Turning words into numbers

Turning words into numbers: The journey from real people to impersonal data (and back again)

Penny Van Bergen (Department of Educational Studies, Macquarie University)
Naomi Sweller (Department of Psychology, Macquarie University)

Where: Room 292, Level 2, 29WW (X5B), Macquarie University

When: Tuesday June 19, 2018

Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm

In this presentation we outline techniques for quantitatively coding and analysing speech data from conversations, classroom and family observations, and interviews. Yet why turn qualitative words into numbers in the first place? Why not leave words as they are? While passionate adherents of quantitative and qualitative approaches frequently proclaim their desire to have nothing to do with the “other” camp, these approaches are not as incompatible as they might seem. By combining quantitative and qualitative approaches, we are better able to describe the phenomena we are interested in: capturing overarching patterns and themes and determining their prevalence in different groups. Working primarily with data arising from discussions between adults or between adults and children, we will use this workshop to discuss quantitative methods for coding qualitative speech, describe subsequent approaches to analysis, and present our own examples of work in which we have successfully combined quantitative and qualitative schemes to inform research and practice.