Thematic Analysis: Supplementary Data Coding

A critical review of an earlier version of this thesis noted that the volume and the type of the data that the researcher was able to collect was one of its real strengths. However, the use of Leximancer was flagged as potentially

suppressing the researcher’s interpretation of the data. For example Smith and Humphreys (2006, p. 277), in their testing of functional validity with

Leximancer, identified issues with correlative validity that could impact findings. That said, they did conclude that it was apparent that there was an abundance of rich and complex information that can be extracted by utilising a program such as Leximancer. Sotiriadou et al. (Sotiriadou, Brouwers, & Le,

2014, p. 14) in their review of Leximancer and NVivo found that while a well- designed research study using appropriate qualitative software assists in the analysis of data sets and creates a pathway to increasing the rigour of the research, there is a risk of distancing the researcher from the interpretations of the data. They ultimately proposed that for a researcher to avoid this risk that a combination of automatic and manual text analysis be utilised with this

enabling research triangulation to occur.

In this study, it was noted that the adoption of the manual text analysis would enable further validation of the data and therefore the researcher supplemented the automated computer coding with a manual process to further engage in, and confirm, the theoretical interpretations from the data. This process, post-

automation, leveraged the reduction of coder bias and introduced source methodological triangulation into the analysis.

Central to the overall approach in the data analysis and the creation of the aggregate dimensions, was the necessity to continually review the source data during collection. This comprised an ongoing review of the interview

transcripts and the vignettes, which was an iterative process that was initially undertaken sequentially after each interview was transcribed in order to derive data flows and lines of inquiry for the researcher. This constant comparison and theoretical sampling guided the development of the emergent theory with the overall purpose of validating whether the data supported and continued to support emerging categories (Holton, 2010, p. 268). This ensured that the developing analysis of how the theoretical categories aggregated together with the findings accurately represented the available data (Locke, 2001). This was ongoing and performed prior to the automation in the initial data review.

In respect of the supplementary manual coding process, a challenge with any qualitative research is the way in which the data is manually coded and analysed to ensure that findings are robust and of a suitable quality that supports the findings. Amis and Silk (2008, p. 459) contend that

“quality is judged according to traditional criteria of internal and external validity, reliability, objectivity, and generalizability. Thus, often unwieldy and unstructured data are reduced, systematically elicited, standardized and quantified in relation to predetermined categorizations through a range of techniques, ranging from, but not limited to, keywords in context analysis, componential analysis, taxonomies, word counts, frequencies, cognitive mapping, semantic analyses, and word matrices.”

There are differing views as to the importance of data coding, with scholars such as Jonsen et al (Jonsen, Fendt, & Point, 2017, p. 48) arguing that data coding is not a necessary part of the procedure in exploratory research, as it is the narrative itself that is the sense maker. Despite that contention they go on to note that though coding neither interprets nor builds theory, it remains popular, as researchers appreciate the efficiency of coding when faced with vast amounts of narrative data. The reality is that coding does play a critical role and Miles and Huberman emphasized the importance of coding by stressing that is not “the words themselves but their meaning that matters”(Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 56) and that coding assists in formalising and systematising the researcher’s thinking into a coherent set of explanations (Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 75). Ultimately the researcher “is not coding for conditions or

consequences per se, but rather uses the tools to obtain an understanding of the circumstances that surround the event” (Corbin & Strauss, 2008, p. 90).

In approaching the manual coding and data analysis of the multiple information points in this project, the researcher built on the conceptual analysis that was adopted during the data collection process and referred to earlier. During that early stage of the research the interviews were reviewed and analysed post transcription to identify themes and trends. This work created the baseline and was subsequently built on with the researcher adopting broad elements of the analytical coding approach employed by Petriglieri (2015). While that research focused on the damage to the relationship that can occur between organisation and employee, stemming from the way in which BP managed their Deepwater

Horizon crisis, rather than the nature of the crisis response itself, the coding approach was robust and thereby emulated.

