Seeing the signs - the switched-on analysis brain

by Keely Blanch


One of the perils of graduate education is that you become immersed in a cycle of questioning, dissecting and analysing information. As necessary and rewarding as this cycle may be to the thesis work, sometimes these ways of thinking creep into daily life. If you catch yourself pointing out the discursive construction of your partner's argument as you discuss household chores, or you randomly throw in a citation in a conversation with friends about social media, maybe it's time to take a break!

 

I realised I had 'analysis brain' a few weekends ago as I was driving back from a day of interviewing participants. Being a Sunday afternoon, the offerings on National radio were more entertainment than current affairs, but something must have caught my attention. Perhaps it was the mention of Facebook? Alerted, I tuned in to hear a play where the granddaughter is encouraging her grandfather to join Facebook (Red Devil by Colin Beardon). As I listened to the conversation, the back and forth between generations of the advantages and uses of technology, I could not help but start analysing the dialogue as if it were my interview data: an always connected younger generation, notions of belonging, surveillance, agency, acts of citizenship, counter discourses, revolution.....  It got to the point where I was wishing I could interview the fictional characters!

Sadly, or maybe that should be fortunately, this hasn't been a one-off occurrence. I've caught myself identifying themes in books, movies and tv offerings. Once I even had to pull over on my way to a meeting to write down a note about my own actions as an example of citizenship and/or anti-citizenship. As I become more aware of what I'm starting to see come out in my interviews, it seems like I see pointers to my themes everywhere. My analysis brain shapes how I look at my actions and the actions of those around me. 

Currently I'm immersed in transcribing. I'm actively looking for themes instead of tripping over them. It's a laborious yet exciting, and even somewhat nerve-wracking experience as I look to see what will emerge. Then comes the fun part of weaving the themes together to support my argument. With my analysis brain firmly switched on, somehow I think I'll be seeing themes around me for a bit longer yet.