Making Thinking Visible with Atlas.ti: Computer Assisted Qualitative Analysis as Textual Practices
How is a new quality of reading, which we call "sociological understanding", created during the process of qualitative analysis? A methodological (conventional) answer to this question usually speaks of mental processes and conceptual work. This paper suggests a different view—sociological...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | deu |
Published: |
FQS
2008-05-01
|
Series: | Forum: Qualitative Social Research |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/420 |
id |
doaj-befa69fa34f643338b2d2889ed8f7225 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-befa69fa34f643338b2d2889ed8f72252020-11-24T23:04:23ZdeuFQS Forum: Qualitative Social Research1438-56272008-05-0192419Making Thinking Visible with Atlas.ti: Computer Assisted Qualitative Analysis as Textual PracticesZdeněk Konopásek0Center for Theoretical Study, PrahaHow is a new quality of reading, which we call "sociological understanding", created during the process of qualitative analysis? A methodological (conventional) answer to this question usually speaks of mental processes and conceptual work. This paper suggests a different view—sociological rather than methodological; or more precisely a view inspired by a contemporary sociology of science. It describes qualitative analysis as a set of material practices. Taking grounded theory methodology and the work with the computer programme Atlas.ti as an example, it is argued that thinking is inseparable from doing even in this domain. It is argued that by adopting the suggested perspective we might be better able to speak of otherwise hardly graspable processes of qualitative analysis in more accountable and instructable ways. Further, software packages would be better understood not only as "mere tools" for coding and retrieving, but also as complex virtual environments for embodied and practice-based knowledge making. Finally, grounded theory methodology might appear in a somewhat different light: when described not in terms of methodological or theoretical concepts but rather in terms of what we practically do with the analysed data, it becomes perfectly compatible with the radical constructivist, textualist, or even post-structuralist paradigms of interpretation (from which it has allegedly departed by a long way). URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0802124http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/420CAQDASanalytic practicesgrounded theory methodologythinkingvisualisationtextualityreading and writinghumans and machines |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
deu |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Zdeněk Konopásek |
spellingShingle |
Zdeněk Konopásek Making Thinking Visible with Atlas.ti: Computer Assisted Qualitative Analysis as Textual Practices Forum: Qualitative Social Research CAQDAS analytic practices grounded theory methodology thinking visualisation textuality reading and writing humans and machines |
author_facet |
Zdeněk Konopásek |
author_sort |
Zdeněk Konopásek |
title |
Making Thinking Visible with Atlas.ti: Computer Assisted Qualitative Analysis as Textual Practices |
title_short |
Making Thinking Visible with Atlas.ti: Computer Assisted Qualitative Analysis as Textual Practices |
title_full |
Making Thinking Visible with Atlas.ti: Computer Assisted Qualitative Analysis as Textual Practices |
title_fullStr |
Making Thinking Visible with Atlas.ti: Computer Assisted Qualitative Analysis as Textual Practices |
title_full_unstemmed |
Making Thinking Visible with Atlas.ti: Computer Assisted Qualitative Analysis as Textual Practices |
title_sort |
making thinking visible with atlas.ti: computer assisted qualitative analysis as textual practices |
publisher |
FQS |
series |
Forum: Qualitative Social Research |
issn |
1438-5627 |
publishDate |
2008-05-01 |
description |
How is a new quality of reading, which we call "sociological understanding", created during the process of qualitative analysis? A methodological (conventional) answer to this question usually speaks of mental processes and conceptual work. This paper suggests a different view—sociological rather than methodological; or more precisely a view inspired by a contemporary sociology of science. It describes qualitative analysis as a set of material practices. Taking grounded theory methodology and the work with the computer programme Atlas.ti as an example, it is argued that thinking is inseparable from doing even in this domain. It is argued that by adopting the suggested perspective we might be better able to speak of otherwise hardly graspable processes of qualitative analysis in more accountable and instructable ways. Further, software packages would be better understood not only as "mere tools" for coding and retrieving, but also as complex virtual environments for embodied and practice-based knowledge making. Finally, grounded theory methodology might appear in a somewhat different light: when described not in terms of methodological or theoretical concepts but rather in terms of what we practically do with the analysed data, it becomes perfectly compatible with the radical constructivist, textualist, or even post-structuralist paradigms of interpretation (from which it has allegedly departed by a long way).
URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0802124 |
topic |
CAQDAS analytic practices grounded theory methodology thinking visualisation textuality reading and writing humans and machines |
url |
http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/420 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT zdenekkonopasek makingthinkingvisiblewithatlasticomputerassistedqualitativeanalysisastextualpractices |
_version_ |
1725630794751279104 |