From Process Data to Publication

How do field researchers make sense of voluminous process data, much of it qualitative data? When this author began to analyze her dissertation data in 1992, she did not have a clear answer to this question. However, with several articles from this research safely in publication, she took the opportunity to make sense of her 7-year data analysis experience. Her sensemaking of process data analysis is broken down into three phases and compared to the data analysis schema of Langley (1999). The role of outside influences, which aided movement through the phases, is highlighted at the end of the article. Finally, a model of this overall process—from process data to publication—is articulated. The article does not provide a definitive answer to the above question, but it is hoped that it will provide clues for researchers searching to answer that question themselves.