Framework for analysis 1 Rationale

Just as the multiple field strategies and research design chosen for this study were necessitated by the research questions, so was the framework of analysis. As the research design decided upon was iterative, this framework does not have to concern itself with comparison. Instead, it has three different aims.

The first was to combine the contrasting elements of on the one hand refugees and personal agents, and on the other impersonal institutional agents in the repatriation information system. Broadly, the data on the two invited qualitative and quantitative analysis respectively, however a degree of quantitative analysis was also necessitated in

application to the individual refugees in order to group them into categories.

The second was the need to address the varying levels of the individual, the household and the conununity. For methodological purposes, the household was given a strictly spatial definition, in other words the members of a household interviewed were those who lived within a single home in the refugee settlements. For analytical purposes, however, it is recognised that this spatial unit may not necessarily correspond with the actual decision-making unit. This situation arose because household membership in exile often does not reflect the pre-flight household. It presents an inherent problem in the analysis of household decision-making.

The third aim was to provide a means for description as well as explanation.

As a result of these aims, a two-tier framework for analysis has been adopted. It consists of the complementary levels of a quantitative, descriptive level and a qualitative, more explanatory level.

4.6.2. Quantitative analysis

The purpose of this level of analysis has been to provide a descriptive account of patterns in the repatriation information system. This includes basic profile data, and descriptive data concerning the receipt, and to a lesser extent the evaluation and use of information. The analysis used has focused upon basic frequency distributions.

The empirical contribution of this analysis is threefold. First, to describe the main features of the repatriation information system, and thus to actually test whether the model, and its predication of agents who convey information from home to exile, is accurate. Second, to reveal descriptive data concerning the extent of the repatriation information system, for example what percentage of respondents received any information at all, which means of receipt information were most frequent and so on. Third, to complement the more qualitative data analysis, by placing it into an empirical context, and also by providing indicators of some of the important processes in the system which stand to be elaborated upon.

4.6.3. Qualitative analysis

This level of analysis looks in greater depth at a limited number of case studies and attempts an explanatory analysis of some of the processes in the refugee information system. As already discussed, the selection of the case studies is based on the principle of logical as opposed to statistical inference (Mitchell, 1983).

In conducting this analysis, the methodology of qualitative data analysis has been adopted (Strauss, 1987). This methodology is usually carried out on the transcripts of interviews or open-ended questionnaires. Although I used both these methods of data collection, transcripts of full interviews containing verbatim responses are not available. This is because I could not use tape recorders during the interviews, and relied upon interpreters who clearly did not translate every response verbatim. My field notes therefore contain the translations given to me by my interpreters, which I am nevertheless confident are close to the actual responses. Even though, for the sake of clarity, the excerpts presented in later chapters are in the first person, it is stressed that they do not necessarily represent verbatim responses. Nevertheless, they are equally valid for application of the methods of qualitative analysis.

Qualitative data analysis can take two approaches: either the consideration of whole transcripts, or the consideration of partial transcripts which are contextualised where necessary. I have adopted the latter approach. The method proceeds along the following lines:

(i) the analyst asks ’generative questions’ of the data i.e. the transcript is analysed line by line and questions such as ’Why is he/she using that word?’, ’How does this relate to what I know?’, ’Why doesn’t this conform?’ and so on are asked; in other words issues are created from the data;

(ii) ’axial’ coding is developed to categorise the sorts of issues created from the data; these are open ended codes, and

(iii) the process of selective coding then takes place, whereby those issues identified as important to the analysis are focused upon, and from these codes the important processes

are identified and analysed.

Parallel to this process, the analyst keeps ’theoretical’ memos of ideas which arise during the analysis.

4.7. Conclusion

In this chapter, the methodological framework adopted in testing the ’model o f a repatriation information system’ in the field, and then analysing the data collected, has been explained. The research questions raised in testing the model necessitated the incorporation of quantitative and qualitative approaches. As a result, a variety of field methods were adopted, and integrated into a coherent field strategy. This strategy was actioned in the context of a broadly iterative research design. The operationalisation of the fieldwork involved a cumulative learning process in the field, whereby problems which arose had to be dealt with as efficiently as possible. The framework for the analysis of this information is two-tiered, incorporating an extensive and intensive level.

The following two chapters present the bulk of the information derived from the quantitative methods and analysis. The next chapter provides a profile of the sample populations, including basic demographic details, patterns of flight and return and so on, placed in historical context. That following presents descriptive data on the repatriation information system, and especially upon patterns of information receipt. The subsequent two chapters focus upon some of the processes in the system, including the evaluation and use of information, and present data largely derived from the qualitative methods and analysis.