Research Method
Qualitative Data Analysis
Topics
• Qualitative Data Analysis Methods
• Reliability and Validity
• Types of Qualitative Research
Analysis of Qualitative Data
• Qualitative data: data in the form of words.
Examples: interview notes, transcripts of focus groups, answers to open-ended
questions, transcription of video recordings, accounts of experiences with a
product on the internet, news articles, and the like.
• The analysis of qualitative data is aimed at making valid inferences
from the often overwhelming amount of collected data.
• Steps:
1. data reduction
2. data display
3. drawing and verifying conclusions
1. Data Reduction
• Coding:
• the analytic process through which the qualitative data that researchers have gathered are
reduced, rearranged, and integrated to form theory.
• the organization of raw data into conceptual categories.
• Codes:
• tags or labels for assigning units of meaning to the descriptive or inferential information compiled during
a study
• usually attached to ‘chunks’ of varying size – words, phrases, sentences or whole paragraphs
• Each code is effectively a category or ‘bin’ into which a piece of data is placed, should be:
• Valid, that is they should accurately reflect what is being researched.
• Mutually exclusive, in that codes should be distinct, with no overlap.
• Exhaustive, that is all relevant data should fit into a code.
• Categorization:
the process of organizing, arranging, and classifying coding units.
Stages of Data Coding
I. The data is carefully read, all statements relating to the research question are
identified, and each is assigned a code, or category. These codes are then
noted, and each relevant statement is organized under its appropriate code.
This is referred to as open coding.
II. Using the codes developed in stage 1, the researcher rereads the qualitative
data, and searches for statements that may fit into any of the categories.
Further codes may also be developed in this stage. This is also referred to as
axial coding.
Stages of Data Coding
III. Once the first two stages of coding have been completed, the researcher
should become more analytical, and look for patterns and explanation in the
codes. Questions should be asked such as:
• Can I relate certain codes together under a more general code?
• Can I organise codes sequentially (for example does code A happen before code B)?
• Can I identify any causal relationships (does code A cause code B)?
IV. The fourth stage is that of selective coding. This involves reading through the
raw data for cases that illustrate the analysis, or explain the concepts. The
researcher should also look for data that is contradictory, as well as
confirmatory, as it is important not to be selective in choosing data. You must
avoid what is referred to as confirmation bias, or the tendency to seek out
and report data that supports your own ideas about the key findings of the
study.
2. Data Display
• Data display:
taking your reduced data and displaying them in an organized, condensed manner.
• Examples:
charts, matrices, diagrams, graphs, frequently mentioned phrases, and/or drawings.
• Coded data may then be organized as suggested by Biddle et al. (2001) whereby the data
units (statements, sentences, etc.) are clustered into common themes (essentially the
same as codes), so that similar units are grouped together into first order themes, and
separated away from units with different meaning.
• The same process is then repeated with the first order themes, which are grouped
together into second order themes.
• This is repeated as far as possible.
Raw data Higher order General
themes themes dimensions
The ordinary wood… has the
ultimate feel, it feels like it’s a
golf club that you're very
much in control of, rather than
its in control of you.
The whole club swung very Controllable
well, it felt nice. You felt as if feel
you were in control.
… just feels as though I'm in
control of the clubhead right
Club
throughout the shot.
control
I feel that I've no control over
that clubhead at all.
This feels much more difficult Uncontrollable
to control… feel
…but I could not control it due
to the length and the flex of
the shaft.
3. Drawing Conclusions
• The “final” analytical activity in the process of qualitative data analysis.
• Answering the research questions by:
• determining what identified themes stand for;
• thinking about explanations for observed patterns and
relationships; or
• making contrasts and comparisons.
Reliability in Qualitative Research
• Category and interjudge reliability (Kassarjian 1977)
• Category reliability:
depends on the analyst’s ability to formulate categories and present
to competent judges definitions of the categories so they will agree
on which items of a certain population belong in a category and
which do not.
• Interjudge reliability:
degree of consistency between coders processing the same data.
Validity in Qualitative Research
• Validity refers to the extent to which the qualitative research results:
• accurately represent the collected data (internal validity)
• can be generalized or transferred to other contexts or settings
(external validity).
Ensuring the Trustworthines of the Analysis
• Member Validation − One particular method of note is to ask those being investigated to judge
the analysis and interpretation themselves, by providing them with a summary of the analysis, and
asking them to critically comment upon the adequacy of the findings.
• Searching for negative cases and alternative explanations – Interpretation should not focus on
identifying only cases to support the researcher’s ideas or explanations, but to also identify and
explain cases that contradict.
• Triangulation – Combining the analysis with findings from different data sources is useful as a
means to demonstrate trustworthiness in the analysis.
• The audit trail – To ensure reliability all research should have an audit trail by which others are
able to judge the process through which the research has been conducted, and the key decisions
that have informed the research process.
• Reflexivity – Reflexivity means that researchers critically reflect on their own role within the
whole of the data collection process, and demonstrate an awareness of this, and how it may have
influenced findings, to the reader.
Other Methods of Gathering and Analyzing
Qualitative Data
• Content analysis, an observational research method that is used to systematically
evaluate the symbolic contents of all forms of recorded communications:
• Conceptual analysis establishes the existence and frequency of concepts (such as
words, themes, or characters) in a text. Conceptual analysis analyzes and
interprets text by coding the text into manageable content categories.
• Relational analysis builds on conceptual analysis by examining the relationships
among concepts in a text.
• Narrative analysis, an approach that aims to elicit and scrutinize the stories we tell
about ourselves and their implications for our lives.
• Analytic induction, an approach to qualitative data analysis in which universal
explanations of phenomena are sought by the collection of (qualitative) data until no
cases that are inconsistent with a hypothetical explanation of a phenomenon are
found.
Types of Qualitative Research
• Ethnography Model
• Narrative Model
• Phenomenological Method
• Grounded Theory Method
• Case Study
• Historical Model
•…
Analytical Hierarchy Process
• An effective tool for dealing with complex decision making, and may
aid the decision maker to set priorities and make the best decision.
Reference
• Sekaran, Bougie, 2016, Research Methods for Business, 7E.
• Cooper, Schindler, 2014, Business Research Methods, 12E.
• Saunders, Lewis, Thornhill, 2016, Research Methods for
Business Students, 7E
• Miles, Huberman, Saldana, 2014, Qualitative Data Analysis: a
Methods Sourcebook, 3E
