Coding Open-Ended Comments LibQUAL+® Survey Results Best Practices: Stories from the Field January...

Coding Open-Ended Coding Open-Ended CommentsComments

LibQUAL+® Survey Results

Best Practices: Stories from the Field

January 14, 2009

The search for coding information began Feb. 24, 2008

General Query sent to LIBQUAL-L@LISTSERV@TAMU.EDU

“Can anyone share information about

how they coded the open-ended

comments from the LibQUAL+®

survey?”

LibQUAL+® Listserv Query - Results •Software utilized•Influence of theories•Coding to •Themes/Topics•LibQUAL+ dimensions•Value/Emotional Content•Question Numbers•Named departments/persons•LibQUAL+ questions•Demographics

Software- Local Decision Influences

•Campus Users

•Review (Journal of Mixed Methods

Research)

•Support, company and local

•Cost

Assistance/Consultations for CodingProcess

LibQUAL+® listservsoftware; categories; resources

OSU Qualitative Research Facultyimportance of data immersion; resources

QSR Website and Customer Assistancetutorial; questions; tips; importing data

Faculty member using NVivodemonstration; questions

Systems / IT software; importing data

DATA REDUCTION

At OSU, 1,067 Comments (38.8% of respondents)

Reduced to 853, by eliminating

•small, specific data sets

•“other library”

•“no comments”•very general comments that didn’t say anything of use

•survey population (faculty, staff)

•comments about the survey itself

Of the demographics provided by LibQUAL+®

We considered:

•What Fields Mattered to Us?

•What would most impact our services?

Our decision:

•Classification

•Discipline

•Library Used Most Often

Sample Tree Nodes, dictated by the data

•Books

•Building

•Online

Resources

•Journals

•Study

•Technology

•Hours

•Instruction

•Library

•Services

•Resources

•Parking

Values, defined locally

Praise- commend; “express favorable judgment”; approval; satisfaction (positive comment)

Words such as: like, love, enjoy, happy, good, important, glad, pleased, satisfied, positive, helpful

Strong Praise- effusively positive; detailed exclamatory positive statement; explanatory or descriptive reason for praise

Words such as: great, excellent, amazing, fabulous, best, outstanding, always, thanks, grateful

Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (2004). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

More Values, defined locally

Complaint- expresses discontent; mildly negative; unfavorable (a negative comment)

Words such as: more, cannot, never, hardly, often, sometimes, isn’t, lacks, lack of

Strong Criticism- severely unfavorable; hostile; pessimistic; fault-finding; points out flaws; clearly negative incident or encounter (explains or describes reason for criticism)

Words such as: hate, frustrating, embarrassing, irritating, nightmare, unacceptable, never,

impossible

More Values, defined locally

Suggestion- “mentions or implies a possibility”; “offer for consideration”; “propose as fitting”; (concrete suggestion)

Words: more, should, would like, would be, would appreciate, wish, could, could have, could be, needs, add, improve

Neutral Observation- “not engaged on either side”; indifferent; not positive or negative, just an observation

Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (2004). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

Number of Comments by Value

Coding Open-Ended Comments

Challenges

•Timeframe

•Importing data into software

•Inter-rater reliabilityBenefits/Uses of Data

•Software

•Strategic Planning

•Library Development

•Innovative Ideas

•Emergence of strongest themes

Karen Neurohr, Assessment Librarian

Oklahoma State University

karen.neurohr@okstate.edu