CHAPTER 13 First Reporter

Educ 201 Research Methods with Intellectual Property (IP) Rights (F)
Sarah Jane I. Villar

MA-SST-I
CHAPTER 13
(First Reporter)
I. Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to
1. Identify the processes involved in analyzing qualitative data, including

data coding, description, identification of themes, hypothesis testing, and
reporting and interpretation of data.
2. Discuss how a qualitative researcher goes about establishing themes and
generating hypotheses
3. Apply the process of qualitative data analysis to simple data samples.
II. Subject Matter
Organization and Analysis of Qualitative Research Data

 Preparing and Organizing the Data
 Reviewing and Exploring the Data
 Coding Data into Categories
III. Developmental Learning
Data collection and analysis in qualitative research are inductive processes . As

you may recall from previous chapters, this means that numerous small pieces of data
are collected and gradually combined or related to form broader, more general
descriptions and conclusions. Although the steps involved in qualitative data analysis
will vary according to the research questions asked and the type of approach taken, the
steps listed below are common to most studies:
1. Preparing and organizing the data
2. Reviewing and exploring the data
3. Coding data into categories
4. Constructing descriptions of people, places, and activities
Organization and Analysis of Qualitative Research Data 301
5. Building themes and testing hypotheses
6. Reporting and interpreting data
Note that there may be some back-and-forth movement between the steps. One might
need to review data initially before deciding how to organize it. The process of coding
might also lead one to reorganize some of the data. However, the steps tend to flow in
this general direction. In this chapter, we examine the procedures involved in each of
these steps in depth and also discuss how qualitative research is evaluated.
Preparing and Organizing the Data
The first task for data analysis is to make sure that data are in a form that can
be easily analyzed. Depending on the time and resources available, researchers may
aim for different levels of depth in preparing their data. The quickest and least accurate
approach involves listening to tapes with written notes from the interview and recording
the general issues or ideas that are reported using participants’ own words as much as
possible. Possible illustrative quotes are also noted and recorded.
By analyzing the data at the same time that one is preparing and organizing it,
the researcher’s biases are more likely to influence the study’s finding.
The researcher must decide on a way to organize the large amount of data that
a qualitative study typically yields. Data may be organized in many different ways,
depending on the research questions and the method of qualitative research used.
Following are some common methods for organizing data:
 Site or location from which data were collected . This method is common in
studies where multiple sites or locations were observed.
 Person or group studied. Data may be organized by the individual person or
group, or data from persons or groups with similar characteristics or
backgrounds might be grouped together.
 Chronological order. Data might be organized into the time periods in which it
was collected.
 Type of data. Interview transcripts might be assembled together, separate
from field notes and journals.
 Type of event or issue addressed. If interviews focused on different issues or
observations of different events were made, the data pertaining to each issue
or event might be grouped together.
Although one does need to decide on an initial method for organizing the data, it is
possible that data may be reorganized after the initial data analysis to look more closely
at the categories and themes that emerge.
Reviewing and Exploring the Data
A qualitative researcher might look with dread at the enormous pile of data
waiting for analysis. However, all you can do is jump in and begin to explore by reading
and looking through the various types of data collected. The initial review does not
involve a careful reading for detail. Instead, one reads and examines data to get an
overall sense of what is in them and whether enough data have been collected.
The initial review, however, is more comprehensive and involves examining all of
the different sources of data together. Through the initial review, qualitative
researchers seek to understand the scope of their data before they begin to divide them
into more manageable chunks organized through codes. For many qualitative
researchers, it is hard to say when the initial review stops and the coding begins
because one process leads naturally to the next.
Coding Data into Categories
Coding is the process of identifying different segments of the data that describe
related phenomena and labeling these parts using broad category names. It is an
inductive process of data analysis that involves examining many small pieces of
information and abstracting a connection between them.
Qualitative researchers continually read, reread, and reexamine all of their data
to make sure that they have not missed something or coded them in a way that is
inappropriate to the experiences of the participants. New codes are added as the
researcher reviews the data. Most data sets use 30 to 40 codes initially, although
complex studies might include more than this. The actual process of coding can be
conducted by hand or by computer. When coding is done by hand, the researcher
writes the code in the margin of the data source (which was duplicated before coding
began) and then organizes the data into piles with the same codes, cutting up data
sheets as needed.
Several computer programs are available to assist in the analysis and especially
the coding of data, although we should emphasize that the computer is only a tool and
the researcher still makes decisions about how to do the analysis and what the results
mean. However, computer programs such as NUD*IST (Non-numerical
Unstructured Data Indexing, Searching, and Theorizing) or Ethnograph can be
used to combine files from different data sources, select and code the data, and
organize data using codes or hypermedia links.
When the researcher is satisfied that the major ideas and issues in the data have
been identified through codes, the next step is to use the codes to organize data and
construct descriptions of the data.
IV. REFERENCE
Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education.

San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.
Morse, J. M., & Richards, L. (2005). README FIRST for a user’s guide to qualitative
methods.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Schensul, J. J. (1999). Analyzing and interpreting ethnographic data (Ethnographer’s
Toolkit, Vol. 5).
Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press.

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Educ 201 Research Methods with Intellectual Property (IP) Rights (F)

Sarah Jane I. Villar

After reading this chapter, you should be able to

1. Identify the processes involved in analyzing qualitative data, including

II. Subject Matter

Organization and Analysis of Qualitative Research Data

III. Developmental Learning

Data collection and analysis in qualitative research are inductive processes . As

Preparing and Organizing the Data

Reviewing and Exploring the Data

Coding Data into Categories

Merriam, S. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education.

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