Analysis of Responses
How We Analysed Feedback
All feedback received as part of the consultation process has been shared with the project team for their consideration as well as to inform ongoing design and assessment work. The chapter below explains the process the consultation team follows when analysing and interpreting the consultation responses.
The consultation questions were open in nature, asking respondents to comment on the design of the Preferred Route and asking for general comments and feedback in relation to the A9 Pass of Birnam to Tay Crossing project.
The feedback received was considered in detail through a process of qualitative analysis called ‘coding’. This involved reading each submission individually before identifying, categorising, and logging the points raised to enable further analysis.
The project team have reviewed the feedback and provided responses to concerns raised during the consultation period, these can be seen in Appendix J.
Where detailed questions were asked, or requests were made, technical leads were able to provide responses through a mix of digital correspondence and in-person meetings.
The type of feedback the respondents were asked to provide and the way this has been analysed should be kept in mind when reading the summary of feedback received in the following chapters of the report.
What Coding Involves
Coding is the first stage in a thematic analysis of open text feedback. Each ‘code’ represents a particular concern, suggestion or other issue raised. Codes are group by theme (or category) into a structured list called the ‘code frame’, designed to be as intuitive as possible to ensure that codes are applied consistently.
Coding is an iterative and collaborative process, with new codes being created and others renamed as the team of analysts come across new issues in responses. Analysts work together to ensure codes are applied consistently and accurately including through quality checking of coding. The process involves a level of subjectivity and judgement by the analysts.