I'm back...
After a nice long break for the holiday, I'm back and ready to get this thing done.
I will do my best to share the process of how I go from piles and piles of narrative data to a well organized, thought provoking and relevant manuscript that makes sense to someone other than myself!
YIKES!
First things first- ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE
(1) Organize your data- if you're anything like me your data is all over the place with crazy file names and chaotic structures that don't align to much of anything, let alone systematic analysis. So find a tricky process of how you like to name the files, and put them all in one place on your computer. A lesson learned here: DO NOT have separate folders that categorize the data for you. When you go to upload them to your qualitative software, it is easier if they are all in one folder together. Thus, the importance of strategic and systematic file naming comes into play.
I did this- DATATYPE.PARTICIPANTID#.STUDYNAME.doc
For example:
GE.AD1.CW.doc
KEY-
GE- general ed. interview
AD- participant ID
1-first interview
CW-name I have my dissertation on my computer
I did this for each of my files and put them all in one file.
(2) Organize your Chapter 4- Before I could even wrap my head around how the heck I was going to convey this mound of qualitative data to my audience via a dissertation manuscript I needed a plan. Therefore, I read four similar dissertations and noted how they organized their presentation of data/findings. I then came up with my own plan, which ended up being a mixture of all. I tweaked this plan a lot over the course of a few weeks and multiple dreams of how it will or won't work (literally, I dream this stuff now) with my final "aha" coming to me at 5:00 AM one day. I put the organization into my manuscript with as chapter titles, section titles and filed in research questions and other topic headers as appropriate. I decided upon this framework
RQ1
Sub Group1 of Participants Summary of Themes
Sub Group2 of Participants Summary of Themes
Sub Group3 of Participants Summary of Themes
Cross-Case of all groups Summary of Superordiante Themes
RQ2
Sub Group1 of Participants Summary of Themes
Sub Group2 of Participants Summary of Themes
Sub Group3 of Participants Summary of Themes
Cross-Case of all groups Summary of Superordiante Themes
RQ3
Sub Group1 of Participants Summary of Research Propositions
Sub Group2 of Participants Summary of Research Propositions
Sub Group3 of Participants Summary of Research Propositions
Cross-Case of all groups Summary of Superordiante Themes related to each Research Proposition
Given the in-depth and personal nature of my case study design, I decided to do sub group versus individual participant summaries to increase the level of confidentiality promised to my participants.
Once this was in place I felt I was ready "enough" to get dig in and get busy (just know that you never really feel "ready"- a lot of this dissertation/Ph. D. stuff is learn as you go).
(3) Organize your life- This might sound weird, but really, to be able to devote the amount of focused time necessary in order to get this thing (your dissertation) done you need a good amount of devoted writing/analysis time each day. And, if you're like me anything and everything that "needs" (need also becomes a much broader defined term) to be done around the house, for the kids, the laundry, cleaning the litter box, organizing the pantry and making sure all my socks are color coded and put away according to texture will pull me away from working on it. My kids closets have never been so organized! SO, I say to you, embrace your need for order and ORGANIZE your life. Hire or enlist help if need be, but embrace this need for control and order in your life during a time when choas seems to take control of your mind, and organize it. Then you can really focus! This is a bounded period of time in your life so celebrate your anal self and get do whatever it takes to get this thing done.
That's it for now folks.
I'm off to organize... maybe there are some cereal boxes that need to be categorized!
