Understanding the analysis of qualitative data

Qualitative analysis

no universal rules/no one way to do an analysis, very labor intensive, requires creativity, more difficult to do than quantitative, but easier to understand; do not want to generalize, but has to do with investigating nuances

Qualitative data management and organization

developing a coding scheme, coding qualitative data, organizing the data-- manual methods of organization (conceptual files), computerized methods of organization using CAQDAS

Descriptive coding

uses mainly nouns as codes and is often used by beginning qualitative researchers; does not provide much insight into meaning

Example of descriptive coding

"the other day, we ran out of everything and we had to go to a church and get food"; code = food pantry use

Process coding

often involves using gerunds as codes to connote action and observable activity in the data

Process coding example

"the other day, we ran out of everything and we had to go to a church and get food"; code = dealing with food shortages

Concept coding

involves using a word or phrase to represent symbolically a broad meaning beyond observable facts or behaviors; the codes are usually nouns or gerunds; gets less literal

Concept coding example

"the other day, we ran out of everything and we had to go to a church and get food"; code = coping with the risk of hunger

In vivo coding

involves using participant-generated words and phrases; it is used as initial coding in many grounded theory studies

In vivo coding example

"the other day, we ran out of everything and we had to go to a church and get food"; code = ran out of everything; had to go to a church for food

Holistic coding

involves using codes to grasp broad ideas in large "chunks" of data rather than coding smaller segments; take a huge paragraph and break it down into bigger, overall theme

Holistic coding example

"I buy on deals. I learned how to, you know, what to buy and what not to buy. Where to shop, where to look for sales. I'll go to all the stores. And I clip coupons from the paper and stuff. But sometimes that's not enough. The other day, we ran out of everything and we had to go to a church and get food."; code = food management strategies

Coding qualitative data

once a coding scheme has been developed, the data are read in their entirety and coded for correspondence to the categories; one paragraph may contain three or four different codes; researchers may have to modify the initial coding scheme-- new ideas for new codes, must reread all previously coded material to see if need to apply new code

Analytic procedures

identify broad categories, identify themes, sometimes metaphors are used, and lastly researchers weave the thematic pieces into an integrated whole (provide an overall structure to the data)

Identify broad categories

clusters of codes that are connected conceptually (ex: "I feel like I failed my patient" and "I let my patient down" can be clustered together to form a category)

Identify themes

a theme is "an abstract entity that brings meaning and identity to a current experience and its variant manifestations"; themes are never universal

Metaphors

a symbolic comparison, using figurative language to evoke a visual analogy

Qualitative content analysis

analyzing the content of narrative data to identify prominent themes and patterns across them, breaking down data into smaller units

Meaning units

the smallest segment of a text that contains a recognizable piece of information

Manifest content

what the text actually says

Latent content

interpretation of meaning; analysis done to get to what the content actually means

Thematic analysis

an accessible and theoretically flexible approach to analyzing qualitative data"; seen as a foundational method for qual. analysis, step-by-step guide with six phases

Ethnographers

continually looking for patterns in the behavior and thoughts of participants, comparing one pattern against another

Ethnographic analysis

use of maps, flowcharts, organizational charts, matrices (two-dimensional displays) can help to highlight a comparison graphically and to discover emerging patterns; interviews are a large part; goal to find implicit relationships in a culture

Spradley's method

four levels of data analysis-- domain analysis, taxonomic analysis, componential analysis, theme analysis; initially looking at cultural meanings and interrelationships (ex. nurses-- what kind of language is specific to nurses)

Phenomenological analysis

descriptive = take people at face value when they speak; interpretive = have to interpret people when they speak, have to incorporate own biases, preconceptions, etc.

Benner hermeneutic analysis

search for paradigm cases (typical of the situation), thematic analysis, analysis of exemplars; interpretation of how researcher is feeling and incorporating it into analysis

Glaserian approach

substantive and theoretical codes (how different codes might relate to each other)

Substantive codes

open codes (don't know what they're looking for) and selective codes (have to do with BSP after found what they're looking for); one type of core category is a basic social process (BSP) (oftentimes the beginning of a theory)

Open codes

ends when core category is identified-- level I (in vivo) codes, level II codes, level III codes

Selective codes

codes relating to core category only

Families of theoretical codes

process, strategy, cutting point, the 6 C's

Process

stages, phases, passages, transitions

Strategy

tactics, techniques, maneuverings

Cutting point

boundaries, turning points

The 6 C's

causes, contexts, conditions, contingencies, consequences, and covariances

Strauss and Corbin's grounded theory

open coding, axial coding, and selective coding-- deciding on central (or core) category

Constructivist grounded theory approach

theories include researchers' experience and involvements; initial coding and focused coding

Initial coding

data are studied to learn what participants view as problematic

Focused coding

identify most significant initial code and then theoretically code

Grounded theory

purpose is to generate theory from the ground up; studying people and how they manage certain processes-- how they get through and experience different events in their lives; done through interviews, focus groups; trying to figure out commonalities on how to help other people in the future by coming up with a theory