2. Bitcoin, Altcoins and the Blockchain
4.4 Evaluation
4.4.2 Content Analyses According to Mayring
Determination of the material
The definition of the text material represents the first step of the content analysis according to Mayring. In this section, it is determined which material is analyzed and whether parts of the texts are not included in the analysis. For example, a selection of only those passages that relate to a certain question and have relevance in relation to the present investigation (Mayring, 2015, p.
54-56).
In this study, it is determined that the transcribed full-length interviews will be included in the evaluation and assessment process. This also includes the warm-up question about the interviewee’s personal involvement in cryptocurrency.
94 Analysis of the emergence situation
This step is dedicated to the source material and its origin. For example, it is about the background and activities of the participants in this field, the place where the interviews were conducted, the participants’ participation motives and whether the interviews have been held voluntarily (Mayring, 2015, p. 55).
The participants were determined carefully after an intensive online investigation. Every participant in his or her institution is considered an expert in the field of cryptocurrencies and the use of blockchain technologies in the banking environment.
None of the participants received an incentive of any kind to participate in the study. It was purely idealistic for them to participate in the study. The interviews took place in the participants’
offices, in an environment that they felt familiar with and in which they felt most comfortable.
Basically, no tools were used during the interviews (such as pen and paper, mobile phone, computer) and the survey was conducted freely and intuitively.
Formal characteristics of the material
This step is about describing the shape and form of the material, which is usually in the form of a transcript (Mayring, 2015, p. 55). In this study, the documents are available both in audio file and in physical transcripts, which were used as the basis for further analyzes.
Direction of the analysis
In this fourth step, the direction of the interpretation and especially its focus is at the center. The direction of the analysis can be highly differentiated, as it can have a focus on various topics. One focus may be, for example, on the question of motivations and attitudes of the participants towards certain issues (Mayring, 2015, p. 58). This study investigates the attitude of banks, their representatives. and known carriers towards cryptocurrencies, how important this topic is in the company, and how banks react to the rise of this new technology.
95 Theoretical differentiation of the question
This step determines the basic question on which basis the material is analyzed (Mayring, 2015, p. 59-60). The question is usually based on the actual research question. Will the rise of cryptocurrencies and crypto assets in general reduce the importance and influence of banks on the Austrian economy? This means that the analysis of the transcripts is primarily concerned with whether cryptocurrencies or blockchain technology will take over certain tasks of banks’ business models and thus replace parts of the banking industry.
Determination of the appropriate analysis technique
The core of the analysis focuses on the creation and implementation of the process model. This part of the content analysis consists of three steps, which form the last section of the model. The first of these last steps is the determination of the analysis techniques and the determination of the process model. This step determines which method is being chosen for the analysis. The method is selected within three analyzing methods: summary, explication, and structuring. It is also possible to use a combination of these techniques. For example, it may be stated that a mixture of structure and summary method has been performed.
The center of this process is the development of a system of categories. These are either developed from the individual to the general (inductive) through summary, or from the general to the individual (deductively) through structuring.
The following figure illustrates the inductive and deductive procedures (Mayring, 2015, p. 61-63).
96 Figure 20
Inductive and deductive formation of categories
(Source: Mayring, 2000, S. 75.)
The chart shows that there is a discrepancy between the approaches in the development of the categories. In inductive technology, categories are formed from the material in the form of a
"bottom-up" process. First, the abstraction level is set, then evaluation units are determined, and finally the material is summarized, from which categories can be derived. In comparison, the deductive technique is about applying pre-determined categories to the material, which is called a
"top-down" process.
In both systems, a repeated revision of the categories may occur in the course of the categorization, since it can happen that parts of the text cannot be divided into the specified categories. This leads to the necessity of creating new categories (Mayring, 2015, p. 68-70).
The three analysis steps in the category formation are summarization, explication, and structuring. Mayring defines these three methods as it can be seen below.
The goal of the summary is to reduce the material, while maintaining the essential content. With this technique, selection criteria are created and recorded in advance on the basis of the question.
