ABSTRACT
Categorizing the data allows us to compare observations in terms of relations of similarity and difference. Of any two observations, X and Y, we can ask if they are similar or different. How are they the same, or how do they differ? This is powerful stuff; categories are the conceptual building blocks from which we can construct our theoretical edifices. But they also have limitations. In breaking up the data, we lose information about relationships between different parts of the data. We lose our sense of process—of how things interact or ‘hang together’. To capture this information, we need to link data as well as categorize it.