In Petriglieri’s approach, consideration was given to the arguments of Walker and Myrick (2006), who evaluated the differing coding approaches of Anselm Strauss and Barney Glaser and stated that “grounded theory is an evolving method premised on the inductive generation of theory derived from data” (Walker & Myrick, 2006, p. 557) and that essentially elements of both

approaches could be adopted to formulate a strategy that is most suitable to the researcher. They stressed that central to the “grounded theory data analysis involves the researcher as an actor in the process. They are the people who intervene, manipulate, act on, conceptualize, and use specific techniques to generate or discover the theory. They engage in an intervention process, comprising stages or procedures, to excavate a theory from the raw data” (Walker & Myrick, 2006, p. 550). This philosophy links to the position adopted by the present researcher as a critical realist utilising a case study approach.

Returning to the initial data collection phase, which included taped interviews and transcription of the interviews, the researcher had already examined the data on a regular basis to evaluate the linkage of the commentary to the theoretical framework and research question. This supplementary manual coding phase took this analysis to a deeper level, which saw codes further linked to data. As the coding progressed, patterns of association between the codes became apparent (Bazeley, 2007) and these were then further distilled to identify the core commonalities. The importance here was that “qualitative researchers code in order to get past the data record, to a category, and to work with all the data segments” (Richards, 2005, p. 86) and in the manual coding process utilised, line-by-line analysis was conducted to formally identify common terms, statements and themes, which were grouped into the category of concepts and first-order codes.

This utilised in vivo coding. In vivo, a form of qualitative data analysis that places emphasis on the actual spoken words of the participants and is championed by

many for its usefulness in highlighting the voices of participants and for its reliance on the participants themselves for giving meaning to the data and terms (Manning, 2017). This is particularly pertinent considering the case study approach adopted and the focus on evaluating the views of the subject matter experts, informing the analysis of performative routine and process deviation.

The coding was reviewed and modified as additional data points were identified and analysed. As this manual coding was after the initial collection, this came from a sequential review of the material based on the timing of the undertaking of the interviews, preparation of the observational vignettes and the additional literary insights obtained providing for data and theoretical triangulation. This approach to manual coding focused the review and challenged initial thoughts as new themes were evaluated against their fit to the data obtained from each preceding document. This sequential process of continual review, grouping, regrouping and evaluation led to the creation of the initial concepts. This was important as “the processes of constant comparison and theoretical sampling guide the development of the emergent theory. The purpose of constant comparison is to see if the data support and continue to support emerging categories” (Holton, 2010, p. 268). To be considered an initial concept a theme had to be addressed by a minimum of 75% of the respondents. This cyclical review, where the researcher stepped away and then back to examine the data on the receipt of the additional information (via sequence obtained), also aligned with the concept that “the researchers can theoretically and conceptually think about the data from a distance, while simultaneously

maintaining an in-close level of sensitivity and understanding about the process and their involvement in that process” (Walker & Myrick, 2006, p. 551) in order to extract the relevant meaning of the data.

The process then utilised axial coding which is the process of crosscutting or relating concepts to each other (Corbin & Strauss, 2008, p. 195). As noted by Walker et al (Walker & Myrick, 2006, p. 553) in their commentary on Strauss and Corbin (1998), this phase establishes connections through a process that focuses on three aspects of the phenomenon being studied. The first is the

conditions or situations in which the phenomenon occurs; the second relates to the actions or interactions of the people in response to what is happening in the situations; and lastly the consequences or results of the action taken or inaction. In summary during the axial coding for this research, the researcher worked back through the material to understand categories and their relationship to other categories and subcategories. The purpose was to identify relationships on which the axis of the category is focused and involved consolidation of the initial concepts through selective coding, which distilled the data into categories that became the various overarching themes.

