Transparency is once again a central issue of debate across types of qualitative research. Work on how to conduct qualitative data analysis, on the other hand, walks us through the step-by-step process on how to code and understand the data we’ve collected. Although there are a few exceptions, less focus is on transparency regarding decision-making processes in the course of research. In this article, we argue that scholars should create a living codebook, which is a set of tools that documents the data analysis process. It has four parts: (1) a processual database that keeps track of initial codes and a final database for completed codes, (2) a “definitions and key terms” list for conversations about codes, (3) memo-writing, and (4) a difference list explaining the rationale behind unmatched codes. It allows researchers to interrogate taken-for-granted assumptions about what data are focused on, why, and how to analyze it. To that end, the living codebook moves beyond discussions around intercoder reliability to how analytic codes are created, refined, and debated.
Transparency is once again a central issue of debate across types of qualitative research. Workon how to conduct qualitative data analysis, on the other hand, walks us through the step-by-stepprocess on how to code and understand the data we’ve collected. Although there are a fewexceptions, less focus is on transparency regarding decision-making processes in the course ofresearch. In this paper, we argue that scholars should create a living codebook, which is a set oftools that documents the data analysis process. It has four parts: 1) a processual database whichkeeps track of initial codes and a final database for completed codes, 2) a “definitions and keyterms” list for conversations about codes, 3) memo-writing, and 4) a difference list explainingthe rationale behind unmatched codes. It allows researchers to interrogate taken-for-grantedassumptions about what data is focused on, why, and how to analyze it. To that end, the livingcodebook moves beyond discussions around inter-coder reliability by documenting the process by which analytic codes are created, refined, and debated.
This entry examines the relevance of concepts and theories in the social movement and collective behavior literatures in sociology for understanding and explaining social change in small‐scale human societies. We discuss and critique the reasons given by some social movement scholars to justify their focus on exclusively “modern” movements. We contend that collective behavior and social movements have been important causes of social change in small‐scale societies composed of hunter‐gatherers and horticulturalists, since before the emergence of sedentism in the Mesolithic Era.
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