Fourteen confrontation interviews were audio-recorded and
transcribed. Field notes were written to capture contextual information
and emerging ideas. Data management was supported by
Ethnograph 6.0, a software program that aids the researcher in
the process of sorting and categorizing qualitative textual data.
The analytic process followed four key steps: immersion in the data,
coding, creation of categories, and explanation and interpretation of
categories. The coding stage involved an interpretive approach with
some pre-established domains of interest (such as learning skills,
knowledge transmission, OHS issues) and some new domains based
on emergent concepts in the data (such as discrepancies between
what was asked and what was done) (Silverman, 2001). The analysis
also involved a focus on discourse, such as what is meant by the
systematic use of common expressions (such as ‘common sense’),
and the narrative structures used by participants to describe the
meaning of work experiences. To refine and combine categories
into analytic themes, an iterative process involving techniques such