Category Archives: analysis

from description to analysis – a revision strategy

Posted on October 22, 2018 by pat thomson

PhDers are often told by their supervisors that their work needs to move from description to analysis. But what does this mean?  Have you just wasted your time doing all that describing? Well, in short, no. The good news is … Continue reading →

Posted in academic writing, analysis, crappy first draft, data analysis, description, empirical analysis, revision, revision strategy | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

an ethics of analysis and writing

Posted on December 12, 2016 by pat thomson

How do you work ethically with material generated in an interview? I’ve been pondering this question recently as part of a more general think about ethical research practice*. Research ethics are covered in institutional forms – yes? Well no. The forms … Continue reading →

Posted in analysis, data analysis, ethics, Uncategorized, writing research | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

devouring your data

Posted on November 6, 2014 by pat thomson

You’ve read hundreds of books. You’ve waded through archival material. You’ve got mountains of surveys, folders full of transcripts, notebooks stuffed with barely legible field notes, and rather more photographs than you initially intended. Now what? How is it going … Continue reading →

Posted in analysis, data | Tagged , | 10 Comments

do I have to transcribe the interviews I do?

Posted on February 10, 2014 by pat thomson

Well no. Of course not. You don’t have to. But you might want to… and here’s why. One of the great pleasures about researching is that you get to talk to lots of different people. They’ll usually have something interesting … Continue reading →

Posted in analysis, interview, transcription | Tagged , , | 27 Comments