How do you link your data through analysis and reflection?

Tonight I was finally able to make the module 3 call and it was everything I needed at this point in the inquiry process.

Before we started Helen read a excerpt from the KORTEXT 

"nothing is lost, but we can get lost in it" 

What we're saying here is that its not how we get the data for our inquiry, all research is valuable, but how do we figure out what to do with it?

This was one of my biggest questions and the part of the inquiry that I felt I was hitting a wall with - the analysis.

First of all Helen reminded us of some key points when thinking about the analysis section of the report:

• Do something with the data - don't include 'raw' data in your report, yes you can use quotes to support your themes but make sure you do something with them.
• Reflect on what research you have gathered - what relationship does the data have to the lens of your professional practice? What does it mean to you?
• Analysis is a process - more often than not you will step away from the data before returning to in, and then step back and so on...

We then took it in turns to talk about where we are at now and how the data feels for us at the moment - if you missed the call and are catching up via the recording you'll hear me expressing my concern for my head falling off! But aside from that it was great to hear how everyone is getting on and reassuring to know I wasn't the only one who had faced challenges along the way.

My two biggest concerns in my data collecting process were:

1. A large proportion of my interviewees returned to the industry making them no longer suitable for my study as they were no longer experiencing a career transition.
   
   
2. The literature around career transition in dance is particularly limited and therefore I was struggling to find 'relevant' data

Helen explained that there is no such thing as 'bad' or 'wrong' data. That I am the one who brings the dance element to my data as this is the field of my practice. She encouraged me to look towards the notion of 'transition' as a starting point and then to apply the lens of my practice to my observations.

Oxford Languages define transition as 'the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another.' After looking at this definition I began to re evaluate my assumption that transition was only in one direction and that actually the people I thought I could no longer interview did in fact undergo not one but two career transitions as they returned to the industry.

The final point Helen made in tonights call was a reminder that although drafts are due next week, there is no expectation to submit a 'finished' report, in fact, a working analysis where you are showing your supervisor your thinking and the questions you have is much more useful at this stage in terms of development.

Looking forward to hearing how everyone is getting on!

References:

Oxford Languages. (n.d) reference, Oxford: Oxford Languages. [Online] [Accessed on 2nd November 2021] https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/ 

Wolcott, H. F. (1994). Transforming qualitative data: description, analysis, and interpretation. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: London, Sage.