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Statement cards help to move up levels in the DIKW scheme In moving up the layers from data to information and knowledge, two steps must be taken: interpretation and pattern finding. Statement cards are a format we developed for teaching these steps. They help to make the interpretation and pattern finding steps explicit. The statement cards also help teams to do these steps more collaboratively and efficiently. A statement card contains three fields: a quote (small font), a paraphrase (large font), and researcher ID (color band). When analyzing a transcript, each member of the research team selects interesting passages, and for each passage copies the text to the quote field. They then interpret the quote and write a paraphrase (in his or her own words) in the form of a statement that reveals why the passage is relevant. Finally, he or she fills the color band with their signature color. The cards are then printed, and brought to the analysis session, where the research team studies each other’s cards, discusses the interpretations, and tries to group the cards that have related interpretations into categories or themes. The design of the cards helps make this process efficient: because of the color band, it is easy to see who made the interpretation and ask him or her for further explanation; it also helps to see who contributed most to which categories, which helps in having one-on-one discussions about the categories and themes that arise. Because the paraphrases are in the language of the research team, it is easier to compare the cards and find patterns. Students often have trouble in making the paraphrase a statement, not just a label indicating a topic (‘he shaves every morning’ vs ‘frequency’). However, because the original quotes are retained with the paraphrases, it is easy to refine the formulation by referring back to the source, and discussing the interpretations within the team.
Contributor Pieter Jan Stappers Professor Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering Delft University of Technology The Netherlands p.j.stappers@tudelft.nl