Result Analysis

The results analysis for the case study research involved producing a detailed description of the selected case studies. The analysis of the findings is one of the most challenging actions in conducting case study research, because the analysis techniques remain ill-defined (Creswell, 2007). Prior to analysing the results, it is important to identify the purpose of the analysis in order to select the appropriate analysis methods. The purpose of the analyses in this study are to explore and describe how the research framework factors, which include Higher Education, Networks, Government and Location assisted the development of the different stages of the animation industry life cycle within the multiple case study countries, and to establish which factors are the most effective in encouraging the development of the industry life cycle at each stage. Due to the fact that this research adopts a qualitative case study methodology, it was mainly required to collect the data through qualitative collection instruments including semi-structured interviews, document analysis and observation. Therefore, it is more appropriate to use an analysis technique that allows the researcher to examine and interpret this qualitative data. Thus, this study utilises thematic analysis, which aims to examine the meaning of the qualitative data in order to provide a classification of themes within data (Dey, 2003). Thematic analysis enables the researcher to analyse any forms of qualitative data such as interview transcripts, policy documents, images, observation notes and video recordings (Gibson, 2008). According to Boyatsis (1998), thematic analysis is one of the qualitative analysis techniques employed to analyse classifications and present themes that relate to the data through interpretations (Boyatsis 1998). Moreover, Alhojailan (2012) pointed that:

“Thematic Analysis allows the researcher to determine precisely the relationships between concepts and compare them with the replicated data. By using, thematic analysis, there is the possibility to link the various concepts and opinions of the participants and compare these with the data that has been gathered in a different situation at different times during the project. All possibilities for interpretation are possible” (Alhojailan, 2012, p10).

In fact, thematic analysis involves several phases. These phases include data reduction, data display and data conclusion (Miles & Huberman, 1994). The first phase, which is data reduction, required the researcher to be familiar with the data. In order to be familiar with the data, the researcher should transcribe the data that has been collected into written form. This transcription allows the researcher to read it many times before moving to the data display stage (Miles & Huberman, 1994). In this study the interviews were transcribed to facilitate the reduction process. Most of these interviews were obtained in Arabic, as it is the main language of three of the studied countries (Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Emirates). Thus, the transcripts were also written in Arabic.

The second phase of the thematic analysis, which is data display, involves generating codes and categories (Greg et al, 2012). Coding is defined by King (2004) as "a label attached to a section of text to index it as relating to a theme or issue in the data which the researcher has identified as important to his or her interpretation" (King, 2004, p257). Another definition for codes is by Boyatzis (1998), “codes are short statements that capture the meaning of the phrase, and can be used to index the data and group together phrases with similar ideas or meaning". According to Lincoln &

Guba (1985), coding process is "a method that enables you to organize and group

similarly coded data into categories or families because they share some characteristic" (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p. 347).

The coding process could be through an inductive approach where unexpected codes and categories will be identified, such as in grounded theory research. On the other hand, the coding process could be through deductive analysis where the codes and categories are derived from previous theories (Alhojailan, 2012). According to Kent Löfgren (2013): "You might decide that something is relevant to code because: it is repeated in several places; it surprises you; the interviewee explicitly states that it is important; you have read about something similar in reports, e.g. scientific articles; it reminds you of a theory or a concept". This study adopted the deductive coding approach where the codes and categories are derived from previous theories and the reviewed literature that has been discussed in Chapter Two. Reviewing theories and literature resulted in developing the research framework that includes four factors, which have been argued encouraged the industry's development. These four factors are: Higher Education Institutions, Networks, Government and Location (see section 2.3). In particular, there are issues that arose within these four factors such as knowledge diffusion, preparing workforce, increasing competitive and productivity.

Keywords and expressions that reflected these rising issues were selected as codes.

Although this coding process aimed to be deductive, some new codes emerged in an inductive approach.

In this thesis, the data dispay process is presented in Chapter Five where codes have been extracted from the collected data. Then, related codes were classfied into categories. Chapter Five displays these codes and categories in tables where related categories formed one theme. As mentioned earlier, some of the collected data was obtained in Arabic, so the codes also were extracted in Arabic and then translated into

English. In Chapter Five, the related quotations from where the codes have been taken were also translated into English.

The third phase, which is data conclusion, involves generating themes, which are considered the outcome or result of coding (Saldana, 2009). As mentioned above, these themes were formed from related categories that emerged in the second phase.

These themes also tabulated in Chapter Five with the related categories and codes that form it. Figure 8 below shows the thematic analysis phases.

Figure 8: Thematic analysis process (Saldana, 2009)

The thematic analysis could be conducted through a manual process or by using special computer programmes. The manual process involves transcription of all the interview data and the notes taken from the observation in written forms, either using

handwriting or word-processing software such as Microsoft Word, then using manual techniques to select codes, such as a pen to highlight or underline codes and categorise them, listing these codes and categories in a separate sheet. Alternatively, a number of special programmes have been designed for arranging the data for thematic analysis such as ATLAS.ti, MAXqda and N-Vivo. These programmes enable the researcher to organise and structure data in different forms such as written material, images, audio recordings and video footage (Jenner, 2004). In this thesis, the data has been analysed using manual techniques because the number of interviews conducted for different factors is manageable through the use of a manual method. The collected data was transcribed by hand. Following that, the data was read carefully several times in order for the researchers to become familiar with its content. Codes were then extracted using highlighter pens, the extracted codes were listed on a separate sheet, with related codes highlighted using one colour and labeling them as one category.

Following that process, the emergent categories were then listed in a separate sheet before related categories were combined into one theme. These codes, categories and themes are tabulated in Chapter Five.

3.7 Summary

This chapter explained the research strategy and the methodological actions employed in the empirical study. It began by describing the research philosophy. In light of the main schools of thought, the research approach used throughout this study was positioned as a broadly interpretive case study. A description of the qualitative research was then presented to identify the justification for the choices of methodology. The adoption of a case study approach was discussed with each data source explained. Finally, the analysis technique was described to highlight how it was employed in this study.