Demonstrating Pertex: A New Method for Improving Text Interpretation

Abstract

This study demonstrates a new text analytic approach based on the PC-system Pertex. Interview data obtained by use of the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) in connection with a commercial start-up in international telecommunications were used as text input. Analysis of such a CIT text resulted in a root concept that appeared to capture the essence of the text. This root concept was compared with the results of eighteen different written interpretations of the interview text made independently of one another. These interpretations, taken in random order, were aggregated to a single text. A separate Pertex analysis of the aggregated text resulted in the same conceptualization and the same root concept as derived through analysis of the interview text. This is seen as supporting the validity of the approach and as indicating possibilities for enhancing the rigor of qualitative research by use of Pertex. The results also point to the possibility of capturing the essence of a phenomenon from interpretations of it made by different persons.