Example of analysis process

I provide below an example of exploratory coding from a selection of transcript, and then follow this with examples of emergent and higher order themes to show my analysis and interpretation process in action.

Fig 4.14 Transcript extract

The exploratory coding below in Fig 4.15 shows the openness of this stage of analysis – almost every word has been analysed and I have noted frames and metaphors, emotions, needs satisfaction and threat response, using the intersubjective knowledge resources listed earlier. However, not all of these analyses are represented in the emerging themes: I made a judgement about which were most pertinent to my research questions and aims by asking ‘is this directly relevant to understanding the experience of working to influence and improve

environmental practices in the organisation, and to understanding what affects how the participants enact their pro-environmental values in this regard?’

Fig 4.15 Extract from exploratory coding notes

Fig 4.16 Emergent and higher order themes

As in all qualitative analyses, there is interpretation (Willig & Stainton-Rogers 2010). For example in the notes to line 309 and 310 in Fig 4.15 I have used abductive reasoning to infer that the participant regards herself as different from her colleagues with respect to speaking

out or acting in accordance with her feelings, and that support from these colleagues is lacking in the sense that they are not there with their head above the parapet with her.

The transcript text in Fig. 4.14 above is marked up with key words associated with the emerging themes (highlighted in yellow). I have selected these particular emergent themes because they represent the main ‘objects of concern’ (Larkin, Watts & Clifton 2006) for the participant in this extract. The higher order theme is an abstraction of the emerging theme, so by way of example in Fig 4.16, the emotion of frustration is clustered with the feeling of pressure and other emotions and feelings under the higher order theme label ‘engagement with negative emotion’. The literature tells us that negative emotions and how they are expressed is a major psychosocial factor influencing behaviour (see 2.5.4). I drew upon this knowledge to assist the development and elucidation of themes. IPA recognises that analyst may draw upon existing theoretical concepts to assist the development and elucidation of themes (Larkin, Watts & Clifton 2006).

With reference to the research questions, the emergent themes represent key aspects of the participant’s experience. In this short extract, I show how applying theories regarding

cognitive frames, psychological threat response and needs brings particular insights. For example, frustration can be interpreted as an indication of thwarted basic psychological needs of competency, relatedness and/or autonomy. The literature suggests that organisational contexts can be supportive or undermining of needs satisfaction, and that how the participant deals with the frustration from thwarted needs (which is clustered under the higher order theme label of ‘tensions in experience’) will have implications for vitality and effectiveness. I used this theoretical concept in my analysis of her account, returning to the original transcript and exploratory notes to check for indications of strategies for dealing with frustration, and for indications of impacts on vitality and effectiveness.

This example illustrates the procedure that I followed for each interview transcript. As explained above, the emerging themes were clustered and refined and organised into higher order themes that were themselves clustered and refined in several iterative cycles. The final result of this process is seven higher order themes, each with a number of associated

subthemes. I constructed a table showing each higher order theme and its subtheme illustrated with quotes. This is included in the Findings chapter 5.3. I provide an example below for the higher order theme ‘Relationship with nature’:

Fig 4.17 Example of higher order theme and subthemes with illustrative quotes Higher order

theme Subthemes Illustrative quotes

Relationship with nature

Multi-sensory You can hear everything and you can sort

of smell outdoor smells and you can sort of touch the grass

Spiritual/transpersonal experience I feel completely and utterly at one

Restorative benefit It gives me a sense of calm and wellbeing

Motivational Just being outside reminding me that’s

why I come and do this stuff

Appreciate intrinsic value of nature When natural spaces are lost its sad that

its not there as intrinsic value Inconsistencies in sense of

connectedness I have less relationship with it at work because I'm probably, I don't feel like I'm in it in some ways

4.3.3 Participant diary

This followed a much simpler procedure than the interview transcript analysis because I was only focussing on coding for embodied mindful awareness. I looked for descriptive evidence of awareness of body sensations, emotions and thoughts, as well as descriptive awareness of what was going on for other people in the meeting. I then interpreted this information to assess in rough terms their level of awareness of each aspect of experience e.g. none, some, high awareness. As I have previously explained, mindfulness supports autonomous self- regulation and helps resist contextual pressures. I also analysed and interpreted their descriptions of direct experience for indications of psychological threat response.

