Brene' Brown said that stories are data with a soul.
I have spent the last seven months listening to stories. I interviewed 18 students about their spiritual identity. I did ALOT of listening. The process was stunning. Absolutely stunning. I heard about abuses, struggles, triumphs, hopes, dreams, depressions, and most of all, living life. Students took my hand and said "come with me" as they shared their journey.
I am humbled and honored. These students allowed me to come along side them as they took this journey we call life.
The next step I took was to code and begin analysis of the data. I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this part. I enjoyed coding the student's words and was so excited to see what they revealed.
Ironically I was soooo worried about the writing of the analytical memos. I wondered if I would have anything to say. That was a needless worry because the data revealed PLENTY of things to discuss.
I spoke with Alex on Friday, May 14, 2013. It was a GREAT conversation. The analysis I completed was great and Alex is ready for me to move to Chapter 4! I need to have a draft of Chapter 4 to Alex by the end of June.
Honestly, I'm totally proud of myself. I worked hard on the coding and analysis so it was wonderful to have Alex validate my work.
One of the key things Alex said "trust your instincts, trust your gut." I have heard that over and over over my life-and I tend to hesitate. Not now, I'm going to plow right through!!! I'm good at this, I love this, I'm a QUALITATIVE RESEARCHER! YAY!