Qualitative Data Analysis

The qualitative data for this study were captured using semi-structured interviews with seven practising science teacher participants on one-on-one interviews and a focus group interview with seven trainee science teacher participants. Both interview procedures used a similar set of questions. Hence, a similar process was used to analyse their qualitative data. The process of generating qualitative data from semi-structured interview responses that were recorded on audiotape cassettes was so crucial in

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complementing the quantitative data for this study. As such, it was imperative to process the recorded spoken words into a form that can be easily and reliably analysed and synthesised but at the same retained the depth, richness, meanings and interpretations of the participants (Atkins, 1984; Goodson & Choi, 2008).

The qualitative data from the interviews for this study were analysed within the thematic analysis framework (Braun & Clarke, 2006). While thematic analysis is not as well demarcated as grounded theory and content analysis, it has been widely used to analyse qualitative data. According to Braun and Clarke (2006), thematic analysis is flexible, less complex and is used mainly to identify, analyse and report patterns or themes within the qualitative data. In fact, “rigorous thematic approach can produce an insightful analysis that answers particular research questions” (Braun & Clarke, 2006, p. 97). Added to that, by using thematic analysis, the qualitative data for this study were analysed within two perspectives. From an inductive perspective based on recursive and progressive coding of the interview responses as well as from the research questions perspective by checking consistency of information with regards to the pre-guided themes.

For this study the qualitative data analysis started with the painstaking process of translating and transcribing the audio recorded interviews followed by the rigorous process of organising the key themes.

Translating and Transcribing

Following the tenets of analysing the qualitative data from semi-structured interviews, the audiotaped responses were initially transcribed (Creswell, 2012; Draper, 2004). The process of transcribing the participants’ actual spoken words from audio cassette recordings into text form was not a simple task. Nevertheless, the researcher used a transcribing machine that made it possible for the recorded conversations to be transcribed into texts. The transcribing machine had a foot paddle that was used to pause, play and replay, rewind and forward recordings while the researcher listened, translated then transcribed into texts using a computer. Added to that, the transcribing machine enabled the researcher to decrease or increase the playing speed as well as the tone of the sound in order to capture words or phrases that were difficult to hear as well as determine with the normal speed and tone.

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The transcribing process for the one-on-one interviews for the practising science teacher participants were done on an individual basis. The researcher played and listened to the audio recorded conversation then translated and transcribed them into text forms. The actual participants’ spoken words in Pidgin were painstakingly translated and transcribed into English texts. This was possible because the researcher as the interviewer also speaks and writes Pidgin fluently. It was difficult to capture the spoken words in Pidgin then translating into English while transcribing because “of the sentence structure, use of quotations, omissions and mistaking words or phrases for others” (DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006, p. 2006). However, with the versatile fixtures of the transcribing machine, the researcher was able to capture, translate and type the pidgin responses into English texts using Microsoft Word for each participant. The texts were typed in the order they were recorded during the interview conversations. Subsequently, the researcher silently and attentively read and re-read the written texts while at the same listened to the spoken words which were repeatedly replayed in order for the researcher to cross check and verify the translation, the meaning and the interpretations of the responses.

A similar transcribing process was conducted for the focus group interview for the seven trainee science teacher participants. However, the transcribing process was done as a whole document for the recorded focus group discussion. The researcher was able to transcribe the recorded conversation as well as identified the participant’s voices by using the written list of names which had numbers indicating the order of the speakers during the recording. Similar to the transcribing process for one-on-one interviews, the researcher listened to the recorded spoken words in Pidgin then translate and transcribe into written texts in a Microsoft word document. Again, the process of cross checking and verifying the written text with the recorded spoken words were painstakingly undertaken. Not only for translation and interpretation purposes but also to validate the accuracy of matching participants’ voices with what they said according to the written list of names and the order they contributed during the actual audiotaped conversation.

To further verify and validate the translations, interpretations and meanings from Pidgin to English, another Solomon Islander living and studying at Curtin University was asked to repeatedly listen to the recordings while reading through the transcripts.

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This other individual Solomon Islander provided independent verifications and validation that was not bias to the researchers own interpretations and meanings (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). As such, further correction were made with respect to the independent feedback. Finally, like the one-on-one interview, the focus group individual participant’s transcripts were separated into each Microsoft word documents. The individual transcripts were printed and were airmailed to each participants that the transcripts belongs to. The participants were requested to further verify and validate their own spoken words, interpretations and meanings and send their responses by email or airmail to the researcher at the Curtin University. Subsequently, the second stage was to organise the verified responses in the transcript into pre-guided themes and emerging themes.

