Can’t Code What the Community Can’t See

Abstract

This essay examines the limits of allegedly atheoretical approaches to qualitative research that rely on the coding of qualitative data. The authors focus specifically on the challenge of analyzing socially produced silences. The use of coding techniques for analyzing data is found to be inadequate for documenting the social erasure of a middle school student who does not conform to local gender norms. The article argues that the interpretation of socially produced silences requires the use of theories that explain the source and effects of these silences. This utility is illustrated through the application of feminist and queer poststructuralist theory to the analysis of the experience of the aforementioned student.