Qualitative Data Analysis

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Qualitative Data Analysis

• Looking for Themes and Patterns

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Data to analyzed will consist of

• Words recorded on tape or transcribed.
• Your notes.
• Documents or other pre-existing items.

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Components of qualitative analysis

• Organizing words or behaviors into categories,
  patterns, and themes.
• Sample quotations.
• Written narratives that summarize what you found
  out.

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Where to start basic or first level coding
(establishment of categories)

• Creation of data transcript. Organizing this
  transcript into units of analysis easiest way
  is to do this question by question in your
  interview guide (assumes that you have asked all
  of most of the questions to each of the
  respondents).
• Choose a unit of analysis in a written document
  or transcript. This might be a whole interview,
  page, paragraph, sentence, phrase, or word.
• Across all respondents, count the number of times
  a particular word, similar phrase or sentence
  occurs.
• Establish categories for similar phrases or
  thoughts.
• Put together a frequency table to indicate how
  many times this common element occurs or simply
  describe how many times it occurred in your
  narrative
• You may want to double check or triple check
  your categories and the assignments of responses
  to each. You might also want to have someone else
  do the analysis over to make sure there is
  nothing that you missed.
• You can also present your results in terms of
  occurrence, magnitude, duration, or whether
  products were produced).

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The next step is making comparison across
categories and among questions (axial or second
level coding)

• Are there similarities among the categories
• Does one category precede another
• Do two categories occur at the same time in the
  same statement
• Are there overlaps among the categories
• Are there obvious patterns or themes
• Can a hypothesis be generated about cause and
  effect relationships (based on these patterns).

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For example, if we were to use the following
interview guide, we would transcribe all
responses underneath each question in a WORD
processing program. (Sample interview guide)

• 1. Can you describe how you first became aware of
  your deafness?
• Respondent 1
• Respondent 2
• Respondent 3
• 2. How do you see yourself today, in terms of
  your deafness?
• Respondent 1
• Respondent 2
• Respondent 3
• From Janesick, V. (1998). "Stretching" exercises
  for qualitative researchers. Thousand Oaks, CA
  Sage, p. 75.

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We enhance reliability or rigor of our data
analysis by

• Comparing our categories to pre-existing
  frameworks.
• Having an additional person redo the analysis.
• Comparing notes from more than one source.
• Using more than one type of qualitative data in
  our analysis (observation, interviews, document
  analysis).
• Supplementing the qualitative analysis with
  information from another quantitative source (for
  example, a survey).
• Keeping a record (audit) of how you established
  data categories and identified themes.
• Establishing a feedback loop so that participants
  can verify whether or not the analysis is
  accurate enough to reflect their views (member
  checking).
• We call this process in qualitative research as
  trustworthiness.

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Padgett (1998) defines trustworthiness as

• A trustworthy study is one that is carried out
  fairly and ethically and whose findings represent
  as closely as possible the experiences of the
  respondents (p. 92)
• Lack of trustworthiness comes from
• a) reactivity
• b) researcher biases
• c) respondent biases/ such as withholding
  information or the halo effect.

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Example of using quotes (from gang study in Sin
City)

• One fourth of the youths surveyed said that they
  didnt like gangs or didnt want to join a gang.
  Almost 40 said that being in a gang was bad or
  stupid. One youth described being in a gang as a
  dead end choice. Nine percent felt that being
  in a gang was dangerous or scary. One respondent
  said being in a gang was scary because they
  always talk about killing or beating up other
  people. Only 6 of the respondents thought being
  in a gang was fun or was necessary for
  protection. However, one youth said that being in
  a gang made him feel safe and good, cool to be
  around.

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In the previous quote there were categories

• Didnt like gangs
• Gangs are bad or stupid
• Being in a gang is fun

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For example, this quotation from Fadiman, A.
(1997). The spirit catches you and you fall down.
New York Farrar, Straus, Giroux.

• While Foua was telling me about the dozens of
  tasks that constituted her easy work in Laos, I
  was thinking that when she said she was stupid,
  what she really meant was that none of her former
  skills were transferable to the U.S. none, that
  is, except for being an excellent mother to her
  nine surviving children. It then occurred to me
  that this last skill had been officially
  contradicted by the American government, which
  had legally declared her a child abuser.

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One approach to writing a narrative is thick
description creation of a picture of observed
events, people involved, rules associated with
certain activities, and social context or
environment. Thick description can also
incorporate the researchers perspectives.
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Clients articulate their belief that the welfare
system is not designed to help them succeed or
care for their families.Often it feels as if the
information they received from workers is
blatantly wrong. In one focus group, participants
talked assuredly of the misinformation they had
received .As one women saidThe policy is a
lie. This what happens in the welfare
system.Such a lack of trust raises serious
questions about whether or not clients will heed
front-line staff. From Sandfort, Kalil,
Gottschalk (1999). The mirror has two faces.
Journal of Poverty, 3 (3), 71-91.
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A narrative or text-based summary should include

• Identification of common themes in responses.
• Patterns of behavior
• Cultural or other symbols found in the setting or
  described by respondents.
• Identification/description of cultural norms
• Common words or phrases used by many respondents
  with sample quotations
• Minority responses with sample quotations