analysis-framework.qmd

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title: "Step 1: Selecting a Unit of Analysis"
page-layout: full
reference-location: margin
citation-location: margin
bibliography: ref-1.bib
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The process of data analysis begins by identifying segments in your data set
that are responsive to your research questions" [@merriam].
These segments form the units of analysis (UOA), which can be as small as a
single word or as large as an entire report. Collectively, themes identified in
these units will answer a study's research question(s). @lincoln suggest that
a unit of analysis ought to meet two criteria. First,
the UOA should be heuristic, that is, it should reveal information pertinent to
the study and move the reader to think beyond the singular piece of information. 
Second, the unit should be the smallest piece of information about something
that can stand by itself." Moreover, a UOA must be interpretable in the absence
of any additional information, requiring only that the reader have a broad
understanding of the study context.

For qualitative investigations of students' computing code, we propose
researchers consider the Block Model as an analytical lens. The Block Model is
an educational framework that supports the analysis of the different aspects of
a computer program.

## Block Model 

In the [Block Model](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1404520.1404535) [@schulte],
each row represents one selection for the unit of analysis and each column speaks to a
different lens of analysis. To decide between the 12 possible options a
researcher must consider the context of inquiry. This context dictates the scale
of the code that deserves attention. 

An investigation focusing on the broader purpose or structure of a program
requires a researcher to zoom out and consider a program's macrostructure. 
Whereas, studying individual pieces or segments of a program requires a
researcher to zoom in on the atoms or the blocks.

|   Level   |        |   Dimension   |       |
|:----------|:------:|:-------------:|:-------:|
|           |   Text Surface    |   Program Execution   |   Function / Purpose    |
| *Macrostructure* | Understanding the overall structure of the program text. | Understanding the algorithm underlying a program. | Understanding the goal/purpose of the program (in the context at hand). |
| *Relationships* | Relations & references between blocks (e.g. method calls, object creation, accessing data...) | Sequence of method calls, object sequence diagrams. | Understanding how subgoals are related to goals, how function is achieved by subfunctions. |
| *Blocks* | Regions of interest (ROI) that syntactically or semantically build a unit | Operations of a block, a method, or a ROI (chunk from a set of statements). | Understanding the function of a block, seen as a subgoal. |
| *Atoms* | Language elements | Operation of a statement. | Function of a statement: its purpose can only be understood in a context. |


## Analytical Framework Used

For the study I will walk you through, I chose to use **atoms** as my unit of 
study. An atom constitutes a language element in a program, and can thus have a
variety of grain sizes, from characters to words to statements. I chose to have
my "atom" be a syntactic statement of R code. A syntactic statement is a line,
or set of lines, which constitute the smallest syntactically valid statement of
code. Some statements of code were completed in a single line, while others took
multiple lines.*[*As R belongs to the family of "curly bracket" programming
languages, influenced by C, R has a syntax which defines statements using curly
brackets (`{}`), many of these statements are introduced by identifiers such as
`if()`, `for()`, or `while()`.]{.aside}

For this study, I selected the **program execution** as my dimension of 
analysis. This dimension focuses on the action of each statement, or more
specifically what operation it carries out. I chose this dimension as I was 
interested in understanding what data science skills students were employing 
within their projects. A program execution lens views these skills as 
distinct rather than considering their role in the broader function of the
program.