Diary Excerpts
Day 1:
Having read the relevant articles and Neuman’s ‘bible’ I am ready to read the transcript for the first time. I feel a little bit scared cause although I feel that I have understood the necessary theory so as to proceed with the assignment I feel that coding won’t be something easy to do.
Day 3:
I feel frustrated. For the past two days I have been reading and rereading the transcript. I managed to find two or three codes in each meaning. ‘Change’, ‘Life-long learning’, ‘design’, ‘support’ and learning ‘seem to stand out’. I think that I must search deeper and look thoroughly each meeting for more codes. Perhaps I should ask myself ‘Why does she/he say that?’ and ‘what does she/he imply?’
Day 4:
Time is passing, the deadline for the assignment is approaching and coding seems to be extremely … difficult to cope with. I have difficulty in sleeping without thinking constantly about the assignment.
Day 6:
After taking a day off from the assignment I returned looking back at my compilation of codes so far. I started reading the transcript line by line and more codes seem to appear regarding ‘family’, ‘technology’. I try to restrict my codes into a simple word or two the most. I am beginning to see re-occurring patterns. ‘Adult learning’ seems to be something that is on the mind of the interviewees along with their competence regarding technology. My notebook has more codes than before. I am trying to support my codes with textual evidence. Hidden codes such as “co-operative learning” seem to appear. I am about to memorize the transcript!!!
Day 7:
I am starting connecting relevant issues that have come up from the codes. I feel more confident now. “Incentive/drive” seems to relate with “learning” under the broader definition of “education”. Anyway, that’s a first thought, we’ll see. I often return back to my codes thinking them over and wondering whether they cover adequately the concept they represent. I believe that I have reached saturation. A lot of reflection takes place!
Day 8:
Adding frequencies to the table was the easiest part. I am ready to start writing the assignment, blending theory with the data gathered. What frightens me most is that I am not sure if my coding is correct or whether I am moving towards the right direction. Yet, I feel that I have a produced a descent result. Have I found enough codes?
Day 11:
Completion of the assignment. By far, it was the most difficult thing so far. Hope it goes well!!!!!
