) argue that the use of quotations should help to exhibit the diversity of cases that exist within the data. However, the use of verbatim quotations tends to privilege the voices of those who are most articulate. Interviews are discursive interplays between researcher and participant, and important issues may arise over the course of several pages of discussion, which cannot be easily summarized in a short

quotation. However, this can result in the voices of less eloquent participants

becoming hidden, reducing the diversity of cases that can be presented. Returning to the narrative accounts that were developed at the start of the analysis enabled me to develop illustrative case studies which provided additional background and context to the discussion of issues that were particularly deeply felt by some participants. This approach also ensured that the voices and experiences of all participants were given equal weight whether through direct quotation or narrative case study.

A further challenge that was encountered in the analysis of data related to my closeness to the data. I had built a strong rapport with many of the participants, and as I have discussed had invested considerable time in familiarizing myself with the data. While an intimate knowledge of the data is important ingredient of qualitative analysis (Ritchie & Spencer 1994), overfamiliarity can lead to the analyst becoming ‘bogged down’ (Spencer et al. 2003), which can reduce the potential for analytical insight. This project therefore benefitted from an enforced break of six months following the birth of my first child. This enabled me to return to my findings with fresh eyes, and a refocused analytical lens, which I hope has helped to deepen the analysis presented in the next three chapters.

On my return from maternity leave, a final stage of analysis involved re-engaging with existing literature in order to develop concepts and ideas that emerged through the data, and to make connections with unexplored fields. An interesting example of this related to the concept of ‘hidden conditionality’ that is discussed in section 6.3. Exploring this as a form of ‘surveillance’ enabled connections to be made with different forms of surveillance, including ‘self-surveillance’. This in turn led to

connections with literature connecting the concept of agency in conditionality policy with Young’s (2003) concept of ‘vindictiveness’. This allowed me to bring together my analysis of the diverse experiences of stigma and shaming with bullying and harassment as different expressions of the phenomena of vindictiveness in the context of benefit stigma.

Taking a break from analysis also assisted with a further challenge which I had faced throughout this project, which was the fast pace of change in this area. The project had commenced only two years into the Coalition’s term of office, during which time they had made a number of policy announcements. As discussed in section 3.5, this had contributed to a sense that disabled people were facing a period of considerable change and uncertainty. However, by the 2015 General Election, it was clear that many of the reforms that had been proposed at the start of the period would not come into effect. The six-month break between October 2015 and April 2016 allowed me to view the reforms I was examining as having taken place during a discrete period of time, and I was able to refine the scope of my enquiry and thereby to exclude issues that had initially appeared relevant, but which had not come to pass.

4.7 Summary

This chapter has provided an overview of the research methods employed in this study. It began by outlining three research questions that emerged from the review of literature presented in Chapters 2 and 3. It then explored some of the key

epistemological debates within disability studies, before situating myself in relation to these. Section 4.4 highlighted some of the ethical challenges faced in conducting the research, as well as the way in which I sought to reflect on and resolve these. The

remaining sections provided a detailed overview of the methods of recruiting and interviewing participants as well as the approach taken to analysis of the resultant data.

The next three chapters are organized by research question, and outline findings in relation to each of these. Chapter 5 examines the way in which participants in this study exhibited different forms of agency in relation to using benefits and their orientation to the labour market. The impacts of the coalition’s conditionality policies are also explored. Chapter 6 considers participants’ experiences of negotiating the redrawn disability category, and in particular the increased focus on medical testing that has enabled this. The creation of a moral narrative around who is and is not deserving of state support has been a key feature of the Coalition’s welfare reform agenda. Chapter 6 therefore also explores some of the impacts of this discursive trend. Finally, Chapter 7 presents findings that relate to the impacts of policies which have been framed in the language of the disabled people’s movement in order to interrogate the extent to which they have enhanced disabled peoples citizenship status. Chapter 8 concludes by discussing the way in which these findings have made a unique contribution to knowledge as well as outlining recommendations for future policy.