Reflections

This was a fairly straightforward analysis as I was only interested in making rough assessments of embodied awareness. The intention was not to produce a precise quantitative measure.

4.3.4 My reflexive diary

Interrogating my experience to write the diary exposed some processes to conscious awareness, and this meant I then had some choice in what do with it (Deci et al 2015). For example, in making my judgements overt in the exploratory coding notes, I could to some extent ‘bracket’ them in the interpretation. I think I have been able to generate insight into the dynamics influencing a reported behaviour without my approval or disapproval of the behaviour featuring in my interpretation of those dynamics.

Reflections

I have discussed my reflexive diary already in 4.2.1 and 4.2.3. Further to that, I add here that I think my background experience as a mindfulness practitioner helped me to surface automatic unconscious habits of mind, and to notice embodied reactions as they were arising in the interviews. But writing the diary was only one part of the whole self-reflexive process and I didn’t write down everything I was noticing.

The encounter with participants was packed full of split second micro-choices made in response to ongoing moment-by-moment embodied awareness. Most of what I noticed at the time I did not remember afterwards, there was simply too much to retain it all in memory so only some of what I noticed got written in the diary. But I was interested to discover that when I listened to the audio recordings I was transported back to being in that moment, and could feel again what I felt then, and I remembered those choice points – ‘I’m

feeling an urge to push them on this, but is it relevant or is it my thing?’ Reading the transcript I asked myself, ‘why did I ask that and not this? What was that about?’ I didn’t always reach a conclusion. I also didn’t really do anything with what I wrote in the diary, it was just there, it became tacit.

I used my emotional responses and physical body sensations as feedback signals, and let feelings of unease and discomfort guide me in refining and re-writing interpretations.

Miles & Huberman (1994) say there are very few guidelines for protecting against self- delusion. Embodied reflexive awareness has a definite role to play based on my experience of doing this study. Internal and external supervision and the debriefs with participants were also invaluable in further checking the trustworthiness of my interpretations (see 4.3.7).

4.3.5 Indirect observation - audio recordings of meetings

I did not transcribe the audio recordings instead I made notes of frames and metaphors used about the natural world. This analysis did not reach the depth or breadth of the micro- discourse analysis of the interviews, mainly for reasons of managing my workload.

As I received recordings from only two of the six participants, it was not possible to do any cross-case analysis for similarities and differences but it did allow for focus on these two participants as more in-depth case studies. One of the recordings was of a meeting where the participant made a presentation so there was little organisational discourse to

investigate. The other recording was of an environmental strategy meeting involving various colleagues and senior managers who did a lot of the talking, and so was rich in data

indicating the organisational discourse and frames the participant was interacting with and possibly was being primed by. I interpreted these frames with regard to the implications for

motivating environmentally beneficial or destructive behaviour by the organisation, and this analysis is included in the Findings section (see 5.9.3).

Reflections

I would have liked to be able to analyse more meetings but had to rely instead on

organisational documents to fulfil my aim of identifying dominant frames in the organisation. However, it worked well to use one recording as a case study.

4.3.6 Organisational documents

As with the audio recordings, the focus of analysis was limited to frames and metaphors about the natural world. This purpose was to get an indication of the dominant discourse in the organisation that the participant is interacting with and is possibly primed by, and to them draw conclusions about the implications for pro-environmental behaviour.

Reflections

The documents do give some indication of organisational discourse, but I was cautious in interpreting their priming effects as I didn’t know and had no way of finding out how accurately they represented the everyday language used in the organisation to talk about matters impacting the natural world.

