Discursive Textual Analysis & Iramuteq: Potentials of the Blended Process

Abstract

Background: For years, scholars have been studying possibilities for science teaching. Science Clubs became an alternative since they are spaces around collective interests. Objectives: How is the discursive textual analysis method configured in a blended process, given its three analytical stages, supported by the IRaMuTeQ software? The objective was to present, in full, the discursive textual analysis method, supported by the IRaMuTeQ software, to understand the blended procedure that includes the analytical stages. Design: The research approach is qualitative. The global corpus is based on four dialogues about the universe of Science Clubs. Setting and participants: The participants are two researchers with extensive experience. The information analysed is four dialogues about Science Clubs. Data collection and analysis: There were five meetings lasting approximately 120 minutes each. The analysis method adopted is the discursive textual analysis, supported by the IRaMuTeQ software. In the software, the baseline analysis was descending hierarchical classification. Results: The emergence of five intermediate categories was identified, and it is possible to observe, as the main result, from the subcorpus analyses, the recognition of the composition of each intermediate category by other five to seven initial categories. Conclusions: The subcorpus analysis procedure is vital for understanding the constructions of each emerging intermediate category, configuring itself as an advanced level of understanding of categorisation. Thus, we concluded that the discursive textual analysis, with software support, is a blended analysis process.