Approach to Data Analysis

Data analysis is shaped by Miles and Huberman (1994, p. 10) as “three concurrent flows of activity: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification”. These three stages are reached through thematic analysis which “is a method for identifying, analysing, and reporting patterns (themes) within data” (Braun and Clarke, 2006, p. 79). Thematic analysis “is one of a cluster of methods that focus on identifying patterned meaning across a dataset”

109

(Braun and Clark, n.d.) and was deemed best for approaching data analysis and findings in this mixed methods research because “knowledge and empathy about a person, an interaction, a group, a situation, an organization or a culture” can be gained through thematic analysis (Komori, n.d.). Noting that this research included three different methods of data collection: semi-structured interviews with eight Heads of School and five teachers and SLT members, eight focus groups with students and also a questionnaire administered to all the teachers within St David’s College, thematic analysis was chosen as “through its theoretical freedom, thematic analysis provides a flexible and useful research tool, which can potentially provide a rich and detailed, yet complex accounts of data” (Braun and Clarke, 2006, p. 78).

Braun and Clarke (2006) present six phases of thematic analysis, shown in Table 3.8, which were deployed in this research in order to ensure “a trustworthy thematic analysis”. However, it is worth noting that whilst following the six- phased method, this thematic analysis approach required “an iterative and reflective process that develops over time and involves a constant moving back and forward between phases” (Nowell et al., 2017, p. 4).

Phase 1 Familiarising yourself with the data Phase 2 Generating initial codes

Phase 3 Searching for themes Phase 4 Reviewing themes

Phase 5 Defining and naming themes Phase 6 Producing the report

Table 3.8 - Phases of Thematic Approach (Braun and Clarke, 2006)

The semi-structured interviews and focus groups were transcribed and the quantitative data was inputted on the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Each interviewee was given a code and students’ focus groups were coded according to the school sector (primary or secondary). Commas and [pause] helped to “record hesitations, small to long pauses, and silences” (Cohen et al., 2011, p. 537). Cohen et al. (2011, p. 537) indicate that “important detail and an accurate verbatim record of the interview” can be obtained by transcripts and since transcribing was done shortly after the interviews or focus groups, I was

110

in a better position to freshly remember interesting details and anecdotes that the interviewees mentioned passionately, and these were highlighted immediately on a Microsoft Word document and then coding notes were entered. As qualitative data can yield to large amounts of data, transcribing shortly after the interviews or focus groups helped “to reduce the problem of data overload by selecting out significant features for future focus” (Cohen et al., 2011, p. 539). This is referred to as Phase 1 where raw data is organised whilst the researcher familiarises himself with the data. Phase 2 includes generating initial coding and, in this research, the qualitative data was firstly analysed by manually going through all the transcripts where coding notes were entered on the right column of a word document whilst pertinent quotes were highlighted as shown in Tables 3.9 and 3.10 that present excerpts from a semi-structured interview and focus group respectively. Coding is defined by Glesne and Peshkin (1992, p. 133) as “a process of sorting and defining” the collected data according to the need of the research question. Transcript Document (Original in Maltese) – Interview HP3 Transcript Document (translated to English) – Interview HP3 Coding Notes

Mela, il-persuni huma importanti ħafna għaliex għandek different types of persons tajjeb? Għandek l- ewwel ħaġa l-istaff li jiġini f’moħħi: l-SMT, it-teaching staff, l-LSAs u l-caretakers u l-minor staff, huma dawk in- nies li lili bħala Head of School ħa jwassluni ħa

jgħinuni għall-għan aħħari tiegħi li huwa t-teaching and learning prattikament, jiġifieri through the people you have to achieve your goals, jiġifieri importanti

ħafna li inti dawn, tkun fis-

sinkronija mal-members of

staff kollha, mbagħad

għandek ukoll il-klijenti tiegħek li huma t-tfal u li huma l-ġenituri, jiena qed ngħidilhom klijenti ehe għax

fl-aħħar mill-aħħar aħna qed nagħtu servizz lit-tfal

u lill-ġenituri tagħhom.

Jiġifieri ukoll l-element uman kif għedtlek l-ewwel

So, the persons are very important, because you have different types of persons, right? The first thing that springs to mind is the staff; SMT, teaching staff, LSAs, caretakers, and minor staff - these are people who will lead me to, help me to

achieve my ultimate goal, which as Head of School is

that of teaching and

learning practically. What I mean is that it is through people that you have to achieve your goals, so it is

very important to be in

synchrony with all the members of staff, then you

also have the clients, that are the students and parents, I am calling them clients, yes, because at the end of the

day, we are giving a service to the students and their parents. So there is the human element, as I told

you about the duties of the

- Having a clear aim of School Leadership - Aim of School Leadership

through people - School Community - Students and Parents as

clients

- Dealing with humans - Guidance and leadership - Supporting staff

111 ħaġa li semmejtlek fix-

xogħolijiet ta’ head, hija

tipo ta’ guidance teacher bażikament għaliex it-tfal,

il-ġenituri, u anke l-

members of staff huma umani, huma persuni u kulħadd għandu l-pakkett tiegħu, kulħadd għandu l- esperjenzi tiegħu, kulħadd għandu s-sofferenzi tiegħu, u kollox u allura you have to deal with that on a daily basis.

head, it is like a guidance

teacher role basically

because the students, the

parents and also the

member of staff are

humans, they are persons

and everyone has his

package, everyone has his experience, everyone has

his own anguish, and

everything, so you have to deal with that on a daily basis.

