Contexts and recontextualisation

1
Contexts and recontextualisation

• Libby Bishop
• ESDS Qualidata, University of Essex
• Context Workshop - QUADS
• Southbank University, London
• 3 May 2006

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Context for secondary data

• The objective is not to recreate original context
  (which is not possible), but rather
• to recontextualise data

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Secondary analysis

• Thus secondary analysis is not the analysis of
  pre-existing data rather secondary analysis
  involves the process of re-contextualising data
• Through recontextualisation, the order of the
  data has been transformed, thus secondary
  analysis is perhaps more usefully rendered as
  primary analysis of a different order of data.
• (Moore, 2005)

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Levels of contexts
Holstein and Gubrium (in Seale, 04) van den Berg (FQS, 05)
Institutional, cultural Extra-discursive
Situational Conditions of discursive production
Conversational, interact ional Intra-discursive
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Contexts and reusing data
Original project Current project
Data records transcripts, audio, etc. transcripts, often no more
Interview setting room, dress, appearance often not documented
Project original questions, messy analysis new questions, official methodology
Cultural, institutional relevance depends on the res. Q relevance depends on the res. Q
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So, how much context?

• It always dependson research goals, questions,
  data, but
• We have to start somewhere
• Conversational context (interview)
• Situational context
• Institutional context
• Project context
• Cultural context

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Metadata for model transcript output

• Study Name lttitlStmtgtlttitlgtMothers and
  Daughterslt/titlgtlt/titlStmtgt
• Depositor ltdistStmtgtltdepositrgtMildred
  Blaxterlt/depositrgtlt/distStmtgt
• Interview number ltintNumgt4943int01lt/intNumgt
• Date of interview ltintDategt3 May 1979lt/intDategt
• Interview ID ltpersNamegtg24lt/persNamegt
• Date of birth ltbirthgt1930lt/birthgt
• Gender ltgendergtFemalelt/gendergt
• Occupation ltoccupationgtpharmacy
  assistantlt/occupationgt
• Geo region ltgeoRegiongtScotlandlt/geoRegiongt
• Marital status ltmarStatgtMarriedlt/marStatgt

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Minimal contextual metadata for interviews (and
full transcript)
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Situational context

• Knowable or visible background
  characteristics-all participants
• Place, time, setting
• Selection and recruitment (project knowledge,
  gatekeepers) vdBerg, 2005
• (n.b. TEI supports these categories)

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Cultural context

• Project
• Objectives
• Any published methodology
• Unpublished analyses
• Funding source(s)
• Cultural/institutional

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Cultural context is most difficult

• Defining men interrupting women is linked to
  context of social structures of gender inequality
• In one study, contexts shaped not the themes
  found, but their framing (Armstrong, 97)
• Health and food example
• Transparency in original project is best
  foundation for recontextualisation

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Selected references

• Hammersley, 1997
• Moore, 2006
• Van den Berg, 2005
• Holstein and Gubrium, 2004
• Armstrong, et al., 1997

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Other matters

• When is the call for more context actually
  functioning as immunisation against possible
  criticism? (van den Berg, 2005)