Research Methods

5.4.1. Thematic analysis

To investigate the research questions, I applied thematic analysis that can generate a theory using coding process. I collected data (through observation, interviews, field notes and diary studies) in the different cases and applied open coding by closely analysing the data until certain themes or categories emerged. Qualitative inquiries often seek to find meaning through inductive knowledge building. My particular interest is in examining the emotional, social, and linguistic impact of creative drama on young EFL learners. Hence, I carefully identified categories that can define ‘impact’ and conduct the inductive process of coding

135 until the research problem was answered. By conducting dual coding, I also carefully observed the data to find new interpretations and understandings present in the data beyond pre-existing theory (Ezzy, 2002).

5.4.2. Integrated analysis in bricoleur’s eyes

According to Denzin and Lincoln (2005), a qualitative researcher is a bricoleur who ‘changes and takes new forms as different tools, methods, and techniques of representation’ (p.4). From this bricoleur’s outlook, I sought to describe the multiple realities by applying the tools available. That is to say, for each case study, I collected data using different methods, i.e. observation records, field notes, and interviews. Then, I integrated the analysis by interweaving separate methods, as do quilt makers. Based on the literature and the research questions, I categorised the themes in one dataset and amalgamated them with others to generate a multi-faceted picture of each phenomenon (Moran-Ellis et al., 2006). Becker (1998) mentions that ‘The qualitative-researcher-as-bricoleur or a maker of quilts uses the aesthetic and material tools of his or her craft, deploying whatever strategies, methods, or empirical materials are at hand’ (p.2). Accordingly, equipped with a bricoleur’s mind-set, I triangulated different methods by fusing and linking across them in order to capture the complex and multiple contexts of each phenomenon.

5.4.3. Dualism: objectivity and subjectivity

I sought to enhance the objectivity of the data by applying methodological triangulation, inviting a critical friend as a co-observer, and describing events

136 from a neutral stance. Also, audio-recorded data and its transcription became another means to assist in the building of objectivity. Concurrently, I was also attentive to my own subjective voices when investigating data, as Macky and Gass (2005) point out, ‘in experimental work, both objectivity and subjectivity have their respective roles in research on second language learning’ (p.188). Hence, while seeking to build objectivity in the data, I also explored the subjective elements in the research process.

The collision between subjectivity and objectivity was a constant issue in the process of data collection and interpretation throughout this research. It was finally resolved by reflecting on the idea of non-dualist ontology, i.e. radical realism, which highlights ‘know-how’ as a way to see the world. Packer (2011) notes that this view enable the researcher ‘to see reason and thinking as cultural, historical, and grounded in practical know-how’ (p.167). He further mentions, ‘However, mind and world have been located in two separate realms’ (Ibid., p.168).

In response to this conflict between subjectivity and objectivity, Hegel presented the notion of ‘subjectivity at the level of objectivity’ (Hyppolite, 1974, p.83). He explained that, in the process of knowing, the distinction between the actual object as it can be and the object as we experience it can be overcome (Packer, 2011). Accordingly, he claimed:

Our experience can become increasingly adequate to the object. Achieving this adequacy requires being able to distinguish between the object experienced and how we experience it, and this in turn requires self-knowledge and self- consciousness (Packer, 2011, p.173).

137 Building on Hegel’s notion of unifying the subjective experience and its objective reality, during data interpretation, I alternated between my individual consciousness and an objective gaze empowered by computer-aided analytic tools and the unbiased dataset.

5.4.4. NVivo as an assisting tool

In order to establish a data analysis strategy, I utilised computer-aided qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS). Dornyei (2007) mentions that CAQDAS offers invaluable assistance when dealing with large amounts of data by sorting, organising, and archiving hundreds of pages. Among diverse software, I came across the NVivo program, which assists in storing data sources, coding themes, exploring queries, and displaying relationships between codes. It seemed suitable for my research journey, which aims to find patterns, themes, and relationships in the data.

The NVivo program efficiently assisted my coding process by organising key words and concepts throughout the data analysis. However, in qualitative research, the software functions as an aid, not as an actual analyst. As Saldana (2013) points out, CAQDAS itself does not actually code the data for the researchers; the software can only store, organise, manage, and reconfigure data to enable human analytic reflection. Analysing data is mainly the researcher’s job, so that he or she must read and code the data repeatedly while reflecting on the research purpose and conceptualising the idea. Dyson and Genishi (2005) stress the importance of a researcher’s rigorous thinking process:

138

As pieces of data are organized and compared, as their variable natures are identified and named (or coded), as their interrelationships are examined, the researcher uncovers new spaces – new holes – in developing a portrait of the case (p.81).

Even though NVivo supported my job of organising and analysing the data, as a researcher, I conducted the whole process of observing the data, naming the codes, and interpreting the coherent idea that prevails in the text.