Table 3.9 - Excerpt of transcript document with coding: Semi-structured Interview - HP3

Transcript Document (Original in English)

– Focus Group SS Coding Notes

It depends on the teacher. For example, when the teacher doesn’t even care about the subject, about the students, about even the notes or exams, you don’t want to be motivated at all, at all, but when some teachers shows respect towards you, respect towards all the class, she brings the notes and stuff, you feel motivated, you feel like you need to learn the subjects, for yourself and even for her to make her a little bit proud. I can switch subjects, the

teacher because my computer studies class I feel motivated

because the teacher is nice and he helps me every time I need help and every time I need that, and not like my Miss of

Biology who she just shouts and she doesn’t come for the

lessons, for any reason and, just that.

- Teacher affects students’ motivation.

- Respect towards students results in better student learning.

- Students want to make their teachers proud if they are motivated. - Students are aware of

who are those who help them the most

- Students analyse teachers well

Table 3.10 - Excerpt of transcript document with coding: Focus Group - SS

NVivo and/or similar computer-assisted analysis packages for qualitative data were not used as I felt much more comfortable and confident with different highlighters on a word document. In fact Komori (n.d.) argues that “researchers code the data by hand or through a software programme”. Through an inductive (bottom-up) approach, similarities, differences and repeated codes in the participants’ views helped to identify sub-themes. Cohen et al. (2011, p. 559) maintain that “coding enables the researcher to identify similar information” and thus themes were established through word repetitions, metaphors and key-words in the context of this research about positive relationships and effective leadership. Inspired by Denscombe, (2010, p. 115) I deeply examined the “links and associations that allow certain codes to be subsumed under broader headings”. This meant that the sub-themes unfolded into eight themes that were

112

considered as a basis for organising the data analysis and findings. Identifying themes is referred to as Phase 3 and the process required that I would go through the selected quotes and highlight them with different colours.

Transcript Document (Original in Maltese) – Interview HP3 Transcript Document (translated to English) – Interview HP3 Coding Notes

Mela, il-persuni huma importanti ħafna għaliex għandek different types of persons tajjeb? Għandek l- ewwel ħaġa l-istaff li jiġini f’moħħi: l-SMT, it-teaching staff, l-LSAs u l-caretakers u l-minor staff, huma dawk in- nies li lili bħala Head of School ħa jwassluni ħa jgħinuni għall-għan aħħari

tiegħi li huwa t-teaching and learning prattikament, jiġifieri through the people you have to achieve your goals, jiġifieri importanti

ħafna li inti dawn, tkun fis- sinkronija mal-members of staff kollha, mbagħad għandek ukoll il-klijenti tiegħek li huma t-tfal u li huma l-ġenituri, jiena qed ngħidilhom klijenti ehe għax fl-aħħar mill-aħħar aħna

qed nagħtu servizz lit-tfal u lill-ġenituri tagħhom.

Jiġifieri ukoll l-element uman kif għedtlek l-ewwel

ħaġa li semmejtlek fix- xogħolijiet ta’ head, hija tipo

ta’ guidance teacher bażikament għaliex it-tfal, il- ġenituri, u anke l-members of staff huma umani, huma persuni u kulħadd għandu l- pakkett tiegħu, kulħadd għandu l-esperjenzi tiegħu, kulħadd għandu s-sofferenzi tiegħu, u kollox u allura you have to deal with that on a daily basis.

So, the persons are very important, because you have different types of persons, right? The first thing that springs to mind is the staff; SMT, teaching staff, LSAs, caretakers, and minor staff - these are people who will lead me to, help me to

achieve my ultimate goal, which as Head of School is

that of teaching and

learning practically. What I mean is that it is through people that you have to achieve your goals, so it is

very important to be in synchrony with all the members of staff, then you also have the clients, that are the students and parents… I am calling them clients, yes, because at the end of the

day, we are giving a service to the students and their parents. So there is the

human element, as I told you

about the duties of the head,

it is like a guidance teacher role basically because the students, the parents and also the member of staff are humans, they are persons and everyone has his package, everyone has his experience, everyone has his own anguish, and everything, so you have to deal with that on a daily basis.

