Data and what to do with it - M3 focus call

Todays discussion was about data - how you interpret it and what to do with it.  How we interpret our data is how we make sense of what we've done. 

We need to make the connections between our data, our professional practice and of course the literature. We were told we do not need to produce a final perfect product, it doesn't have to be neat and tidy, its how we articulate our points thats important.  Helen said to look through the lens of our professional practice and see what's interesting to us.  We will draw our own conclusions from our research and it won't be linear, it can be quite messy.  The importance of not leaving data sets out was mentioned, making sure we triangulate our data with the literature and our own experience. 

The shopping ingredient analogy was used

    * When we shop for ingredients to make a recipe = gathering data

    * When you get home and put the ingredients in front of you = its just the ingredients/ raw data

    * Mixing and cooking the ingredients so they transform to something else = we have to do the stirring     to create something from what we've gathered - our own interpretation

There will be layered stages and it will be our personal view when we triangulate.  The analysis is our own interpretation and how we read it through a dance/ our pp lens.   What do we bring to the data and how do we interpret it through our professional lens is what puts us at the heart of it and therefore makes it meaningful. 

We spoke about how we couldn't include all the data we had gathered as there was likely far too much but to look at things that kept reoccurring and things that were important to us in order to convey the message we wanted. Show what you've done to understand things that came up in the data better. Make something different with the raw data/ ingredients we have.  Let yourself be with the data at the moment and let things sit.  Use time to sit and just think about it. 

Helen said the draft doesn't have to be fully finished, we can let it be a working document and let our tutor know what questions we have at this stage.