S.TRUEMAN PhD THESIS 2016

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interpretation than Straussian social worlds/arena maps (Mathar, 2008) by initiating broader and newer ideas for interpreting the field of research (Mathar, 2008; Shoop, 2009). Situational analysis adopts three mapping strategies for visually representing the complexity and heterogeneity of the situation being researched (Clarke, 2005, 2009) by ‘elucidating the key elements, discourses, structures, and conditions of possibility that characterize the situation of inquiry’ (Clarke, 2009, p. 211). Situational analysis involves ‘making and analyzing … three kinds of maps— situational , social worlds/arenas , and positional maps—as a means of opening up and analyzing data cartographically, emphasizing relationality and positionality’ (Clarke, 2005, p. 291–292). Similarly to other postmodern qualitative approaches (Denzin, 1996), situational analysis offers flexibility, ‘reflexivity and accountability’ (Clarke, 2005, p. 292). In the present study, this led the researcher’s inquiry towards sensitising concepts (Blumer, 1969, p. 147–148), in contrast to definitive concepts , which ‘refers precisely to a class of objects by the aid of a clear definition in terms of attributes that may be “provocative”’ (Clarke, 2005, p. 301). The researcher wanted to develop a thick description (Geertz, 1973) and deepened understanding of the remote nurses’ social worlds and how they deliver mental healthcare. 6.3 Social Worlds and Arenas In this chapter, reference is made to the notions of social ‘worlds’ and ‘arenas’ as used by Clarke (2005) in situational analysis. Clarke and Star (2007) defined social worlds as ‘groups with shared commitments to certain activities, sharing resources of many kinds to achieve their goals and building shared ideologies about how to go about their business (p. 115). The units of analysis are the social group and its interactions with other social groups; the analysis does not take place at the level of individuals and their interactions

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