What do I have evidence of? Taking a critical stance to data in order to strengthen qualitative analysis

Qualitative Data Analysis at UTS series 

'What do I have evidence of? Taking a critical stance to data in order to strengthen qualitative analysis'  

This is the eleventh session in the series: Qualitative Data Analysis at UTS. The aim of this series is to showcase and celebrate the diverse and innovative ways UTS researchers are working with qualitative data.

In qualitative analysis it is important not to take your data for granted, not to assume its surface meanings are the only meanings, or even the most appropriate ones to work with. In this workshop Nick Hopwood will share principles and analytical questions that you can use to take a sophisticated approach to data. While taking a critical and reflective stance to your data is good for intellectual hygiene and methodological rigour, it can also be unsettling and destabilising. In this workshop we will look at examples of documentary and interview data where surface meanings need to be troubled, applying specific techniques to uncover important features and meanings. Participants in this workshop will be given a short pre-workshop reading of an interview transcript.

Learning outcomes:
1. Learn how to unpack data in terms of its strength and limitations as evidence in relation to research questions
2. Learn how to read below the surface to detect ‘hidden’ meanings in data.

Please note that this session will be recorded.