Tuesday, October 10, 2006
The Data Set
The data set I am analyzing comes from a threaded discussion. For this reason, there is no need to transcribe, although there are other things that need to be made before analyzing the data. After downloaded the messages/posts I draw a tree diagram that shows the flow of conversation. It is possible to identify different sub-conversations within a single thread/topic. These are represented by the branches of the tree diagram -- I call them stories and Gee (1999, 2005) would also call them macrostructures.
Besides, my research question has to do with how knowledge is constructed; therefore the focus of analysis is on the type of activities and connections present in the data. At this moment, the identity of the participants is not relevant. So, the signatures in the messages/posts are deleted, cleaning up the data to facilitate the analysis. Also, intertextuality may result redundant, so this is also deleted from the messages/posts.
Cleaning up the data, leaves me with a story were several participants (2 or more) work together solving a mathematics problem. Sometimes they also share information relevant to the math learner.
Since last Wednesday, I have been downloading and organizing the data set of my research. This step is very methodical and I need to be very careful not to skip a message or misplaced it. For this reason, I am numbering the posts/messages in the same way they are listed in the thread. Later, when comparing the data with the tree diagram, it is easier to create the ‘stories’ corresponding to each tree branch. I have downloaded most of the data set already, but reorganizing it into stories and cleaning it up will take a few more days. After all this, analysis!!!
Besides, my research question has to do with how knowledge is constructed; therefore the focus of analysis is on the type of activities and connections present in the data. At this moment, the identity of the participants is not relevant. So, the signatures in the messages/posts are deleted, cleaning up the data to facilitate the analysis. Also, intertextuality may result redundant, so this is also deleted from the messages/posts.
Cleaning up the data, leaves me with a story were several participants (2 or more) work together solving a mathematics problem. Sometimes they also share information relevant to the math learner.
Since last Wednesday, I have been downloading and organizing the data set of my research. This step is very methodical and I need to be very careful not to skip a message or misplaced it. For this reason, I am numbering the posts/messages in the same way they are listed in the thread. Later, when comparing the data with the tree diagram, it is easier to create the ‘stories’ corresponding to each tree branch. I have downloaded most of the data set already, but reorganizing it into stories and cleaning it up will take a few more days. After all this, analysis!!!
