Qualitative Data

Analysis

B. Sunil S. De Silva
RN, BScN(OUSL), MN(RES)(Australia)

Dpt. of Health Sciences

The Open University of Sri Lanka.
Session Objectives
 Outline the overall qualitative traditions.
 Identify the type of data in qualitative
research.
 Describe overall process of qualitative
data analysis

 Identify common approaches to

qualitative analysis

 Identify the issues of qualitative analysis

Introduction
 Base on the collected data, the
researcher tells the data story…

 That is essentially what data analysis

is!

 Creating a meaningful story out of the

collected data is the goal.

 The most appropriate form of analysis

will be dependent on the design of the
study.
 The Qualitative Traditions/Designs
Grounded
Dimension Narrative Phenomenology Theory Ethnography Case Study
Focus •Exploring the • Understanding • Developing a • Describing and • Developing an
life of an the essence of theory grounded interpreting a in-depth
individual experiences from data in the cultural or analysis of a
about a field social group single case or
phenomenon multiple cases
Data • Primary • Long interviews • Interviews with • Primarily • Multiple
Collection interviews and with up to 10 20-30 observations sources
documents people individuals to and interviews including
“saturate” with additional documents,
categories and artifacts during archival records,
detail a theory extended time in interviews,
the field (e.g. observations,
6 months to a • Physical
year) artifacts
Data • Stories • Statements • Open coding • Description • Description
Analysis • Epiphanies • Meanings • Axial Coding • Analysis • Themes
• Historical • Meaning themes • Selective • Interpretation • Assertions
content • General Coding
description of the • Conditional
experience Matrix
Narrative • Detailed picture • Description of the • Theory or • Description of • In-depth study
Form of an individual’s “essence” of the theoretical the cultural of a “case” or
life experience model behavior of a “cases”
group or an
individual
 Qualitative Data Analysis
 Qualitative data analysis can be applied to
data collected from;
 Observations
 Interviews
 Documents
 Audio-Visual Materials

 Qualitative data analysis takes raw data

and presents it in words, symbols,
pictures, documents etc., based on themes
or comparisons, or to tell a story.
Overall Process of Qualitative
Data Analysis…
Codes the Text for Codes the Text for
Description to be Used Themes to be Used
in the Research Report in the Research Report

The Researcher Codes the Data (i.e., locates text

segments and assigns a code to label them)
Interactive Simultaneous
The Researcher Reads Through Data
( i.e., obtains general sense of material)

The Researcher Prepares Data for analysis

( e.g., transcribes fieldnotes)

The Researcher Collects Data (i.e., a text file, such as

fieldnotes, transcriptions, optically scanned material)
Approaches to Qualitative Analysis

 Content Analysis

 Thematic Analysis

 Comparative Analysis

 The Narrative
Content Analysis
 Most common method in qualitative
analysis.

 Researcher systematically works via each

transcript assigning codes, (No. or words),
to specific characteristics within the text.

 The researcher may already have a list of

categories or read through each transcript
and let the categories emerge from data.

 useful for analyzing data from interviews,

focus groups, or audio-visual materials
How to conduct Content Analysis
 Researcher codes the collected data.

 Codes could be predetermined issues that the study is

examining.
◦ Ex: if the study was exploring the effects of a new technology on
teachers' classroom instruction, the researcher may analysis the
data, looking for instances that the data mentions.
 Examples:
◦ Challenges of the technology, Advantages of the technology or Improvements for
the future.

 Researcher then take these predetermined categories and

see what the data from various participants says about each
of these areas.

 The research would then synthesize these findings.

Thematic Analysis
 The themes emerge from the data and are
not imposed by the researcher.

 The data collection and analysis take place

simultaneously.

 Even background reading can form part of

the analysis process, especially if it can help
to explain an emerging theme.

 Useful for analyzing data from interviews,

focus groups, field notes/observations or
audio-visuals.
How to conduct Thematic Analysis
 Researcher examine the data from various
participants and identify themes (and label them
as codes or categories) as they emerge when
examining the data.
 As the same themes continue to emerge the
researcher groups the data together.
 The major difference between content analysis
and thematic analysis is that in thematic analysis,
the categories are not predetermined but rather
emerge as the researcher reviews the data.
 The themes/categories are not set, and the
number of themes is not predetermined. As many
new themes as the researcher identifies can be
included.
Comparative Analysis
 Data from different people/groups are
compared and contrasted and the process
continues until the researcher is satisfied that
no new issues are arising.

 Comparative and thematic analysis are often

used in the same project, with the researcher
moving backwards and forwards between
transcripts, memos, notes and the research
literature, and comparing for various groups.

 Useful for analyzing data from interviews,

focus groups, field notes/observations or
audio-visuals.
How to conduct Comparative
Analysis
 Researcher compares and contrasts data to see what
similarities and differences emerge.
 There are different ways that this approach could be applied:
◦ Separating groups (e.g. by gender, age, location etc), and comparing
and contrasting the results.
◦ Contrasting different data collection methods. For example, if a survey
and a focus group were used, what were the similarities and
differences that emerged?
◦ Compare and contrast from an ideal case. An ideal case is one that
meets all the desired or expected outcomes. Comparative analysis can
compare actual results from the ideal case.
◦ The researcher will report the similarities and difference found in the
analysis process.
◦ Example:
◦ The process may show vastly different results for males and females.
Or, it may show that a particular program is more effective with a
particular age group, or work better in a specific location etc.
The Narrative
 The narrative approach to data analysis is a non-theoretical description.
 The researcher removes themselves from the process and presents the
details of a study in chronological order.
 Data is explained by using the words or experiences of the participants.

 The narrative has the ability to capture a high degree of complexity and to
convey deeper understanding of how particular events or factors impact
each other.
 The strength of the narrative is in its great detail; the limitation is that it
is so specific that it is difficult to generalize to other situations.
 The challenge of the narrative is that it is critiqued for not actually
analyzing the data, but rather just presenting the findings.
 This approach could be used when detailing how a new program was
implemented, how students reacted to a new technology in their class.
 It is most effective for analyzing data collected in interviews or through
observation.
How to Conduct a Narrative
Analysis
 From transcribed interviews or from
observation notes the researcher would piece
together a complete overview (story) of a
situation.

Example:
From a classroom observation the
research would compile a story (a
typical day, etc.) that provides detailed
insights into the desired topic (e.g. the
use of a new technology).
Focus of Qualitative Analysis…
Initially read Divide text Label Reduce Collapse
through data into segments segments of Overlap and codes
of information information redundancy into
with codes of codes themes

Many
Pages Many
of Text Segments 30-40 Codes Reduce Codes to
of Text codes reduced 5-7 Themes
to 20
Issues of Analysis
 Establishing Trustworthiness
In qualitative research data must be auditable through
checking that the interpretations are credible, transferable,
dependable and confirmable.
◦ Credibility improved through long engagement with the respondents
or triangulation in data collection (internal validity)
◦ Transferability achieved through a thick description of the research
process to allow a reader to see if the results can be transferred to a
different setting (external validity)
◦ Dependability examined through the audit trail (reliability) e.g.
member checking.
◦ Confirmability audit trail categories used e.g. raw data included,
data analysis and reduction processes described, data reconstruction
and synthesis including structuring of categories and themes, process
notes included, instrument development information included
 Adapted from Lincoln and Guba (1985)