5.4 Data Analysis
5.4.2 Data Coding and Identifying Themes
ExpressScribe® computer programme software was used to transcribe the interview data from audio format into Microsoft Word® document and a qualitative data analysis (QDA) software package, NVivo Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QSR International Pty Ltd., version 10, 2014) was used to help to classify and categorise codes and themes from the transcripts. Reference was made back and forth between the audio recording of the interview and the transcription to check for accuracy and participants were given a copy of their transcription to check for accuracy. No participants said they did not want any part of the interview not to be used or that corrections had to be made. This demonstrated an accurate and robust transcription process. Hilal and Alibri (2013) advocated for using QDA packages as they enhance the quality of the research carried out to a large extent. Furthermore, Hilal and Alibri (2013) proposed that NVivo is a suitable package because of the powerful and wide range of functions it has and because it can manipulate a great deal of the manual operations of data analysis that a researcher would need to undertake thus saving time and allowing the researcher more time to focus on the analysis and interpretation. The details of how NVivo was used and the data that was input are given below.
First the interviews were coded using the a priori codes from the literature review and new codes that emerged from the data. This allowed the data ‘to speak to me’ without constraining the data. From this, the codes were categorised into sub-themes (Welsh, 2002). Welsh (2002) pointed out that NVivo can be advantageous to the data analysis process because it improves the rigour of the data analysis process, however, cautioned that it can be used so powerfully that the connection between themes becomes less reliable. It was therefore important to retain the value of using a QDA software package whilst at the same time keeping a manual touch on the data. To this end, the interviews were coded sentence by sentence. Where possible, there was no ‘double-coding’, which is assigning the same sentence to two different codes. To do this there was constant questioning about what the sentence meant and where it fitted with the sub-themes. New codes that emerged
were added to the a priori codes, after interview three, no more new codes were identified. This led to 21 codes being identified with varying occurrences from 145 references to two references. This shows a refined process of data analysis was carried out. These codes and the number of occurrences are summarised in Table 5.6, below. Table 5.6 is ranked in order of codes from most to least frequent. The number of sources is also given, which indicates how many out of the 11 interviews that were carried out each code appeared.
Table 5.6 – Initial Codes Identified from NVivo Analysis of Interview Data
Code Number of
Sources
Number of Occurrences
Influence of family 11 145
Economic and social background 11 108
Influence of school 11 72
Work experience 11 69
Early life influences 11 50
Own interests 11 49
Other 10 45
Influence of friends 11 37
Additional programmes 11 36
Assumptions about careers 11 35
Leaving school early 9 30
Different post-school destinations 8 26
Influence of others 9 26 Self-belief 9 22 Pressured or forced 8 21 Travel 11 19 Apprenticeships 10 18 Influence of siblings 8 16 Hard work 5 10 Health 6 9
Easy option or route 2 2
As certain codes had fewer occurrences than others they were not discarded and these 21 codes were further categorised into the sub-themes. One code identified was that of ‘other’. This code included ideas about respondents’ own ambitions and aspirations and
their thoughts on the importance of different post-school destinations. This was used for the third high-level theme in Table 5.5 above.
Table 5.7 – Sub-Themes Identified from Codes Sub-Themes Identified Codes from Interview Data Positive and Negative Effects
of Influential People
Influences of family and siblings Influences of friends
Influences of others The Field of Education and
Institutional Habitus
Influence of school and teachers The notion of hard work paying off
Leaving school early Economic and
Social Factors
Economic and social background Ability to access resources The Benefits of Following
Own Interests (Following Individual/Internal Habitus)
Following own interests
The effect of being pressured or forced Self-belief
The Influence and Importance of Experiences gained through
Education
Early influences of education Participating in additional programmes,
The impact of work experience Post-16 Destinations Apprenticeships
Assumptions about careers and different post- school destinations
Other factors The Influence of Travel and Health on Aspirations
In the data analysis process each of the sub-themes identified in Table 5.7 above were considered in relation to the methodological lens developed in Chapter Four (summarised in Table 5.5). Table 5.8, over page, shows how the themes above link with the methodological ideas. It is important to remember that there will be overlap between and within themes and this will be brought out in the discussion that follows in Chapter Six, which will be supplemented by the theory and findings from the literature discussed earlier in this dissertation. Moreover, the discussion will identify possible strategies that could help young people transform their habitus. This will be done by linking the discussion to the key policies of Developing the Young Workforce that were discussed in
Chapter One: Career Education Standard, Work Experience Standard, and School-
Employer Partnerships and outlining areas of good practice identified from the school this
research was carried out in.
Table 5.8 – Linking Methodological/Theoretical Interpretive References to Thematic Analysis
High Level Themes
Theoretical Interpretive Themes
Links to Thematic Analysis (Themes from Table 5.6)
1:
Dispositions
These will consider how young people think, act and behave and will include looking for examples and patterns of repetition of practices and attitudes; that is, their habitus as an individual and as part of a community (society) in relation to socio-economic status.
1. Positive and negative effects of influential people. Positive and negative influences of: family and siblings, friends and others.
2. Economic and social factors and ability of access to resources, for example, work experience and career education.
2:
Educational Field
The influence of school will be considered to take account of the institutional habitus in relation to experiences and choices offered by the school and how these can influence a young person’s dispositions and habitus.
1. Positive and negative influences of school and teachers and the notion that hard work pays off.
2. The effect of leaving school at the end of compulsory education.
3. Early and late experiences gained through education.
4. Participating in additional
programmes and the impact of work experience. 3: Intended and Actual Aspirations Intended aspirations of individuals taking part in the study will be considered in relation to Zipin et al. (2015) notions of doxic, habituated and
emergent aspirations. This will
consider traditional, expected, ideal and actual aspirations.
1. Different post-school destinations and assumptions about careers.
2. Following own interests. The effect of being pressured or forced
5.5 Chapter Conclusion
First, ethical considerations for carrying out the dissertation research were robustly considered and interventions were identified and ready to put into place, if needed. Key terms and their impact on the research process were considered: truth value, consistency,
neutrality (confirmability) and how these impact and apply to this dissertation. Following
this, a method influenced by an interpretivist paradigm was developed using interviews based on pre-prepared vignettes. Furthermore, the use of interviews and the design of the associated vignettes have been discussed in addition to the practical aspects and issues surrounding carrying out the interviews, taking account of the potentially sensitive mature of this project. Throughout the whole research process the importance of ethics and trustworthiness has been considered and outlined. Latterly, the method of thematic data analysis using the Bourdieusian theoretical lens developed in Chapter Four and a priori codes and sub-themes from the literature review has laid the foundations for the following chapter which features a discussion of the interview data in relation to previous literature on habitus and its transformation. This demonstrated a robust data analysis process combining thematic data analysis with the Bourdieusian methodological lens developed for this dissertation. As a reminder the high-level themes from the Bourdieusian theoretical lens were: dispositions, the effect of the institutional habitus and intended and actual aspirations of the participants in relation to doxic, habituated and emergent aspirations. The a priori codes and sub-themes were: influential people (adults, siblings etc.), education (the opportunities that constrain and develop aspirations), economic and social factors (family background, area lived in), importance of young people following their own interest, experiences gained through education, post-16 destinations and other factors such as travel and health that can affect individual’s aspirations.