Tag Archives: data analysis

what is an audit trail and why do you need one?

The term audit trail is shorthand. i use it to describe “evidential” material that you provide for a reader. I am a bit suspicious of the overuse of the word evidence, and I prefer “audit” because it describes what actually … Continue reading

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playing about with data

Not everything we do in our research has to have a definite end point. Sometimes it’s good to set aside all those anxieties about ‘getting through and getting done’. We might even like to take some time to simply play … Continue reading

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a festive gift from patter – a checklist for revising methods chapters

PhDers sometimes find writing the thesis methods chapter a pretty tedious business. But the methods chapter is a key part of the examination process – it shows that the researcher knows how to research. You see, examiners make their decision … Continue reading

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beginning data analysis – orienting yourself

This post is a response to a question about how to begin data analysis. When you were little, I bet you played sorting games. You might have organised pencils into colours, or blocks into various shapes. Later on, you may … Continue reading

Posted in data, data analysis, orienting questions, qualitative data, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

play with your data

Data analysis can be pretty scary.  That moment when you realise that making sense of the stuff you’ve so painstakingly generated comes down to you – just you.  Well, relax. It’s not just you that has to leap into the … Continue reading

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data analysis – jigsaw puzzling writ large?

I do love a good jigsaw. The more complicated the better. Tiny pieces. Ambiguous shapes that could be one of any number of things. Large slabs of mono colour. What’s not to like? And over Christmas I got hooked on the … Continue reading

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pack ratting – a common or garden field work practice

Pack rats are nest builders. They use plant material such as branches, twigs, sticks, and other available debris. Getting into everything from attics to car engines, stealing their ‘treasures’, damaging electrical wiring, and creating general noisy havoc can easily cause … Continue reading

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starting the PhD – don’t panic

I was sitting in my office the other day talking with a beginning PhDer. A nearly-finished doctor popped her head around the door. I asked her what advice she would give someone just starting out on their doctorate, and her … Continue reading

Posted in data, doctoral research, literature review, panic, questions, research question, thesis | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

what did I do? – the research diary

I’ve got an OK memory. Most of the time I can summon up the details that I need to remember, when I need to remember them – passwords, deadlines, the way home. But I do struggle to recall all of the … Continue reading

Posted in data analysis, research decisions, research diary | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

devouring your data

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

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