Data Analysis

Analyses of themes were deployed through the qualitative content analysis (QCA) method to identify trends and dissimilarities in the participants’ statements from the data collected. Later, they are interpreted to develop insights on the hijab phenomenon in Malaysian media and its relation to media users’ consumption habits. As a result, these findings will create a better understanding of how the cultural identity was adopted, applied and transformed in this study context.

The study finds that validity of the analyses does not depend solely on the emergent concepts from data collected as argued by Kvale (1996, p. 88), where thematic analysis in research already detailed “the concept of the topic under investigation before interview begins”. While traditional approaches of content analysis develop codes or themes during the course of analysis itself as can be found frequently in grounded theory research, QCA is a fairly new practice that systematically treats the data by establishing pre-determined themes prior to the coding exercise. These themes or known as main categories of coding are derived from the study objectives and research questions of this research, the theoretical framework and the literature review (Schreier, 2012). Thus, by using these

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paradigms to code, the researcher was able to ascertain the scope of analyses into different individual compartments and at the same time, expand the findings into a bigger network of interpretation.

3.4.4.1 Coding Frames

As cited by Saldana (2011), such structural coding relates to segments of data that uses research questions to frame an interview and textual material and allows similarly coded segments of data to be collected for a more comprehensive analysis. Furthermore, by organising the data in these clusters beforehand, a more detailed outlook on the commodification and negotiation of the hijab in Malaysian media could be obtained.

Consequently, this provides opportunities for expansions of multiple conceptual frameworks from the intertextual meanings uncovered in the study.

The data were divided into three categories based on the research questions; 1) Influence – to ascertain the representations of veiling in select contemporary media, 2) Perception – to evaluate the negotations of media audiences on the representations of the hijab in local media; and, 3) Relationship – to determine the roles and implications of hijab representations upon identity of Malay-Muslims at large. Consequently, subcategories were identified from the main category, branching from literature and research; and coined into key coding terms such as “commodification”, “identification”,

“information-seeking” and others. These subcategories were arranged under the relevant main categories as the root code. However, these subcategories are not limited to those from the literature, any emergent themes that the investigator may come across during the process of coding can be included as subcategories to the root code, as the categorising system is meant to guide the researcher into a well-paved path of analysis (French, 2008;

McClelland et al., 2008; Schreier, 2012). Moreover, the study should not restrict the category descriptions to only the coding frames established as hypothetical examples can

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also be included. For instance, other than positive examples, negative examples that illustrates something that was earlier not meant to be covered. As discussed by Schreier (2012, pp. 100 -101) instances that do not correspond with the themes or coding frames set should also be categorised rather than eliminated.

This study draws upon the logical flow of consequences of the issues discussed in Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 (Schreier, 2012). After the relevant data related with the issue were collected, each of article or transcript was carefully reviewed to ensure it fits the criteria of the study. This means that the data should, (a) engage with the discursive practice of hijab in Malaysian media within participants’ feedback (b) related to issues concerning the hijab on a national level within newspaper articles and magazine editorials to get a multiple dimension of the subject discussed. Once the search is finalised, the study will clean up the data by inspecting each transcript or article based on the timeline as proposed in the previous sections, at the start of the Hijabista magazine was published in 2012 until present. This would allow other materials such as interviews to complement the progress and developments of the issue at hand and to allow breadth of the subject to be explored.

The coding frames used to categorise all the data collected were based on the themes identified from the literature review. The coding process started after the study identified the required datasets and after the data were transcribed from the textual materials and interviews. The main focus of coding in this study highlights (but is not limited to) the term hijab; which includes veiling, modesty, covering hair, hijab fashion. There are also colloquial and popular terms English and/or Bahasa Malaysia terms used in addressing Malay-Muslim women in hijab such as hijabi, hijabster, hijabista, scarflets, muslimah, tudung, menutup aurat, berhijrah. With regards to the intertextual materials of the data, the coding will also look into the ongoing trends of the hijab movement to be included in

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the analyses, and aside from these main keywords, the study will also code materials that discuss cultural identity, opinion leaders, celebrity influence, media consumption, uses and gratifications, media perceptions, female empowerment, gender bias and various other discussions related to the representations of the Malay-Muslim women in media.

The most common findings or categories were analysed using the ATLAS.ti software to further examine the words and allow visualisation of the common themes. The software assists in organising the information for the convenience of retrieval with the feature called Queries to list the regularities and single out anomalies. ATLAS.ti also has a unique feature that allows the generation of “Networking Map” which condenses the most highlighted themes in the data collection for further summary. The study henceforth will construct an inductive, thematic structure to narrate the findings. The interpretive method deployed in the analysis looked at the experiences and structures at a macro level, of which would be extended into larger meanings. From here the interpretation moved to a more explicit process of relating the data analysed to cultural definitions and studies by identifying constructs that interplay between the multiplicities of texts. Therefore, various new insights are uncovered and taken into consideration in problematising the issues being examined in this thesis.