Table 1 Core analytical codes of the “Inquiry Graphics” model which embeds Edusemiotic principles of Peircean meaning making triad
Representation focus (Representamen-led, sign vehicle) | |
Element (E) | Anything (any object) represented that the researcher can observe, including animate objects such as humans, is identified as a list of individual nouns (Elements). Starting from the Element, researcher decides the level of the analysis needed (how fine grained or not) |
Numbering | Identified Elements are counted and numbered |
Sense vehicle focus (Interpretant-led): Denotation and Connotation | |
Element Denotation (ED) | Basic generic description of an action or state focusing on a particular Element (e.g. face, hand) is provided. This also refers to element positioning/states, what happens to them; e.g. “a hand is doing a gesture, moving up and down”. The quoted description is an ED of the element hand (of an element body). |
Element Connotation (EC) | This means that ED moves to the next level of interpretation: this code assigns an environmental/socio-cultural/contextual meaning to ED (How does the element, context and socio-cultural particularities jointly make this action mean what it means?). E.g. the gesture’s meaning in the given context is considered and stated. Connotation is still a descriptive code. |
Composition Denotation (CD) | A more basic description of an action linked to any identified composition/relationship of a few elements; any chosen composition or what is happening holistically in an entire scene (1 whole video scene or smaller “scenes” with a few elements) |
Composition Connotation (CC) | CD is more strongly assigned an environmental/socio-cultural/contextual meaning (how the element, context and socio-cultural particularities jointly make this action mean what it means in the given context) |
Action focus (Relating to ED-EC; CD-CC) | Extracting particular action focus from animate or inanimate element or compositions, extracted to be the focus of further analysis (e.g. for humans (body): sitting, gesturing, gazing; for objects: falling, showing content, running on batteries, etc.) – the researcher extracts the main “action” with element/composition focus for analysis, based on previous codes, and as relevant to research aims, questions and theory/concepts. |
Speech/sound transcript | Speech is transcribed and thematically coded for meaning in relation to the visual video transcript and research aims/questions/key concepts. |
Research Object (Object-led) | |
Critical and analytical inferences, conclusions and connections made in relation to research goal, theory, and research questions. This means to do a multimodal thematic coding of data by linking holistically key theory terms/key research aims and concepts to an IG multimodal transcript (this includes speech transcript together with the focused “Representamen-Interpretant” interpretation). This is the point when the researcher asks: “So what? What does all the presented and described (e.g. Denotation and Connotation) mean in the context of my research?” | |