Data Analysis

―Analysis is the act of giving meaning to data‖ (Corbin and Strauss, 2008: 64). As Bryman states ―unlike quantitative data analysis, clear-cut rules about how qualitative data analysis should be carried out have not been developed‖ (2012: 565). The analysis was undertaken at the end of the fieldwork by both reading through transcripts and listening to sections of the recordings. This helped to remind me about the ‗feel‘ of the interviews, particularly where several weeks had passed. The analysis of interview transcripts were undertaken in NVivo 10, a type of qualitative research software known as CAQDAS (Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software).

76

Document and files can be imported into NVivo, where they can be analysed: codes can be created, personal noted or memos written and linked to the original source files, and connections between files can be identified and recorded. As further discussed by Gibbs, NVivo ‗support the storing and manipulation of documents‘ and allows users to construct analysis of data by linking search queries, models, annotations and theoretical notes together in the same space (2002:16). The analysis of data was conducted in 2 stages. Coding ‗entails reviewing transcripts and/or field notes and giving labels (names) to component parts that seem to be of potential theoretical significance and/or that appear to be significantly salient within the social worlds of those being studied‘ (Bryman, 2012: 568). As suggested in the literature, when coding it is important to establish the units of analysis, what Krippendorf (1980: 62) calls ‗themantic units‘. On the importance of coding, Gibbs asserts the following ‗coding … is an essential procedure. Any researcher who wishes to become proficient at doing qualitative data analysis must learn to code well and easily‘ (2002:17). As such, the coding stage of the analysis was undertaken through line by line analysis. In the first stage of the coding process I searched for links to the key themes I had identified as central to the research at the start of the process: simultaneous transitions, personal communities, and social media use in the management of interpersonal relationships. In this respect, I built a ‗conceptual schema‘ that was concept driven (Gibbs, 2002: 59). While the experiences of the students were unique to them, there were broad similarities in their overall experiences of the transitional period. As such, the first stage of analysis was relatively straightforward. The second stage of analysis involved applying Tinto‘s application of van Gennep‘s Les rites de passage to student transitions to higher education to the data I had gathered. In the interviews it was common for students to discuss about their experiences of transitioning in chronological order, talking about their experiences prior to their physical transition and then moving on to discuss their life at university. Applying the concepts of separation, transition, incorporation to the data was a natural process. I found it particularly that the theoretical framework had previously been utilised in a similar research setting (Tinto, 1987) and so I did not experience any significant problems interweaving the theory through the data set.

77 5.13 Reflections on the Research Process

As I alluded to at the beginning of this chapter, at the start of the research process I was not directly concerned with issues of reflexivity and ensuring my continual professional development as a sociologist. However, on reflection this is something that I wish I had engaged with throughout my research. As Finlay (2002: 532-533) notes:

Reflexivity can be defined as thoughtful, conscious self-awareness… At one end of the scale, reflection can be understood as ―thinking about‖. As a subject, I reflect on an object. The process is a distanced one- the thinking is about something else and it takes place after the event. At the other end of the scale, reflexivity taps into a more immediate, continuing, dynamic, and subjective self-awareness… the challenge is to identify that lived experience that resides in the space between subject and object. The researcher strives to capture some of the connections by which subject and object influence and constitute each other

Once I had started to the writing up the findings of the research, I began to reflect more on the process and how I had perhaps influenced the findings of the study. Though this was not my first experience of conducting an empirical research project, I approached the process with a mix of excitement, nerves and anxiety. However, I found that gaining access to the ‗insider‘ student perspective in one respect to be relatively straightforward. Whilst I faced the usual recruitment challenges that many research face, gaining the rich narratives from the students seemed natural. Although it would be hard to prove definitively, on reflection I think that the simple fact that I was close in age to my participants (and essentially still a student) afforded me a warmer reception than if I had perhaps been older and in a position where I was researching them from a higher professional standing. Further to this, although from the very start of each interview I received a warm reception from each of my participants, I found that I felt more at ease in the interviews with the students from Keele, most likely because I has been an undergraduate student at the same university and had familiarity with their narratives given my own experiences. I sensed my ease from the very

78

beginning with these students led them to appear at ease. That is not to say that the interview with students from MMU were not smooth during the first few minutes, but it was easier to find common ground with the students from Keele.

While I was not explicitly aware of it at the time, my own experiences as an undergraduate student had a profound influence on each stage of the research process, and thus ultimately affect the findings of this study.