Memo-writing

The memo is the theoretical note made by the researcher about the data and the conceptual connections between categories (Charmaz, 2003, Glaser and Holton, 2004, Holton, 2007, Corbin and Strauss, 2008). Memos can be defined as "the theorising write-up of ideas about substantive codes and their theoretically coded relationships as they emerge during coding,

collecting and analysing data, and during memoing" (Glaser, 1998 p. 177). In other words,

doing a memo is a process of recording the thoughts and ideas of the researcher about the research data (Moghaddam, 2006).

Memo-writing is important throughout the process of coding the data especially when first doing the open coding of data. The purpose is about conceptualising all incidents collected in the data and memo-writing helps this process. Glaser and Strauss (1967) stresses that the memo-writing process is a crucial method in grounded theory because it prompts researchers to analyse the data and to develop their codes into categories. The interesting part of memo- writing is due to its total creative freedom from rules of writing, grammar or style (Glaser and Holton, 2004). The writing has become an instrument for this research study to outflow the ideas and writing successive memos keeps the researcher involved in the analysis. It has been proven that memo-writing helped researchers to increase the level of concept of their ideas (Birks et al., 2008).

Strauss and Corbin (1990) describe three different types of memos: code notes, theoretical notes and operational notes (Table 4.4). In this study, the researcher did not consciously seek to create different types of memos, although an examination of those could reveal some differences in content and purpose. The researcher firstly wrote memos on everything that occurred during the struggle to find the underlying meanings in the transcript data, in order to ensure that nothing was missed or forgotten, and so that the developing theory could be as comprehensive as possible (Strauss, 2001). Categorisation of memos occurred through the action of filing them as coded entries within the word processing documents used for recording and retrieval. A well-structured system of category folders enabled the rapidly accumulating memos to be accessed according to their relevance. Where it became evident that a particular memo was needed in a newly developed category it was simply moved or added to the new folder (Birks et al., 2008). Memos were also used in this research to record both the means by which the researcher has been able to progress the research and the particular strategies that made the analysis cohesive.

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Table 4.4: Types of notes for memos

Types of notes Description

Code Notes Describe and define concepts

Theoretical Notes

Reflect on dimensions of concepts, offer initial theoretical formulations about relationships

Operational Notes

Deal with methodological issues, circumstances of data collection

In this study, the researcher used memos as an important part of exploring the underlying meaning from the transcript data as the interviews were being undertaken. Sample of memos used for this research is in Appendix 6. These memos formed an integral part of the discussion of the emergent themes, which will be discussed in the following chapter.

4.7 Summary

The credibility of research findings is an important aspect of any research success. This is influenced by the selection of an appropriate research methodology. Research methodology is the overall approach to be used in the research process from the theoretical underpinning to the collection and analysis of the data. In this context, it is important for this research to further explore the phenomenon under a specific qualitative research methodology and conclusions can be made on the emergent findings at the end, so that the aim of this research to develop a substantial theory within the understanding of the community perspectives on the role of school as a community hub and its conditions in promoting community cohesion towards sustainable communities can be achieved.

In summary, this chapter described the selection methods used and elaborated on the theoretical underpinning related to research philosophies and strategies in the study. The researcher stands in this study is centred on the understanding of the outcomes of social values, embedded with alternate strategic thinking of common use of local community facilities like school. Research questions and objectives will be referred to as what framework should be designed on concerning issues shared by all community members. The complexity of the differing perceptions of diverse communities will be the main focus. The requirements that will have to be achieved on the ability of a school as a community hub will be reformed in terms of promoting community cohesion.

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The suitability of the research methodology for the study within the identified context has been appraised. In doing so, this research study has outlined techniques for data collection and analysis with details of appropriate justifications.

Rich Picture Diagram (RPD) was found useful in this research to better visualise the analysis and findings from this study by showing the relationships in the social world of having a local community hub from the viewpoint of the communities that influence, or are influenced by, the community facility.

This chapter set out to explain the use of grounded theory methodology as an approach for this research study, and then to justify the selection of the Straussian version of grounded theory as a method that would be able to effectively serve the interests of the objectives of this study. Thereafter, the research process was shown in this chapter to provide the reader with sufficient information upon which to judge the quality of the research process and the value of its product.

Research design requires a choice of research strategy. The relative usefulness and application of case studies as the research strategy in this research indicates the investigation on actual phenomenon of the case study situation in the process of grounded theory approach.

Even though the two case studies presented came from two different countries, the selection focuses on their similar characteristics to illustrate the significant roles of schools as a community hub and how this can propose insights on promoting community cohesion in a neighbourhood areas populated by diverse ethnic communities. Having Malaysian national schools as a case study in this research is significant as the impact of promoting community cohesion to the local communities in Malaysia through its school environment and education system is still not significant enough. As for the United Kingdom, the work and policies has been structured for its community schools in order to promote community cohesion to the local communities.

The next chapter will discuss how the initial conceptual framework is being developed and refined through the data analysis from related literature in this study. The core of the initial framework represents the flow of the analysis of the research study. Accordingly, it highlights the visions of schools being reformed as a community hub.

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