Project
Data coding of open-ended survey questions and analytical memo

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Program Objective
This project demonstrates how I meet the following program objectives:

• demonstrating mastery of my craft through attention to detail

• conducting primary and secondary research that will add to knowledge in my field

 

Data coding is an effective research method for analyzing information in an interview transcript. It requires great attention to detail because you must interpret what the interviewee is saying in order to see if it matches your chosen codes. 

 

Context
Data coding allows researchers to analyze similarities and patterns in their data by creating code words or phrases to identify these patterns. In qualitative research, the data is either obtained from observations, interviews or from questionnaires. The purpose of data coding is to determine the principles and meaning of the data from the respondents.

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In my Research Methods class taught by Dr. Joanne Matson, we worked in small groups to code data from interviews with law school students. The research was to study law school student’s transition into legal writing. Each group was to code the data using two different coding methods. We chose versus and dramaturgical coding. For this set of data, we individually coded sections of transcripts and wrote analytical memos, then returned to our group to discuss our findings. 

 

Audience
This information was shared with our class and Dr. Matson. We discussed our coding strategies and research findings in class through a Slack discussion board.  

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Process
For my section, I coded responses to three open-ended survey questions. But before I could begin coding, I first had to condense the data and remove any nonpertinent information. In versus coding, you code for contrasts and/or comparisons. For example, one of our codes was “legal writing v. academic writing.” To code for that, I would search for any instance where legal writing was mentioned where it compared or contrasted to academic writing. Dramaturgical coding has predetermined three-letter codes for different purposes (ex. ATT = attitude, EMO = emotion, TAC = task, OBJ = objective). Based on these types of codes, you determine phrases of what you want to look for in the data (ex.  ATT = different way of thinking, TAC = revision, EMO = untethered/uncertain).  

 

Coding is a tedious process that requires you to read over data multiple times. Sometimes what I was coding for might not be explicitly said in the transcript, so I had to read carefully to figure out if what the respondent was saying applied to one of my codes. The Find feature in Word was helpful in coding because I could easily search for the words or phrases that matched my codes.

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After coding, we wrote individual memos based on the sections we coded. The research question was, “What happens to student writers in law school?” Three common themes I noted in their responses were writing styles, writing process, and time management. A lot of students said that writing clearly and concisely was important in law school. They also mentioned that revision, editing, and rewriting were important parts of their writing process. Learning time management was important for balancing classes, readings, and assignments.

Overall, coding takes a lot of time but with a significant amount of qualitative data, it is a good way to condense and analyze that data.