In section 4.4.1, it was proposed to conduct three units of analysis to explore this case study of an investigation into CPV as KSF in South Korean medical tourism. The first is CPV of MT and the factors that influence MTD, and the second is KSF of MT in South Korea. This exploration was to be based on the same data set of the key elements of CPV, but named differently for their different perspectives of consumers and
industry. Finally, the last is CPV as KSF, which is the aim of this case study.
There are two approaches to analyse the qualitative data, inductive and deductive (Spencer et al., 2004). This study follows the inductive approach analysis as it is the most common and a suitable approach where little is known about the study of the emerging phenomenon of medical tourism (Burnard et al., 2008). It is also concerned with the generation of a new theory emerging from the data (Saunders et al., 2002).
The following presents more details of the analysis techniques which were used for this study.
4.6.1 Hermeneutic analysis
Once the material is gathered, the researcher then has the task of ordering, interpreting, and explaining it in order to make some sense of it (Myers, 2009). As mentioned earlier, interpretive research involves hermeneutics and it is one approach to analysing and interpreting qualitative data. Bhattacherjee (2012, p. 116) indicates that hermeneutic analysis is a special type of content analysis where the researcher tries to “interpret”
the subjective meaning of a given text within its socio-historic context. In addition, Myers (2009) draws attention to one of the practical points about using hermeneutics in business management research:
It is important to generalize from the case study or the field study to theory.
Hermeneutics is something that enables one to do that and in fact almost requires it. This is because a hermeneutic researcher usually starts out with some kind of theoretical framework that he or she wishes to explore within the context of a company or situation (p. 194).
Within these thoughts, as I am a research instrument, I continually iterated between interpretation of the texts (the parts) from the diverse viewpoints of research participants and a holistic understanding of the context (the whole) to develop a fuller understanding of this case study (Arnold and Fischer, 1994; Myers, 2009; Patterson and Williams, 2002). The following hermeneutical circles were used during the whole analysis process. In other words, constant subject interpretations of meanings from the
unit of analysis, but also to achieve the aim of this case study research. This also involved constant checking of the relevant evidence from the key literature.
Figure 21 Unit of analysis with hermeneutical circles
In general, the keywords from research participants were preserved and presented in vivo, as a basis for subsequent analysis. Following this, my words and interpretations, as part of an immersive and iterative process, were used to address research questions more squarely without sacrificing the participants’ voices. A key focus was to both manage and deliver a structured process by which the richness and depth of the data are funnelled in order to distil the most salient points. The method of analysis described in this study involved managing the data by hand interactively.
4.6.2 Thematic analysis
A thematic analysis was also employed to investigate the unit of analysis of this study.
This was to focus on the key themes from the data set to answer the research questions as well as to achieve the aim of this case study. It was conducted in accordance with the guidelines given by Braun and Clark (2006). According to Boyatiz (1998), thematic analysis enables scholars, observers or practitioners to use a wide variety of
types of information in a systematic manner that increases their accuracy or sensitivity in understanding and interpreting observations of people, events, situations and organisations (p. 5). In a recent study by Braun and Clark (2014), they insist that thematic analysis offers a toolkit for researchers who want to do robust and even sophisticated analyses of qualitative data (p. 2). Thus, this research has adopted the following logical guidance in the steps involved in identifying emerging themes and proposing five stage of analysis specified by Braun and Clark (2006) as follows:
l Stage 1: Familiarising yourself with your data
l Stage 2: Generating initial code
l Stage 3: Searching for themes
l Stage 4: Reviewing themes
l Stage 5: Defining and naming themes
l Stage 6: Producing the report
Stage 1: Familiarising yourself with your data
The transcripts of interviews with the key informants from the medical tourism providers in South Korea were created from the voice recordings. In order to become familiar with the data, the transcripts were repeatedly read, and the key answers from each question at the field study were identified and noted down in the table. In addition, all the answers collected from the consumers were also repeatedly read and the key answers were listed in the table.
Stage 2: Generating initial code
The data began to be analysed into codes and the initial codes were identified from the key answers. The key findings were also presented by summarising at this stage. This process was presented in section 5.2 of the phase one of the unit investigation.
Stage 3 and 4: Searching for and reviewing themes to answer the research questions
All initial codes were listed in the table, but it was found that some of initial codes had similar meanings. Thus, they were categorised into those similar meanings and the key themes among them were created through the thematic maps (Appendices 10 and 11).
Stage 5: Defining and naming themes
Finally, the four sets of major themes for each unit of analysis were produced in the final thematic map (Figures 39 and 40), and the major themes were presented with key words and descriptions (Tables 41 and 42). They were medical quality, cost, travel, uncertainty, reputation and safety for the subject, CPV of MT and the factors that influence MTD, and medical quality, tourism infrastructure, human resources, and promotion for KSF of MT in South Korea. However, the final unit of analysis with the subject of CPV as KSF was not presented in the thematic map since it was integrated based on the interpretations emerging from the contexts in the two units of analysis.
Stage 6: Producing the report
The major themes were analysed within the contexts from respondents with my interpretation. Each theme identifies the essence of what it is about, and what aspect of the data has been captured.
The following presents the whole research process of how all the data were treated and analysed.