Organisation of Themes

The organisation of themes for this study was guided by the thematic analysis approach which provided a flexible process of identifying themes from the qualitative data presented in the transcripts. With a rigorous thematic analysis, pre-guided themes and emerging themes were insightfully identified at the semantic level with relevant words, phrases and concepts pertaining to the research questions (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This process of organising themes from the heavily argumentative and interpretative qualitative data was highly recursive and reflexive (Cohen et al., 2007). In addition, although hard-to-classify themes and major or minor themes may have presented vital semantics and concepts, classifying them were not simple (Creswell, 2012). Hence, for this study, given the intricate nature of organising different types of themes, the researcher manually evaluated the transcripts using personal reflections and perceptions to initially organise the different themes into pre-guided themes followed by the emerging themes. The pre-guided themes had preassigned words, phrases and concepts within the semi-structured interview questions while the emerging themes were identified from phrases, semantics and concepts that were related to the pre- guided themes as well as the research questions. For example, one pre-guided theme is the ‘importance of science education’ and one emerging theme is ‘develop the ability to solve problems’.

The initial individual transcripts were typed according to the order in which the actual individual interviews as well as focus group interview were conducted. As such, each

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transcript was transcribed according to the pre-guided themes that were asked in the semi-structured interview questions. Later, all the responses from each transcript were copied and pasted into a new Microsoft document as a master data file. Each responses were copied and pasted into one group under the pre-guided themes in the master data file. As such, all responses to semi-structured interview question one were grouped under question one as an initial analysis for pre-guided theme one. The responses were pasted with the name of the respondent who the response belongs to. The same process was done for the other semi-structured interview questions. In doing this, the master data file contained all the qualitative responses that were grouped under each pre- guided theme as preassigned with the semantics and concepts in the semi-structured interview questions.

The qualitative data analysis was carried out by creating for each theme a new Microsoft Word document that only contained the responses to one pre-guided theme. This process was done to lessen the burden of identifying emerging themes from within a very large Microsoft Word document. For example, one file contained all of the responses to semi-structured interview question one, another contained all the responses to question two. Hence, names with responding responses were copied and pasted accordingly from the master data file to each new pre-guided theme in separate Microsoft Word files.

Further evaluation and identification of emerging themes were conducted recursively. While electronic means were available, the researcher decided to print hard copies of each Microsoft word file for each pre-guided theme for further thematic analysis. For example, the Microsoft Word file containing the responses to the pre-guided theme on ‘the importance of science’ asked in question one was printed. Similarly, other Microsoft Word files for other pre-guided themes were printed. From then on, the researcher manually used different coloured pens and codes to identify and thematically analysed similar and slightly different or contrasting ideas or comments that were presented in different Microsoft Word file under different pre-guided themes. The researcher used personal reflections and perceptions to recursively go through the different printed pre-guided themes to manually identify similar semantics and concepts as well as other significant views that emerged under the pre-guided theme transcripts.

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Thereafter, the researcher used the electronic Microsoft word files to update the coloured or highlighted quotes and coded ideas. As such, the participant’s responses or quotes that had similar themes were grouped together under an emerging theme in a new Microsoft word file. At this stage, only the relevant quotes or responses that indicated the similar emerging themes were copied and pasted with the names of the participants that the quote belongs to. This Word file was then read and reread as well as recursively evaluated to reaffirm the semantics and concepts of the participants quotes under the emerging themes. The emerging themes were then reworded according to the explanation or the construct of the ideas that were presented in the quotes (Cohen et al., 2007). This process was done to name the emerging themes appropriately according to the participants’ own expressed words and phrases. As such, the qualitative data analysis for this study was specific for this study. In addition, pseudonyms for participants were used alongside the quotes instead of the participants’ real names. Basically, the pre-guided themes and emerging themes were identified to generate appropriate qualitative data analysis that constituted the answers to the research questions. This involved the process of revisiting the research questions and identifying the different types of themes and responses that can be integrated and collated to answer the research questions.

The final qualitative analysis encompassed the process of collating and organising the pre-guided themes and emerging themes with their respective responses or quotes into a chronological order that progressively provided the answers to the research questions for this study. Subsequently, third person narratives using qualitative data from the researcher’s written field notes, diary and demographic information were also interwoven into the qualitative analysis. The researcher’s third person narratives provided rich descriptions and interpretations to help make sociocultural and contextual inferences from the participants’ quotes. The results of this qualitative data analysis process are reported separately as qualitative findings in Chapter Five of this thesis.