This phase involved documenting the relationships and variations amongst the concept codes. The output from the analysis of the data was then further distilled to present the core elements that the participants determined were influencing ostensive routine utilisation; the process deviation; and impacted effective crisis management and these final categories are the thematic codes. These were consolidated and defined with the final aggregation forming a basis for further review in the discussions on the theme of the process deviation and the way to mitigate this risk.

As this process was post the initial data evaluation and review by Leximancer, it was important to validate the accuracy of the process. To further ensure the reliability of the findings from this manual coding, the research supervisors undertook a limited sampling of the data to validate the approach and output. As would be expected and will be illustrated in the findings, the resulting codes were not an exact match to the researcher’s findings utilising Leximancer, however, there was sufficient commonality in the outputs to suggest that the manual coding process provided a realistic interpretation of the data which further strengthened the findings of the earlier automated and non-biased Leximancer output.

The last element of the exercise involved conducting the triangulation to analyse the findings from Leximancer and the manual coding thematic results. As noted by Carter et al (Carter, Bryant-Lukosius, Dicenso, Blythe, & Neville,

2014) triangulation relates to the utilisation of multiple methods or data sources in qualitative research to develop a comprehensive understanding of phenomena. It is also viewed as a qualitative research strategy to test validity through the convergence of information from different sources. While there are four types of triangulation: method triangulation; investigator triangulation; theory triangulation; and data source triangulation, this research used method, theory and data source triangulation. Method triangulation involved the use of multiple methods of data collection about the same phenomenon and can include interviews, observation, and field notes all which were relevant in this research.

3.7 Chapter Summary

This chapter has outlined the research methodology adopted. It commenced with an evaluation of the various philosophical approaches available to the researcher and presented the critical realist approach adopted by the

researcher in this study. It then presented the rationale for the utilisation of a case study approach to develop an explanatory theory versus testing a theory. This approach is acknowledged as a preferred inquiry method when examining contemporary events within a real-life context. It is commonly applied in situations where the behaviours and issues cannot be manipulated and where observations and raw data occur without interference. It is specifically pertinent in this research, as it seeks to explain ‘how’ or ‘why’ the observed behaviour of concern, the process deviation during crisis response, potentially occurs.

Within this discussion the arguments for the case study context of evaluating crisis management through a Coca-Cola system lens was presented, thereby providing a compelling context for the examination of the research question. It has also described the strategies that were utilised for the data collection. These included the interviewing of subject matter experts and the observations of crisis management teams during both crisis simulations and ‘real-life’ responses. These observations were captured in vignettes. The vignette, by

being an obvious literary construct, enabled the researcher to present an account of the experience that it addressed. As the research was also examining the composition of crisis teams, their leadership and their

contribution to the deviation, the personality types of the participants were evaluated. This evaluation not only examined existing coordinators but also examined the SMEs to look at commonalities. For this purpose, MBTI was adopted and the rationale for selection of this personality assessment tool and a description of the approach was provided.

The chapter then moved to address the topic of data reliability and ethics. In respect of reliability, it outlined the utilisation of the Leximancer software to examine the collected data in a manner that addressed researcher bias.

Leximancer was selected as the most appropriate tool as it had the capability to provide reliability and rigour in the evaluation. Additionally, the ability to replicate and standardise the material assisted in establishing trust and

confidence during the data collection, data analysis and interpretation phases of the research. In respect of research ethics, the methodology outlined the

compliance with the relevant university requirements in this space.

Lastly, the methodology chapter discussed the approach taken to manual coding and thematic analysis. This element was incorporated into the research from feedback that was presented during a critical review of an earlier version of the thesis. This was linked to concerns of relying purely on Leximancer as the coding mechanic. The manual coding process aimed to provide further independent evaluation of the material together with providing additional rigour to the testing and validation of the results as presented by Leximancer. This enabled method triangulation of the data to be undertaken.

With this chapter having outlined the methodology the following chapter, presents the empirical data and the findings of the research. From there, the focus will turn to the detailed discussion of the findings with an evaluation against the extant literature.

Chapter 4 – FINDINGS