Qualitative analysis of a social work student's career motivations

Coding Interview

Coding an Interview

This paper will code and analyze a personal interview. Please note that the customer's three attached papers were referenced in addition to her interview, as well as the source below:

Carney, J, Joiner, F, Tragou, H. (1997). Categorizing, Coding, and Manipulating Qualitative Data.The Qualitative Report, Volume 3, Number 1, March, 1997

(http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR3-1/carney.html)

Legend

1000 Adult Experiences

2001 Authority Figures

3002 Observers

4003 Self Experiences

Interview

When I first started university I was actually enrolled in a police program because I knew I wanted to help people but wasn't sure of what I wanted to do but was under a lot of pressure to go back to school from my friends so I enrolled in that program. Through that program I had taken some "optimum" courses that were more social work related and I thought they were a little bit more congruent with my beliefs and my values and what I wanted to do with my life. It was really appealing to me to see a job that empowered people and helped people whereas police work would have been a little less than my values and beliefs.

Code

100040032001. 200140034003. 10002001.

Interview

I think my strongest quality is wanting to stand up for other people and that's something I've always had. Even as a kid, I was always the one who stood up for the kid that was bullied and it really been in a passion in me to see someone oppressed and I just really want to be someone to help change that.

Code

40034003300210004003.

Interview

I think that my biggest interest would be international or multicultural social work. I have always had an interest in different cultures, different beliefs and different customs. I really like learning about that. I think it would be really interesting to go to another country and do social work.

Code

100040034003. 4003.

In the interview above, the two most important and recurring themes, as one would expect when a person talks about himself or, as in this case, herself are adult experiences and self experience, with the latter surfacing multiple times. In addition to this, one observes often the relation between authority figures and self experiences, as well as between authority figures and adult experiences, but never between authority figures and observers.