Network analysis and qualitative discourse analysis of a classroom group discussion

ABSTRACT

A new methodology is proposed for qualitative discourse analysis (QDA) aimed at gaining enhanced insights into learning possibilities and indicators that arise during classroom group discussions. The constitution of this new methodology has two principle components: a discourse analysis approach that aims to identify the relationships between content and group dynamics; and a network analysis (NA) approach that uses the same data to identify meaning-related structural dynamics found in the data. The proposed methodology pairs these two components to create a supplementary iterative interchange that facilitates the attainment of greater analytic insights than are achievable by either of the two components individually. The critical aspects of the methodology are illustrated and discussed using real classroom data in ways that provide a procedural exemplar. The strengths and limitations of the proposed methodology are also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Discourse analysis
• network analysis
• classroom group discussion
• socioscientific issues
• educational design and practice

Acknowledgements

The authors are deeply appreciative for the insightful and thought provoking comments from our reviewers. We are also grateful to the students who participated and shared their time to make our illustrative analysis possible. Thanks are also due to Anne Linder for her valuable discussions and careful editorial commenting on multiple drafts of the developmental text, and to Dr. Anne-Mari Folkesson for transcribing the audio files. The research was financially supported by the Swedish Research Council (2011-34409-85898-21).

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Jesper Bruun http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4739-7351

Mats Lindahl http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9132-8615

Cedric Linder http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6409-5182

Additional information

Funding

The authors are deeply appreciative for the insightful and thought provoking comments from our reviewers. We are also grateful to the students who participated and shared their time to make our illustrative analysis possible. Thanks are also due to Anne Linder for her valuable discussions and careful editorial commenting on multiple drafts of the developmental text, and to Dr. Anne-Mari Folkesson for transcribing the audio files. The research was financially supported by the Swedish Research Council [grant number 2011-34409-85898-21].