Abstract
Usually the effectiveness of coder training as a means to improve the inter-coder-reliability of the coding of responses to open-ended questions is considered a result of (successfully) communicating the coding scheme to coders. However, the actual practice of coder training has never been studied empirically. In this article we present fragments of a transcript of a coder training that suggest that inter-coder-reliability is improved not only by communicating the coding instructions to coders (theoretical training) but also bysocializing coders into practical rules which are not part of the coding instructions and are not warranted by them. Hence, it cannot be excluded that the improvement of the inter-coder-reliability by means of coder training is atraining artifact: an artificial outcome affected through the training process. It follows that, in each particular case, the researcher must make plausible that the actual coding process has yielded valid data.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Babbie, E. 1989.The Practice of Social Research, Fifth Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Bernts, T. 1991.Leven zonder zorg. Lisse: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Cicourel, A. 1964.Method and Measurement in Sociology. New York: The Free Press.
Cicourel, A. 1978. “Interpretation and summarization: issues in the child's acquisition of social structure.” Pp. 251–81 inThe development of social understanding, edited by J. Glick and K. A. Clarke-Stewart. New York: Gardner Press, Inc.
Garfinkel, H. 1967.Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Hak, T. 1992. “Psychiatric records as transformations of other texts.” Pp. 138–55 inText in Context, edited by G. Watson and R. M. Seiler. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE Publications.
d'Houtaud, A. 1978. “L'image de la santé dans une population lorraine: approche psychosociale des représentations de la santé.”Rev. Epidém. et Santé Publ. 26:299–320.
d'Houtaud, A. and M. Field. 1984. “The image of health: variations in perception by social class in a French population.”Sociology of Health and Illness 6:30–60.
Katz, B.A. and W.W. Sharrock. 1976. “Eine Darstellung des Kodierens.” Pp. 244–71 inEtnomethodologie. Beiträge zu einer Soziologie des Alltagshandelns, edited by E. Weingarten, F. Sack and J. Schenkein. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
Mishler, E. G. 1986.Research interviewing. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Muskens, G. 1980.Frames of meaning—are they measurable?. Ph.D. thesis, Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen.
Rehbein, J. and H. Mazeland. 1991. “Kodierentscheidungen.” Pp. 166–221 inVerbale Interaktion, edited by D. Flader. Stuttgart: Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung.
Rosenthal, R. S. and R. L. Rosnow (eds.) 1969.Artifact in behavioral research. New York/London: Academic Press.
Sonquist, J. and W. Dunkelberg. 1977.Survey and Opinion Research. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Wilson, T. P. 1970. “Conceptions of interaction and forms of sociological explanation.”American Sociological Review 35:697–710.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hak, T., Bernts, T. Coder training: Theoretical training or practical socialization?. Qual Sociol 19, 235–257 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02393420
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02393420