Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

I chose the software MAXqda for this purpose, a programme designed for the
structuring and analysis of qualitative data. ´Coding´ means here relating the interview
material to categories of the analysis guideline.
5) After the whole interview material has been coded, text passages from all interviews
assigned to the same code are compared (´cross-dimensional analysis along the sub-themes´
according to Liebold/Trinczek 2002: 53).
This process is done repeatedly. That way, I was able to compare the interview material
at various dimensions:
- the utterances of trade union representatives and managers within the same firm (and
the facts thus presented);
- the statements of interviewees in the same firms at two time slots (in the case of
German case studies),
- the statements of interviewees in German firms in contrast to the statements of
interviewees in Polish firms;
- the situation in the food manufacturing sector in contrast to the transportation
equipment sector (in both countries).
6) As a next step, a quantitative analysis of the empirical data is possible.
Quantitative depictions of qualitative data are a first step of further qualitative analysis,
rather than a result in itself (Schmidt 2003. 560, 562-3): they are useful for the selection of
singular cases for in-depth analysis, and make the results transparent. I will conduct
frequency tables which depict the occurrence of ageing-friendly personnel policies in
singular areas of HRM as a pre-stage for further analysis and interpretation.
7) All cases are analysed in detail, and singular cases are picked out for in-depth
analysis.
In my research, I will deal in depth with what I regard as ´intense cases´ - examples of
´good practice´ with regard to age management and prolongation of working life.
8) Interpretation
As a method for analysis and interpretation, I chose the structuring qualitative content
analysis as explicated in Mayring (2003: 82-99). This method is recommended for the
analysis of semi-structured interviews (Schmidt 2003) or analysis of organisations rather
than individuals (Scheibler/Pfaff 2004: 164). The aim of the structuring content analysis is
to find a certain structure in the data or to assess the data on the basis of certain categories
(Mayring 2003: 58, 82-83). The structure is pre-formulated on the basis of theory
(deductively; step 3) and revised on the basis of the data (inductively; step 7).
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