Data Analysis

The interview data was analysed through several layers of processing:

 The post-interview notes were made as soon as possible after the end of the interview to record reflections.

 The tapes were listened to in order to re-visit the experience.

 Transcription involved an examination of the interview contents. Transcripts were assigned an alphabet letter beginning with A, in order of participation, to ensure anonymity.

 The transcriptions were shared with each teacher and there were no requests made for changes or deletions.

 A transcript was shared with the Learning Resources Action Research Group (Appendix Fourteen) and this helped me to stand back from the data and see it from the

perspectives of fellow librarians, all operating in very different school contexts. This collaboration was a form of ‘interpretative zone’ (Wasser and Bressler 1996 in Ely et al 1997 p. 272) because through discussion of my new understandings it enabled me to move from monocular to binocular vision. The contradictions in the transcript were discussed and initially I felt the fault might be mine as interviewer, but as different layers of analysis have taken place, I feel this to be reflective of the ‘objective contradictions of the world he lives in.’ (Kvale 1983 p.177). The teacher identified a problem but did not address it in practice and as the analysis shows there may have been cultural reasons for not doing so.

 Substantive statements were identified in the transcripts in relation to the four research questions regarding: information literacy concepts, pedagogy, collaboration and librarian role.

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 The process of evolving category labels was influenced by the procedures

recommended by Gillham (2005).

 Three excel spread sheets were created and these were divided into three areas reflecting the structure of the interview schedule for manageability:

o _{Defining information literacy and descriptions of teaching} o _{Impact of technology and changes in information literacy skills} o _{Collaboration experiences and the role of the librarian.}

The following tables provide a guide to the categories used, the nature of their content and how they were derived.

Category Derived from Notes on character of statement

Domain specific definition data subject interpretation of

information literacy

Search both the data and the

literature

description of teaching Task relevance both the data and the

literature

description of teaching Domain specific skill/language data description of teaching

Synthesis literature in relation to pedagogy

Transfer both the data and the

literature

in relation to pedagogy

Application data student use of the skill

Articulates understanding data specific statement answering

the research question

Reflection literature by student

Evaluation data of their teaching or use of

assessment pedagogy

Thinking literature by student

Unique data not specific to research

question, an insight not mentioned by anyone else Authentic/Relate to both the data and the

literature

need for authenticity in learning experience to better enable the student to relate to it.

Strategies/tools literature in relation to pedagogy

Control/Cognitive authority Both the data and the literature

awareness of this issue

Metacognition literature observation of student

metacognition

Problems data in relation to pedagogy

Librarian Role both the data and the literature

Experienced by teacher

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Category Derived from Notes on character of

statement

Domain specific skill data description of use

Advantage for teacher data experienced by teacher

Advantage for student data experienced by teacher

Change in skill/learning both the data and the literature

viewpoint Control/Cognitive authority both the data and the

literature

awareness of this issue

New strategies found data in relation to pedagogy

Transfer both the data and the

literature

in relation to pedagogy

Ways forward data viewpoint

Problems data experienced by teacher

Unique data not specific to research

question, an insight not mentioned by anyone else

Table 3.3 Spread sheet two: impact of technology and changes in information literacy skills

Category Derived from Notes on character of statement

Experiences data description of collaboration

Domain specific data description of teaching

Strategies data description of collaboration

Impact on student data experienced by teacher

Evaluation data of collaboration

Transfer both the data and the

literature

Student learning transfer experienced by teacher

Ways forward data viewpoint

Problems data experienced by teacher

Unique data not specific to research

question, an insight not mentioned by anyone else

Table 3.4 Spread sheet three: collaboration experiences and the role of the librarian.

 Statements from each transcript were mapped to categories on the spread sheets for analysis of conceptualisations to discern level of coherence or fragmentation in views.  All the transcripts were read through in order to discern common issues and diversity of

viewpoints and experiences.

 The four research sub-questions were assigned a colour and statements in the three spread sheets were highlighted accordingly to collate statements together in relation to each question (Appendix Fifteen).

Each stage has provided matter for reflection, the literature study, the data analysis and the writing process. It is in the writing process, where much of my learning, from this research has

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crystallised. As drafting of Chapter Four began and was critiqued, this evolved into a

presentation of data, then separately discussed in Chapter Five in relation to the research questions. The data has been presented in the form of three selected voices in Chapter four to illustrate the diverse nature of the teachers’ perspectives. All twelve are diverse and have value, but constraints of word limit has required three voices to be selected and the remaining nine represented jointly in a subsequent section to emphasize points of comparison and contrast.

Each time material or writing is shared with action research group colleagues mentioned earlier, or with doctoral supervisors it causes new perspectives to emerge, provoking me to question my assumptions. The ethics of research inspire one to think carefully about how one’s interviewees and their data should be respected (Macfarlane 2009 p.77; BERA 2004) but the role that bias plays in the writing process can be subtle. On occasion I have found my assumptions written into the text and have identified the effect this can have of erroneously conflating pieces of data. The reflexive nature of responding to critique, re-drafting, re-visiting the data takes on a spiral movement across the different chapters to review and re-write them. Inherent in this process is re-conceptualisation, first in understanding and second in articulation. Bias is inevitable, it can create serious weaknesses but finding it can give thinking strength.

This is captured in this work:

‘we understand bias to encompass our pre-conceptions, assumptions, passionate inclinations, aversions, all the experiences and learning we bring to a scene. Some of these go unrecognized and prevent us

– by rendering us blunt and clumsy cutting shares –

from doing justice to our material. Some of these are recognized and act as energizers, facilitators in shaping our material just so.’ (Ely et al 1997 p.347)

Analysis of this data has taken an inductive approach to draw out the inferences from an analysis of the data and in relation to the literature on this subject. It could be argued that this approach may impose some limitations on reliability but care was taken during the design of the research to support this aspect. I ensured that the range of staff interviewed were, both with and without, experience of working with myself as librarian. The range of teachers was carefully engineered to provide a cross-section of viewpoints. Once transcripts were produced these were then shared with respondents to enhance the validity of the outcomes. An anonymised

transcript was also shared with colleagues in the Learning Resources Action Research Group for discussion of issues potentially emerging from the data.

From both an ethical perspective and from a duty of care for my colleagues I reassured them that the interviews were confidential, the data would be made anonymous and stored carefully off-site. The content of the interviews was not ethically sensitive but more in the style of a

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professional conversation that could easily have taken place in the company of other colleagues. In addition they were given control of their transcripts with the opportunity to edit as they saw fit in the knowledge that material from the document could potentially be published. The Head Teacher gave permission for the research to take place and is aware that work will be published. I hope that the data and its analysis will be informative and provide some illumination for others working on information literacy in a secondary school context. It is some time since research on this specific context has been carried out and at this level by a practitioner librarian.

The data is presented in the next chapter and this will be followed by a discussion of the findings in Chapter Five.

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4 Chapter Four

In document Information literacy and the secondary school (Page 68-73)