TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparing thematic and search term-based coding in understanding sense of place in survey research
AU - Cotton, Isabel
AU - McWherter, Brooke
AU - Tenbrink, Thora
AU - Sherren, Kate
PY - 2024/6
Y1 - 2024/6
N2 - Sense of place is a fundamental concept in human geography, yet challenging to measure given its intangibility and idiosyncrasy. Meanwhile, there are increasing opportunities for social scientists to utilize big data and automated approaches to data analysis, albeit with some wariness, but few researchers directly compare automated to manual analysis in the context of sense of place. This study applies two analytical approaches to a survey question on sense of place: semi-automatic search term analysis around semantic fields, and inductive thematic analysis. Results show high agreement between the approaches, with more tangible aspects of place (recreation) better correlated than more abstract concepts (appreciation). Variation mainly relates to the ability of inductive coding to address false negatives, implied meaning, or obscure search terms. This demonstrates the potential value of hybridizing to improve the accuracy of a search term-based approach, and overcome the limitations, such as subjectivities, of one analytical approach.
AB - Sense of place is a fundamental concept in human geography, yet challenging to measure given its intangibility and idiosyncrasy. Meanwhile, there are increasing opportunities for social scientists to utilize big data and automated approaches to data analysis, albeit with some wariness, but few researchers directly compare automated to manual analysis in the context of sense of place. This study applies two analytical approaches to a survey question on sense of place: semi-automatic search term analysis around semantic fields, and inductive thematic analysis. Results show high agreement between the approaches, with more tangible aspects of place (recreation) better correlated than more abstract concepts (appreciation). Variation mainly relates to the ability of inductive coding to address false negatives, implied meaning, or obscure search terms. This demonstrates the potential value of hybridizing to improve the accuracy of a search term-based approach, and overcome the limitations, such as subjectivities, of one analytical approach.
U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102339
DO - 10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102339
M3 - Article
VL - 96
JO - Journal of Environmental Psychology
JF - Journal of Environmental Psychology
SN - 0272-4944
M1 - 102339
ER -