I am working on a social research project. We have completed extensive
surveys and most of the quantitative data is in. The final data collection
phase is my next task. This involves lengthy in-depth interviews which
will be very open-ended explorations of broad themes, with our subjects
telling the story of their lives, their work, their family's experience,
and other topics.
I am looking for sources of systems which can help me encode contributions
recorded in my notes to make it easier to find, sort, compare, analyze,
and identify patterns within - various kinds of information. The encoding
ideally will indicate the general subject of the passage, the importance
of the material relative to the research area, and perhaps the kind of
comment (anecdote, good news, bad news, needs corroboration, etc.).
I have developed a system which I will use unless something better
appears. But since this project is a pilot for a much larger national
study, I want to be able to use a methodology which will be as helpful as
possible for colleagues who will be replicating the study across Canada
and possibly other countries.
Any suggestions of books, articles, ideas welcome.
Brock Vodden - Vodden Consulting
"Where Systems and People Meet"
Serving South Western Ontario
brock.vodden@odyssey.on.ca
http://webhome.idirect.com/~gsimons/vodden.html
--"Brock Vodden" <brock.vodden@odyssey.on.ca>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>