lecture 14 Flashcards
Analyzing qualitative data through
coding and
counting.
SHLRP goals
- To describe the learning experiences and outcomes
which accompany the reading of self-help books
relating to health, relationships, and careers. - To analyze the impact of such reading upon the
subjective identities of those who read self-help
books.
mode of observation
Qualitative interviews with 134 people who had read a
self-help book
Interview sections
- Identification of a self-help reading experience.
- Motivation.
- Learning goals.
- Learning strategies.
- Learning.
- Impact.
- Background.
- Key narrative exercise.
how did the intevriew analyze the readers learning goals
When you started reading the book, was there
anything specific that you were hoping to learn?
— If so, please tell us a little bit about those goals.
Were there particular things about your
career/health/relationships that you were hoping to
change or gain some insight on?
— If so, what were those things?
did they test a hypthosis
no
we did not
engage in systematic or random sampling procedures.
true
Reliance on available subjects
(non-probability
sampling method)
Given our sampling techniques, our interviewees do
not represent the full range of readers of self-help
books, and we cannot
authoritatively generalize our
findings to that broader population of readers.
interviewees were recruited primarily through
online
advertisements placed in the “books” sections of Kijiji
websites for Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, and
Winnipeg.
Purposive sampling:
we screened all applicants with an
online survey to promote balance in terms of gender,
age, level of educational attainment, and area of self-
help interest.
Coding and counting as qualitative data analysis
Describe the learning experiences and outcomes which
accompany the reading of self-help books relating to
health, relationships, and careers.
Pathway 1: Linear and successful learners
-Had a goal
-Learned
something
-Changed
somehow
Pathway 2: Incomplete learners (a)
-Had a goal
-Learned
something
- Did not
change
Pathway 2: Incomplete learners (b)
-Had a
goal
-Did not
learn
__ % of participants had a goal
93
____% said they learned something
83
__% siad they changed
61
Pathway 3: Incidental or random learners (a)
-Had no
goal
-Learned
something
-Changed
somehow
Pathway 3: Incidental or random learners (b)
Had a goal
Learned
something
unrelated
Changed
somehow
inear and successful learner: Susan
Book: Eight weeks to optimum health, by Andrew
Weil
Goal: “I wanted to set realistic goals on how to
improve my health.”
Learning: “Relax, eat natural unprocessed foods and
walk. Consume more fish, eat less refined grains.”
Change: “I have not followed everything in the book
to a ‘T’ but I have changed my lifestyle significantly
for the better. I changed the way I took some
vitamins and I added some vitamins to my diet. I also
omitted a few foods from my life altogether and
made an effort to eat more fruits and vegetables. I
also made time to enjoy life. This book helped me
realize that I don’t take the time to just enjoy things.”
Purposeful but incomplete learner: Steven
Book: Good to Great: Why some companies make the
leap and others don’t, by Jim Collins
Goal: “I was trying to get some general lessons that
could be applied to business in general. A bunch of
issues at work had been noticed and I had hoped to
pull something from the book to work on solving
these.”
Learning: “Most of the book seemed fairly in tune with what I
already believed so there were no real revelations. It did
simplify some concepts and expressed them in slightly
different ways than I would have, but beyond making them a
bit more accessible nothing major came to light.”
Change: In terms of taking concrete action resulting from
reading, Steven indicated that he had such intentions (“We’ve
been on the edge of success for a long time and haven’t been
able to turn that corner yet and hoped the book would be
able to show at a high level where we might be going
wrong”), but did not actually describe doing so.
Random or incidental learner: Delilah
Book: Fish! A proven way to boost morale and
improve results, by Stephen Lunden and colleagues
Goal: “While I was working for a company with low
morale we were requested to read it… I don’t think
there was anything I was hoping to learn.”
Learning: “I learned that life is all about what you
make of it and to make the best out of any situation.
The book was about finding fun in the workplace and
helping you enjoy your job.
Change: “I definitely put the positive thinking into
practice and I became more productive. I tried to
think of ways to make the monotonous tasks more
enjoyable and went into work every day with more
positive thinking. The book made me realize that the
negativity I was feeling was personal, so once I
realized that it could always be worse it was easy to
put the positive thoughts into practice.”
”
___% had linear pathways
59
____% had incomplete pathways
25
___ % had incidental pathways
16
more men than women had what path
incidental
30 years old or less had high ____ and ___ path but lower ____ path
incomplete and incidental
- linear
Some self-help books help some people, some of the
time
true
Women are more likely than men to be
linear and
successful learners
Older people are more likely than younger people to
be
linear and successful learners.
Quantifying qualitative data.
Focused on _____ patterns in social life
documenting
