Doing Data Analysis in Partnership

The way you and your research partner(s) analyse your data will depend on a number of things, including the methods you have used in your research, the understandings you are trying to develop, the purposes of the work and so on. It will also be influenced by what you find out as you proceed, if you are working in the qualitative/interpretive paradigm. That is, you will not necessarily decide in advance how you will analyse your data but will allow your data to influence that decision. This situated response to research is described in more detail in A beginners guide to qualitative/interpretive research.

You will probably want to begin data analysis by talking about what data analysis is. If you are working in the qualitative/interpretive paradigm, data analysis can be the most difficult part of a research project and unfortunately there are no 'rule books' to tell you how to do it. Working with words: Starting Points gives some background information on data analysis. Data analysis is basically about trying to make sense of what you have seen and heard. It is about trying to say things about what you have seen and heard that might be useful to other people. It is often about trying to make connections between ideas and then using those connections to help other people think about things. Data analysis is about telling other people the story of your research and what you found out.

If you are using qualitative methods, you should try to conduct analysis throughout the research rather than leaving it until the end of the project. For example, you should listen to early interviews (or read the transcripts) to give you ideas for later interviews. This sort of analysis can easily be carried out in a group, with each person talking about what they found interesting in the data and how this could inform future data gathering. At all stages of the process, it is useful to record people's ideas. In the early stages of research try to turn all ideas into questions to explore, rather than thinking of them as 'conclusions' or 'findings'. This way you will continue to keep an open mind on the problems you are exploring.

You could use the points raised in Working with words: Starting Points to consider how you might do data analysis in partnership.

Keep asking yourself: What new ideas and feelings are you having about the research as you do it?

Individual thinking time is important, but then you shoud bring your thinking to a discussion with your research partner(s) and this will help you consider shared ideas, highlight differences and gain new perspectives on the research. The data for your project exists in lots of different places. It is not just the words on the page of an interview transcript, for example. Data includes things like: How did people react when you asked them for an interview? Did they seem comfortable or uncomfortable during the interview? What questions did they ask you when you went to interview them? And so on. You should try to have regular discussions about how the research is going so that you can think about all these different sorts of data.

Look for themes, categories, patterns. You could try coding the data – labelling it – and then you will see if the same ideas keep coming up.

It may be useful to sit together with your research partner(s) and read aloud transcripts of your research interviews (as well as other forms of data) and then stop to discuss interesting aspects of the data. This may help you to identify important themes (patterns, ideas) in your data. This type of work may be more productive if each partner has had a chance to read through and mark points of interest in the transcripts (or other writing) in advance of getting together. Of course, sometimes this will not be possible and you will need to think carefully about whether people have reading difficulties or not. You may decide you want to tape record any discussions you have. You should certainly keep notes of the conversations as these will form the basis of your initial analysis. Keep reminding yourself that data analysis is all about thinking and using your research to inform your thinking as you proceed. In early conversations about data analysis, then, you will not be coming to conclusions, but asking yourself lots of questions about how to make sense of what you see/hear.

Steve and Ricky used this idea when doing research in Bankside Hostel (see Partnership Research in Bankside hostel) . Steve transcribed taped interviews with Bankside residents and staff and then Steve and Ricky read through these transcripts together. They tried to make the process fun by reading the transcripts aloud as if they were scripts for a film or play, each reading out different parts. During these readings of the transcripts, Steve and Ricky would stop when they thought someone had said something interesting in the interview. They would then discuss this and tape record their conversation, which was then later transcribed by Steve. These transcripts were then discussed again with Ricky. This cyclical process of reading, talking, recording and transcribing, then returning to the transcripts and talking again was one way of highlighting and considering interesting data and connections between different elements of the data. Steve and Ricky did this during the research project whenever they had time (not just at the end). This helped them think about what new questions they should be exploring and it helped them think about how best to work with staff and residents at Bankside Hostel. In other words, it helped them make sense of what was going on, but it also helped them think about the methods/methodology they were using in their study.

Of course, you can use the same sort of approach when analysing photographs or video. Steve and Ricky looked at the photographs taken by residents of Bankside Hostel (see Partnership Research in Bankside Hostel and Working with Pictures), looking for themes and connections and trying to understand why the residents had taken these photos and what they might mean for the residents. Ricky and Steve also sat and talked to the residents of Bankside Hostel about their photographs (where possible). This also helped them understand more about the significance of the photographs.

