Q3 on Methodspace Will Focus on Data Analysis
by Janet Salmons, Ph.D., Research Community Manager for Sage Methodspace
We are walking through the research process in 2023. In the first quarter we started the year by looking at ways to identify problems and design studies, then shifted to a focus on ways to collect data in the second quarter. Now, as we move into the third quarter, we will look at ways to analyze, interpret, and make meaning from the data we’ve collected.
Bloom’s Taxonomy, Revisited
Elements of the 2001 revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy, based on the original 1956 model.
Methodspace readers know that I am fond of Bloom’s Taxonomy, a framework originally developed to explain dimensions of learning and thinking. It can help us think through the stages we need to consider when trying to develop new expertise.
As you can see, analysis is at the mid-point. Before we get to that stage we need to grasp the basics, including common terminology and foundational concepts, and be able to apply them. But even when we have mastered the work associated with analysis, we aren’t done. We still need to be able to evaluate and interpret what emerged from analytic process. And, importantly, we need to use what was learned to create something new.
Let’s look at this Taxonomy in the context of data analysis in social science research.
Adapting Bloom’s Taxonomy to explain how we learn about data analysis.
Most researchers have some kind of oversight at the design stage, whether it is from your professor, dissertation or thesis supervisor, or the funding body supporting the project. An analytic strategy is usually a part of the design proposal. We need a solid foundation in the methodologies and technologies used in the paradigms that underpin the study, as well as our discipline or area of research. How do, how should, qualitative or quantitative researchers analyze the data they collect? What approaches are needed to analyze numbers, spoken or written words, images, audio, and/or multimedia data? What ethical dilemmas are present given the nature of your study?
Once you know what is possible and how to describe it, can you apply data analysis methods by articulating a coherent analytic strategy? And once you have carried out the analysis, what does it all mean? What is the significance of the findings or results and how can the study make a theoretical or scholarly contribution? Then we get to the real heart of the matter: so what? Can you create something new? Develop an innovation based on this research - ideas, policies, practices, that will help people in our hurting world? Will you write articles or books, teach others, or share what you’ve learned in creative ways?
On to Q3 on Methodspace!
This quarter Methodspace posts will explore the entire gamut, from introducing concepts and methods to discussing analytic practices and ways to interpret results. We will look at emerging technologies and how to use them. You will find original posts, interviews with researchers, curated lists of open-access articles, and suggested SAGE books and resources. If you want to order any of the books highlighted this quarter, use the code MSPACEQ323 for a 20% discount on a purchase.
Follow this tag from July through September to find the unfolding series. Have something to contribute in a guest post that will benefit fellow readers? Submit your ideas here.