According to Charmaz (2014), initial coding requires close adherence to the data in order to draw patterns and later sort these as action codes. This process contrasts with the idea of imposing pre-existing categories onto the data. In order to achieve this end, each interview transcript was read as a whole in order to gain an overall sense of the personal reactions of academics to the topic areas covered in the study. It soon became clear from the accounts given by academics that there were groupings of topics, and that the topic of ‘service to the university’ was integral to the administrative tasks that academics were expected to perform. According to Charmaz (2014), coding for actions helps avoid preconceived notions that may direct the research to follow extant theories before the necessary analytical work has been completed. The initial coding that eventually led to category creation were grounded in the actions of participants described in the data. The initial codes created and quotes that illustrate the specific action that relate to the code’s application are as follows:
How academics respond, adapt and cope with the transformational changes in the
Initial code: Teaching and students
Coding parameters: Personal response to new cohorts of students, quality teaching demands, classroom environment, comments on teaching colleagues not included.
Sample quotations to illustrate coding application
Expectations of paying customers … there are challenges about how academics perform in the delivery of material … institution needs to think of resources … changed learning environment … cultural differences and language issues … what needs to be done given international cohort … no exit from system so academics are coping … resources depend on institution …
In the past there were more locals, smaller classes (15-17) today 25 in tute … once there were 40 … reduced because this created a bad impression on students … not good to treat them like cattle … pressure to produce money … need to generate own income to justify position … keep an eye on student numbers and research grants … cohort of students is Asian … international cohorts are more demanding … students are not shy to email … students are arbiters of good teaching … student surveys are significant … students like to be spoon fed … this is not good teaching … they ask questions of what appears in the unit guide … academics need to be more careful with how they answer student questions so as not to offend … cohort is more demanding … emphasis on money …
Initial code: Research and collegiality
Coding parameters:Personal response to new research demands, response to changing research culture comments on students not included
Sample quotations to illustrate coding application
Academic output has become more demanding…more publications required… G8
expectations are higher… skewed towards research… are there enough A and A* journals… need to work with others…strategic research to make quota… journals are a problem… no division of points… need to become specialist is a particular area… collegiality non- existent due to workload pressures… it’s lonely but must live with it… everyone must publish in A journals over a specific period of time… you must learn skills to play the game
Collegiality? .... competitive atmosphere now … those that can play and those that can’t play the research game … winners partner with winners … more competitive less collegial … being sole author may be preference but it doesn’t pay now … there are research
entrepreneurs … there is mutual exploitation … need to seek outside partners who are not direct competitors … conferences are looked down on … no consideration of the benefits of conferences …
How academics respond, adapt and cope with the transformational changes in the
Initial code: Technology and administration
Coding parameters:Response to Bureaucracy and governance rules, comments on colleagues and students not included.
Sample quotations to illustrate coding application
Technology is the vehicle that supports change technology has positive impact on research … greater volume of material and easier access … admin bureaucracy has increased
expectations … less flexibility … technology facilitate easy measure tools SET/SEU but what do they really assess?... Admin burden is becoming too great … difference between process and procedure … collect the same data 5 times … process impedes flexibility … the uni system sometimes impedes the things that it values … if it’s logical then it’s doomed to fail… administrators are not academics interpretation of practice is not uniform don’t want to see or understand another way … losing touch with academics … measurements are faulty … Academics’ activities controlled … technology plays a role in this … technology used to manage staff … managers can easily find evidence to be punitive … it’s got a lot tougher … moving away from when work was largely trust … a system where the academics were in control of what they did … ‘trust is good, but control is better’ Lenin … everything is measured teaching, quality, research … measurement is what it is about … technology pressures are increased through the introduction of a new system … email invasion … A further reading of the transcripts was made in order to confirm that these initial codes could be further analysed to later form categories.
Line by line coding is a heuristic device that enables the researcher to further interact with the data by helping define more implicit meanings and actions and make comparisons between data that may lead to pursuing emergent links that could be further pursued. According to (Charmaz 2014) ‘line by line’ coding enables the researcher to gain a more in-depth analysis of the data to reveal, not only explicit statements but also implicit concerns. Highlighter pens of different colours were used in the next set of readings of the transcripts to mark significant responses to the categories that were created. The task began with finding similar responses but then moved on to more nuanced responses. The following sub- sections were created under the main categories:
How academics respond, adapt and cope with the transformational changes in the
Category Descriptor Teaching and Students Student profile
Teaching quality Teaching environment
Research and Collegiality Performance measures Research culture
Technology and Administration Bureaucratisation Trust
Control
Table 4.4 List of categories and descriptors