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Abstract
This paper proposes analogical mapping as a strategy for data analysis. Research is often messy. Where it explores the unknown and follows unexpected paths it often generates unanticipated findings. Presented with extensive data and the initial analysis describing 'themes' the researcher asks, "What does it all mean?" Thus we are challenged to make sense of the world we see, to theorise and not merely describe. This report outlines a method of analysis using metaphor as a thinking tool to interpret findings from a study in education. In the study reported here, metaphor provided a means of analysis to delve deeply into the nature of a school system, to offer insights and to generate a tentative theory
Keywords
Analogy, Metaphor, Qualitative Analysis, and Educational Change
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Mark Cosgrove and Lyn Schaverien for their advice on the method considered in this paper.
Publication Date
12-1-2002
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
DOI
10.46743/2160-3715/2002.1962
Recommended APA Citation
Aubusson, P. (2002). Using Metaphor to Make Sense and Build Theory in Qualitative Analysis. The Qualitative Report, 7(4), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2002.1962
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