In a further step, the entire material is read and reviewed. With the knowledge of the selection
97 criteria, all text passages are now paraphrased. Subsequently, these paraphrases are assigned to the individual categories in a multi-stage process and thus summarized. If similar statements occur several times, they are grouped into categories. If content with new statements is encountered, further categories have to be formed. After about half of the material has been evaluated and no further categories can be formed, the category system will be revised again. It is checked again, whether the selected method of reduction still corresponds to the core messages of the text, for instance, whether no material statements or content is lost. Each time the category system is changed, the previously edited material must be reviewed and edited. This is followed by the interpretation of the category model and the answer to the question based on the categories (Mayring 2015, p. 69-71).
The following table shows an example of how the summary analysis was implemented in this work:
Table 24
Content reduction
Original Statement Paraphrased
I think that it [cryptocurrencies] will be useful for the future. Perhaps they may disappear.
The way the currencies are now set up, I definitely think no, it won't work.
Does not believe that cryptocurrencies can and will work as currency.
(Source: own Research)
In the explication, another method of classifying, the clarification of incomprehensible or disputed passages is in the focus. In this method, for example, external sources are also used to explain specific passages (Mayring, 2015, p. 90-92).
The third and last possibility to form categories is described by the structuring method. The goal of this method is to create a category system, in which each text passage is classified and thus the structure of the material is captured. By classifying text passages into the previously defined category system, individual statements can easily be generalized (Mayring, 2015, p. 97-99).
98 In the case of this work, the inductive approach of category formation is used. In multiple passes, paraphrased statements were assigned to certain categories. When new categories were identified, the categories were newly assigned for the entire text.
With this method, the following categories could be derived:
• Blockchain generally
• Blockchain in the institute
• Blockchain advantage
• Blockchain disadvantage
• Blockchain usecase
• Cryptocurrency personal experience
• Cryptocurrency generally
• Cryptocurrency in the institute
• Cryptocurrency disadvantages
• Banking trends
Definition of the analysis units
The process analysis gives the content analysis a system and makes the research comprehensible.
The process model is adapted to the material and the research question. The process model determines which criteria serve to select and categorize the text passages. In this step, coding unit and context unit are being set. The coding unit determines the smallest part of the material that is part of a certain category. The largest material component is determined by the context unit.
There is also the evaluation unit that determines which text components are evaluated in which order. (Mayring, 2015, p. 97-99).
The paraphrased text passages were assigned to the specific category based on the context and the original questions.
99 Table 25
Category assignment
Original statement Paraphrased Category
I think that it
[cryptocurrencies] will be useful for the future. Perhaps they may disappear. The way the currencies are now set up, I definitely think no, it won't work.
Does not believe that cryptocurrencies can and will work as currency.
Cryptocurrency generally
(Source: own Research)
This was done across all passages of the text. Individual content was assigned from the context to a respective category.
Table 26
Category assignment according to the context
Original Statement Paraphrased Category
… often transactions between banks and with banks are necessary ... in the past, the treasurers flew to all their correspondent banks twice a year, people knew and if
100 Analysis steps using the category system: Summary - Explication - Structuring
When evaluating the content, approaches of the summarizing method as well as the structuring method were used. First, the individual categories were defined. Due to the questions in the guidelines, this could be done thematically in part. The purpose of the derivations is to identify the core topics from a large amount of conversation information.
In a further step, all passages were assigned to the defined categories in full. The paraphrased passages were assigned in full length and were inserted into the previously created template.
Table 27
Structuring of the paraphrased text passages Category - Cryptocurrency generally
Interview partner Statement Accordance/Opposition
Dr. Marcus Presich Mag. Petia Niederländer Mag. Martin Heilinger Mag. Marc Gassebner (Source: own Research)
Next, the reduced paraphrased passages were assigned to the respective category column. As a result of this reduction to the essential content within the category, attempts have now been made to uncover correspondences in the statements or even contradictions in order to be able to draw concrete conclusions in the final analysis.
Table 28
Accordance and opposition of the interview-statements Category - Cryptocurrency generally
Interview partner Statement Accordance/Opposition
Dr. Marcus Presich • Banks will not replace cryptocurrencies
101 environment
• Regulations prohibit offering and dealing with cryptocurrencies as a bank (e.g. money laundering guidelines)
• Banks are waiting to see how the topic develops.
• Many ICOs will disappear from the market
• ICOs created hype and that was positive for cryptocurrencies.
(Source: own Research)
This table shows the penultimate step of the actual content analysis. Correspondences between the individual subjects were recorded in a separate grid. Contradicting statements in comparison to the other test subjects were also recorded. These coincidences and contradictions serve as essential findings for the conclusion.