VIDBE-Q Volume 64 Issue 4
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The use of poetry also expanded the data analysis process by adding
a structural analysis procedure to the thematic analysis. While thematic
analysis explored what was factually said and felt, the process of structural
analysis focused more closely to how it was said, to whom, and why
(Riessman, 2008). The combination of both locating words and phrases
(structural) and the meaning or feelings (thematic) of those words
expressed by the mothers was applied to create a poem. Cahnmann
(2003) best described this process as "The burden of proof through
language is one of the many reasons that we cannot separate the form of
writing from the content of our research" (p.31). He validated the use of
poetry to convey information in new and fresh modalities, yet also gives the
emotion of the research a vehicle.
The process of creating the poem was an informative introduction to
structural analysis with a focus on words. The poem is called "Momma
Bear and Boot Straps" (Appendix A). This poem is comprised of the actual
phrases spoken by one mother, transcribed into written words, and then
organized into a poem. The poem represented the combination of thematic
and structural analysis and guides the reader to the emotional level of both
the data and the findings. The data could be interpreted as the actual
language used (words and phrases) and the findings are the way the data
