I am running a study that is asking an open ended question about a behavior I have previously studied. Can and should I reuse the codebook I have already developed for this previous study or is this considered a bad practice? Can someone suggest any literature on this?
Dear Nina,
I am glad to read you response since I was thinking of doing the same.
Will it be possible for you to point to a couple of resources which have done similar studies?
Thank you.
Thanks Nina. And I second Noman's request for some references on this practice. Thanks so much.
Marian
From one point of view that codebook makes the results comparable in details, it could be beneficial to modify it; from evolutionary information-pool view, because of fast paste of ongoing new researches and updated information, merely staying with modified codebook could constrain the results from new experiments, in a broad perspective.
Thanks for the suggestion. We definitely planned on updating the existing codes when analyzing the new data and encountering additional aspects. I was just unsure if it is valid to base a further exploration on the same codebook in general or if there are good reasons against this kind of practice. I would appreciate any literature references on this issue.
I am not aware of any material that specifically deals with the issue of both reusing a code book and adding to it, but it is very common practice to start with pre-existing codes and then develop additional codes during the analysis process. In general, the process of using pre-existing codes is called a deductive approach to content analysis, while developing the codes during the analysis phase is called an inductive approach. I have attached a paper that discusses these two approaches.
Marian, you can and should use the codebook used earlier so that you can compare the results, you are consistent in your approach, but at the same time do remember that you are doing research and that too using open ended questions about a behaviour. This is a dynamic situation and you are likely to get new answers. So, you need to be flexible to modify the codebook to accommodate the new learning. Usually new codes are added towards the last codes, but there are no published materials on the same or any thumb rule.
Usually existing codebooks make work much easier but depending on how old he codebook is, I would recommend creating a new one. Secondly, if there has been some SERIOUS intervention in the short term and you would like to look at the outcomes of such an intervention, a fresh one is good for such.
How similar is your current data set to the previous data set? If it is valid to re-use the code book, then you can extend your original analysis and potentially make a comparison. However, it may be better to use a new code book and compare results if your aim is a comparison. If your data set is different, and especially if your research is inductive - then I would seriously consider using a new coding book. If you use your old codes on different data, you risk missing codes, making invalid interpretations, and false comparisons. A new book can help make you think further about your data.
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