Creating Structure

Over the past few weeks, I have been using an inductive approach to coding. I began by reading through a few interviews and recording the themes I found. After continuing to read through interviews I quickly recognized that I was generating a large number of themes. I found this to be both a positive outcome, as I now have an abundance of themes to work with, and a negative outcome as I found myself drowning in themes. It quickly became apparent that I needed to address the growing list of themes. The solution lies in creating structure. It is important to establish hierarchies in coding systems. I found that once I began to identify the main themes, I could then identify and place subthemes below them. Creating structure in my coding system not only makes analyzing theme easier but also making coding interviews more efficient. While adding initial structure to my code system has helped me to gain clarity, my work is not done. Creating code structure is an ongoing process that entails constant realignment and refinement. This continuous retooling is time-consuming, however, it pales in comparison to the time and frustration I would experience by omitting structure.