1. Contextual Coding in Qualitative Research Involving Participants with Diverse Sociocultural Backgrounds
- Author
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Ahtisham Younas, Angela Cuoco, Ercole Vellone, Sergi Fàbregues, Elsa Lucia Escalante Barrios, and Angela Durante
- Subjects
Cultural Studies ,data coding ,multi-lingual research ,research methods ,Social Psychology ,cross-cultural research ,contextual coding ,qualitative research ,Education - Abstract
Understanding participants’ perspectives in qualitative research is contingent on unravelling the essential meaning of their speech. When data are collected in native language and translated into English language, the underlying sociocultural meaning of participants’ speech can be missed. This paper discusses a new contextual coding approach and illustrates its application in research. The technique was used in a phenomenological study in Pakistan and a mixed methods study in Europe. Contextual coding entails a preliminary coding stage involving data reading in native language, choosing socially and culturally relevant words and phrases, and developing preliminary codes. The concluding coding stage focuses on creating a sociocultural query list, seeking answers through discussions among multilingual individuals, and finding a common language for code description. Contextual coding can enable researchers to understand sociocultural meaning of their data at an early stage, rather than waiting at the later stage of theme development to contextualize the findings.
- Published
- 2022