- Having a clear aim of School Leadership - Aim of School Leadership

through people

- School Community

- Students and Parents as clients

- Dealing with humans - Guidance and leadership - Supporting staff

Table 3.11: Excerpt of transcript document with selected themes: Semi-structured Interview - HP3

Table 3.11 shows the selected quotes highlighted in typography according to the themes. This process thus led to Phase 4 where the themes were reviewed. Reviewing, refining and renaming themes was necessary during the use of the

113

“constant comparative method” (Glazer and Strauss, 1967, p. 102) by noting the consistencies, connections, and differences in the emerging codes that led to incorporating codes into themes “as they emerge” (Denscombe, 2010, p. 116). This fourth phase included “double-checking the codes for consistency and validation” (Komori, n.d.).

As Creswell (2014, p. 234) notes, this process included the organisation of data into “increasingly more abstract units of information” which “inductive process illustrates working back and forth between the themes and the database until the researchers have established a comprehensive set of themes”. Phase 5 is defining and naming themes and the following eight themes were outlined: (A) Effective Leadership; (B) Motivation; (C) Communication; (D) Positive Relationships; (E) Trust; (F) Sense of Community; (G) People Matter; and (H) Leadership that Loves. It was only after that the eight themes emerged that the quantitative data was considered. In fact, the questions that formed the teachers’ questionnaire were divided according to the theme so that all the data in this thesis was analysed through the eight emerging themes. This approach was adopted as Braun and Clarke (2006, p. 94) warn that using “data collection questions as the themes” is a common error. Furthermore, as Komori (n.d.) advises “themes emerge from the data” therefore these are “not imposed or predetermined by the researcher” (Komori, n.d.). Also, around sixty comments acquired by the open-ended questions on the questionnaire were typed in a Microsoft Word document and then categorised according to the themes they best fit in, developed for this research through the qualitative data analysis approach.

Data emanating from the teachers’ questionnaire was coded and inputted into the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences), which software was utilised to analyse the quantitative data. “SPSS provides various ways of examining data in greater detail” (Davis, 2013, p. 53). Data collected in the questionnaire from the teaching staff is in categorical form, with teaching staff indicating their level of agreement to various statements. The responses were then coded as follows: strongly agree=1, agree=2, neither agree nor disagree=3, disagree=4, strongly disagree=5. SPSS was used to produce frequency tables for each question, and

114

also to produce cross-tabulations of the various questions by respondent sector (primary and secondary), and to obtain the frequency distribution separately for primary and secondary teachers. As Davis (2013, p. 48) advises, the case processing summary was “worth checking in case of error”, such as having respondents who did not answer all the questions.

In order to test the relationship between two categorical variables, the chi-square test for independence was used. Pell and Fogelman (2007, p. 323) claim that statistical significance in the study of aspects of human behaviour holds “as long as the research results have less chance than 5% of being natural variations”. Described by Cohen et al. (2011, p. 654) as “one of the most widely used tests, and is applicable to nominal data in particular”, the chi-squared test is “an extremely elegant statistic based on the simple idea of comparing the frequencies you observe in certain categories to the frequencies you might expect to get in those categories by chance” (Field et al., 2012, p. 814). When differences in the frequency distribution for the primary and secondary sample respondents was noted, this non-parametric test was run to test whether the differences noted in the sample are statistically significant and can be generalised to the whole population within St David’s College. In a few occasions it was also interesting to run cross- tabulation according to gender. The chi-squared test provides a general test for the association between the two variables being considered, and therefore standardised residuals were obtained to identify which specific categories show a significant difference at 95% or 99% confidence level, [and therefore the p-value is <0.05 and <0.01 respectively]. According to the chi-squared test, if there is a significant difference, H1 would be accepted, and therefore one would conclude that there is a significant association between the two variables, and the null hypothesis H0 rejected.

Bryman and Cramer (1997, p. 123) outline the restriction on using chi-square as with two categories, “the number of cases expected to fall in these categories should be at least 5 before this test can be applied”. In cases where the expected count was less than 5 for more than 20% of cells, responses were re-categorised by aggregating the strongly agree and agree categories together and also the

115

disagree with the strongly disagree. This re-categorisation was affected to ensure that the chi-squared test results are valid. Then the chi-squared test was re-run on a recoded version of the variables in order to identify whether the differences in responses noted between primary and secondary teachers were in fact statistically significant and therefore not present in the sample simply due to chance.

I decided that the data would not be analysed according to each particular school opting to “amalgamate key issues emerging across the individuals” (Cohen et al., 2011, p. 539) to obtain one complete picture for this case study - St David’s College. Mixing both quantitative and qualitative research paradigms helped to better triangulate the findings. Moreover, analysing the data and writing the report is referred to as the last phase (Phase 6) of the thematic analysis according to Braun and Clarke (2006). Since data analysis and findings are debated in Chapters 4, 5 and 6, according to each of the three subsidiary research questions, it was difficult to combine some of the themes to a particular subsidiary research question due to overlapping. However, it made sense to fully cover each theme under one subsidiary research question and, after careful reflection, each theme was matched with a specific subsidiary research question to maintain the sequence of this thesis. Thus, each subsidiary research question is analysed through themes and through a maximum of three different research methods: semi-structured interviews with the Heads of School and a sample of five teaching staff; questionnaires with the teaching staff; and focus groups with the students.