Thesis Update – on to Analysis

I’ve been pretty busy with the thesis over the past couple weeks. I’m at the end of the data collection phase – at least until after an initial round of analysis – so I’ve been transcribing interviews and figuring out SQL statements and an initial round of open coding of the interviews. It’s a lot of drudgery but now I’m finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m to the point now where I feel like the answer to my research question is “in there” and I have some preliminary feelings about what I’ve got, but it’ll take a more systematic process to sift out.

I’m trying to refrain from spending all of my time making charts & lists. Data visualization–particularly the more creative and qualitative stuff–is like a calling. There’s nothing so satisfying for me as making beautiful evidence, to quote the title of Tufte’s new book. It’s the best feeling when it can convey something important from your own original research, or anything “new”. Right now, though, I need to dig into the textual data and really immerse myself to get some conceptual order.