4.3.7 Final debrief

The debriefs were audio recorded but not transcribed. I made notes soon after of the main points made by the participants, referring back to the audio when required. As a credibility check, the debriefs were very useful and each participant stated they found them interesting and informative on both a personal and professional level. I used the diagrams (Figs 6.4 and 6.5) to talk through the findings. Afterwards I asked them how the findings resonated with

them, whether they could relate to what I had been saying or not. Extracts from the debriefs are provided below:

Ash: I recognise quite a lot of what you said… I feel extraordinarily lucky really to have been in that position to do the job and it doesn’t discount all the other stuff about it being hard and feeling conflicted and melancholic… the two don’t sound like they should comfortably coexist but they do… I genuinely recognise all of, and the sense, and myself in what you said as well... And this, what is I find really interesting, what I rarely do, we focus so much on what we do and very rarely on how we’re doing it. And this really strikes me as quite a useful insight into how – its not telling you how to operate – but interrogating how you’re operating. Does that make sense? It’s quite useful, it really resonates with me

Hazel: The one thing that did pop up for me as you were talking about coping and expression and suppression of emotion and things around being green, I think that that’s all true like… there’s a tension for me in my organisation between the

organisation as a whole – and I work in a phenomenally large institution – versus the management culture within the department in which I am situated. There is a huge gap between myself, my direct manager, the department I report to, and then the organisation. I could apply this (to each level). It sounds fascinating it really does I’d love to hear more and learn more about it. My instinct is that it totally makes sense. I think everything you’ve said makes sense. How people present themselves in one context or another there’s always opportunity to go deeper into why.

Heather: I think this is fascinating, there’s a lot to take in. Both of these (diagrams) resonated. The self-motivational story, focus on the positive, that made sense, that was very resonant. That whole adjustment of self, in terms of how you relate to the organisation. All these things resonate in terms of the interview that we had where we talked about things but seeing it analysed like that is quite powerful. It’s good for sensemaking for me. The reality of what its like has been brilliantly conveyed using this type of diagram, this visually just conveys that there’s loads going on at the same time when you’re in an organisation and you’re an actor in that situation that you do stuff, you’re coping and adjusting at the same time, you’re referring back to the story in you head, you might go out to recharge your batteries and then there are these frames and ways of thinking that underpin that. And I think that’s quite helpful. And I think that would help people in the situation that you’ve talked about, that would be incredibly helpful. It helps you identify where there’s a tension, and where you’re having issues and you can think about ways to get yourself revitalised too.

Jay: The key to it all is vitality and wellbeing isn’t it. That’s the engine for it. It backs up something I was reading this morning with the Tarot cards, about me needing new inspiration in my work because I’m lacking vitality. And I thought yes that’s right – and this backs that up.

Rosemary: God it’s really fascinating. For me what I find interesting is the response that I have to me to working in the organisation that I do, and people saying ‘I don’t know how you do it, how do you stay there’. And the relevance of this, helping people stay inside organisations where if those organisations don’t change we are

absolutely going down the road of no hope. If there is any hope it’s from organisations being changed from the inside, this could help unpick some of the experiences… I think I could recognise my perceived conflict between who I am and

who the organisation is. I could certainly recognise a story of trying to do good and all that. So I can see all of it - the organisational pressure in both ways: to perform and also against me performing… So the situation is ongoing but what is really playing is the story, I am constantly updating my story to cope with the ongoing pressure.

Robin: I think this thing around coping strategies creating feedback loops that are maybe positive or negative is yeah something that I connect with… Where I’m at at the moment, I’ve started doing meditation since we met, trying to recognise when feelings arise to not fight it or bury it. It definitely all resonates and I think that thing about willed optimism is quite interesting. Definitely rings lots of bells. The thing of the sustainability of sustainability professionals – how do you stay motivated and how do you cope with this.

Reflections

The debriefs took place almost a year after the interviews and it surprised me how little of the content of the interview they actually remembered: a few did not recognise some of their own quotes. I had prepared for the debriefs by reading their case summary and scanning the interview transcript so I felt oddly more intimate with their account than they appeared to be. I emphasised that the findings were based on interviews that captured a moment in time in their lives, and were highly context specific and offered an interpretation of their experience. I was interested in their response to the findings based on how they were then, rather than now, but they did talk about what had changed for them over the past year. I have ignored this information in analysing and interpreting the data from their interviews and diaries. I was pleased that all but one (who had shifted role in the intervening period and was no longer focusing on environmental issues) expressed a desire to keep in contact, which I took to be a reflection of the rapport that had been built between us as well as a reflection of their interest in the research area.