As you discuss your data you may want to draw charts/plans/maps of all the ideas you are thinking about and how they might connect with each other. Some people call this ‘concept mapping’ and there is a useful ‘Introduction to Concept Mapping’ at: www.dyslexic.com. Also see: www.smartdraw.com Be prepared to draw lots of different maps, improve old versions and to start again. The idea is that these maps help you to think and to ‘move on’ not as some sort of static record of the ‘truth’.

You may also want to keep a diary for any thoughts that occur to you as you proceed. You will probably want to keep a factual record too of all that has been done, who you spoke to, why and so on. It can be difficult to remember all elements of a project when there are several people involved. This record will help you in your final writing up of the project.

Read about what others have said about what you are interested in.

It may be useful to find a few readings which everyone will then discuss. Another option is to read things aloud in a group. This may not work with all readings (and may be very time consuming), but may be necessary if some members of the group have reading difficulties. Discussing readings and/or reading together can help to ‘translate’ difficult readings into more accessible language. It can also be helpful in thinking about how other people’s theories might (or might not) relate to your work.

It may be that some members of a partnership can access study materials more easily than other members, so they may need to take the lead in finding things for this activity. Films, television programmes or websites may be useful as well.

You might like to have a meeting about what you will read or look at so that everyone can make suggestions. You may decide it would be a good idea to spend some time gathering material for everyone to look at (in newspapers and magazines, on the web, libraries, databases, etc). Some people may not have had experience of exploring websites, libraries, etc, and this can be a good time to introduce them to the many sources of information available.

The idea of looking at other people’s work is to give you ideas to think about and think with in relation to your data. You should not force your data into someone else’s framework. You may find ideas and concepts that are useful but do not be afraid to say ‘This is not relevant to us/our work at the moment’.

Keep writing as you go along

It is useful to keep a record of what is happening during your research as well as what you think and feel about this. You may want to write on your own and then discuss these writings with your partners or you may want to write together (see How do you write in partnership?). If people have difficulty with writing you can also think about tape recording or videoing. This may mean someone then needs to transcribe the recordings which can then be read out and discussed.

Not everything that you write or think about needs to be considered together. Obviously, you may wish to keep some writing private.

Steve and Ricky (see Partnership Research in Bankside hostel) spent a lot of time talking about what they had seen and heard in Bankside and how to make sense of it. Sometimes Steve would type these observations up on a computer as they were talking. This allowed them to go back to the ideas later and think about them again. If you print out ideas on large sheets of paper and give everyone a copy they can add their own ideas when they have had another chance to think.

Often, thinking about data happens best when trying to write about data. This means it is a good idea to keep writing about the ideas you are having because it may help you to clarify and improve them.

When you begin to 'write up' your study, you can try lots of different ways of doing this. You could each try writing (or speaking) separately and then swop accounts. You will need to be sensitive about changing anything that other people have written and you will probably want to discuss this drafting and re-drafting process. If you are writing alone, it is natural to write and re-write as you improve your ideas. When you are working with other people this is more complicated because some people may feel that other people are 'correcting' their ideas or ignoring them. In addition, there may be a difficult balance between everyone having their say and some participants feeling very strongly about what the final report should say. These sorts of problems are inherent to doing 'Partnership Research' and there is no easy way to resolve them. See Partnerships: Questions and Challenges for further discussion.

Work with lots of different people to help you make sense of the data

It may be useful to work with people outside of your partnership to help you think about your data. It is easy to get ‘stuck’ when doing research. For example you become so familiar with the data that you don’t realise how interesting it is and how helpful other people could find your research. The input of someone outside your partnership may bring fresh perspectives to your work. You may find making a presentation about your research to other people working in the same field useful. Their comments can help you think about the best ways of presenting your work and give you new ideas.

If you have interviewed people, you can show them what you have written and ask them what they think. This can give you new ideas to add to your research.

Essential to doing data analysis in partnership is finding ways to make it possible for all partners to have a say in the analysis. This may seem easy in theory, but is much more difficult in practice, as we are often not aware of the ways in which we unintentionally make it difficult for our partner(s) to participate. See Partnerships: Questions and Challenges for further discussion.