All 2 entries tagged Findings

Ph.D Update On The Thesis Work So Far, Part B

Progress On Data Analysis And Findings Chapter

Data analysis was completed earlier this year leading what I believe to be a complete set of codes, and a complete set of themes that forms the thematic framework. As per the requirements of thematic analysis, I have been able to identify how the themes relate to each other and as a result, I have been able to complete the findings chapter. There are various theses available that revolve around the use of thematic analysis, and these have assisted greatly with forming and shaping the structure of the findings chapter. Briefly, the findings chapter is where I describe and explain the meaning, description, and explanations of the functions and purposes and variation of each theme, with all claims of the data backed up using relevant extracts from the data that justifies the claims being made.

As a side note that relates to the findings chapter, but also the research design chapter, I very much recommend that you read other theses that apply the methods and methodologies that you use so that you can attain a sense of their functionality and use, and perhaps attain an understanding of the extent to which they have been used so far across different philosophical, theoretical and disciplinary contexts.

What you can state in your thesis is your observations of how the selected methodologies and methods have been used within different philosophical and theoretical positions, and if you can find approaches that match exactly what you are doing in terms of your research design that could be useful. However, this is not a guarantee as research design itself is an evolving field of research and practice. Sometimes, if you feel convicted in your beliefs and reason about your research design, you have to take a risk, but make sure that you clearly, comprehensively, meticulously, and considerable detail, explain, and justify the components of your design, and the way that they relate to each other. An interesting approach is to argue how your philosophical and theoretical positions could provide further insights into the characteristics and behaviour of the phenomenon that other philosophical positions would not be able to observe. I’m planning to write a paper on this subject.

Discussions Chapter

The discussions chapter is where the findings are situated within a more interpretive, theoretical level and situated within existing literature in order to provide reasoned validation to the themes, and to increase their reliability and validity in their ‘existence’ through their existence being perceived and interpreted by other authors across different contexts. The discussions chapter is being divided into a couple of parts. The first part simply discusses the key findings, the core themes, and how they relate to each other in order to address the research problem and answer the research question. It is in this chapter, therefore, that you strongly link your findings to the research question, how they are relevant to the research question, and the way that they connect with the research problem and offer a possible solution. Remember, because your framework is built on a set of reasoned and rationalised interpretations grounded in the data, you cannot be absolute and certain about the absolute validity of your interpretations. This is particularly the extent to which they are generalizable across multiple contexts. This is a big debate in literature.

The second part of the chapter revolves around situating my findings and the discussions of my findings in the context of the wider literature, and this is where I begin to compare my themes, claims, codes, observations, etc. to other research and literature. This is where I am reading literature that very closely matches my own in terms of naming themes and codes with very similar functions to my own in order to validate and verify my themes. Not only this, but I can use extant literature to explain how my thematic framework differs from what exists, why it is different, and why these differences are important. This is where the second literature review takes place, and is effectively embedded and integrated in with the discussions of the findings.

It can take a long time to work out the way that this second literature review shall be shaped. You won't really know till you have completed your data analysis and have, therefore, developed your themes. It is your themes, how you view your themes, and the context within which these themes have been developed, that guide your understanding of existing literature, and how you compare your themes to what already exists. This is why it is important to ensure that the literature you choose for both the first literature review chapter and the integrated literature review is correct and relevant for the purposes of (a) research contextualisation and (b) for the purposes of validating your themes. An incorrect approach to discussions can disjoint your literature reviews and qualitative thesis as a whole. It has taken me a long time to figure this out and, quite honestly, it wasn’t until I completed the data analysis that I was able to build that complete picture of how I am going to discuss my framework and the frameworks of others, and where in the thesis I can discuss them. I am still thinknig about the very fine details, it's an ongoing process.

Implications Chapter

Have literally just begun this chapter so a full vision of the chapter has yet to be developed. However this takes what has been discussed from the previous chapter, the critiques of the literature and the explanations of the findings, and situates these discussions in the broader and wider theoretical and disciplinary landscape of the research. Because the discipline of my research is Education, I would have to link these discussions to the broader practice of education e.g., how the findings impact teaching and learning practice, how does the framework assist with researchers in their explorations of online learning, how can the framework be used in different contexts, etc. Also link with the theories of learning and perhaps link with the general goals and purposes of Education in our society, I’m guessing, I am not fully sure but I might just go for it anyway…..

I remember writing lots about the goals and purposes of Education in the past as part of the role of Education in society, but I had archived those discussions because I didn’t think they were relevant. Thankfully, they are archived and not deleted completely so they might prove to be relevant after all!

Side Note

The previous couple of posts show where I am more or less up to at the moment! Still a fair way to go, but I have a vision that continues to unravel itself as time progresses and the more that I write. It is important to keep that vision and to keep that in focus because when you become overwhelmed, you have that to guide you. That, and the mindset that tells you that it is better to feel overwhelmed with so much to say, than to feel underwhelmed and feel devoid of anything to say.

‘till next time!

Alex Darracott : 08 Jul 2019 23:21 |  Tags: Data Analysis Discussion Chapter Findings Implications Chapter Thesis Thesis Structure |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Current State of Play: Findings Chapters

Within qualitative theses, more so than the research design chapter, the findings chapters are impossible to plan from the beginning because the chapters are derived from the data, and not from existing theoretical constructs. More appropriately perhaps it is best to say that the chapters are the products of well grounded, verified and validated interpretations of what is happening in the data relative to the research questions, and which eventually leads to the development of codes, categories and themes.

The findings chapters have obviously not been planned or structured yet, although I have written and continue to write extensive theoretical notes about what I observe in the data and the way in which different codes are being formed (in the tune of the where, how, when, where, and why questions). Eventually I shall be writing theoretical notes about the development of categories and themes, although in some sense I have begun writing about them because, due to the integrated nature of qualitative research, development of codes, categories and themes are not isolated phases. They are integrative, interconnected phases: as you code the data and observe similarities and differences between similarly coded data segments, you become aware of a potential category or theme. This awareness, therefore, leads to the production of notes about the potential category or theme. The production of these notes continues through every phase and stage of the data analysis through to writing the formal findings chapters.

I am using the plural expression here because it is expected that there shall be multiple chapters, with each chapter referring to a particular theme. Each chapter shall detail what the theme is, the way it has been constructed, its theoretical constructs, and the validation and verification process. This process involves comparing the construction and concepts of the theme to relative, published findings not only to verify and validate the theme but to also discover any possibilities of contributing to existing discussions relative to the theme e.g., through discussing the way that my theme differs from other similarly identified themes. Perhaps this could also present opportunities to merge themes, or to perhaps help towards building a united understanding between similarly defined themes. The creative opportunities are potentially limitless.

Each theme chapter shall also discuss relations with other themes found in the data, eventually leading to a thematic map of the phenomenon of interest, which could be given a separate chapter. I am guessing that either each theme chapter or the thematic map chapter shall additionally contain explanations about the way in which categories (which are a level down from themes) combined to form a theme, as well as the associated codes and data segments.

There are other chapters of the findings being considered and this includes a chapter referring to any quantitative findings and other chapters referring to other aspects of the phenomenon of interest. I am not able to decide for sure on the findings chapters until I have finished with qualitative data analysis (coding scheme, its validation, and the development of categories and themes). It is this aspect that shall drive any other need for further data analysis. I have plans in place, but not able to confirm till I have gone through the qualitative process.

I do aim, however, to have made further substantial process of data analysis and associated writings of the potential findings chapters by Christmas!

Alex Darracott : 06 Sep 2018 18:54 |  Tags: Findings Thematic Analysis Themes Thesis |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem