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Qualitative Data Analysis

AEF 801

Research Methods and Project

Management

[email protected]

18/2/2005



Session Aim and Objectives

Aim

To introduce students to the analysis of qualitative data

Objectives By the end students will have an appreciation of:

1 The principles of analysing qualitative data

2 The Qualitative Analytical Process

3 Qualitative Data Management Tools

4 How to present qualitative results

Part1: Theory

Part 2: Qualitative Analysis: A worked example



Qualitative Research Qualitative research is an interdisciplinary,

transdisciplinary, and sometimes counterdisciplinary field.

It crosses the humanities and the social and physical sciences. Qualitative research is many things at the same

time. It is multiparadigmatic in focus. Its practitioners

are sensitive to the value of the multimethod approach.

They are committed to the naturalistic perspective, and to

the interpretative understanding of human experience. At the same time, the field is inherently political and shaped

by multiple ethical and political positions.

Nelson et al¶s (1992, p4)



Qualitative Inquiry

Purpose

The purpose of qualitative inquiry is to produce findings. The Data

Collection process is not an end in itself. The culminating activities of

qualitative inquiry are analysis, interpretation, and presentation of findings.

Challenge

To make sense of massive amounts of data, reduce the volume of

information, identify significant patterns and construct a framework for

communicating the essence of what the data reveal

Problem

µ«have few agreed-on canons for qualitative data analysis, in the

sense of shared ground rules for drawing conclusions and verifying

sturdiness¶ Miles and Huberman, 1984)



The Creativity of Qualitative Inquiry

µ ..the human element of qualitative inquiry is both

is strength and weakness - its strength is fully

using human insight and experience, its weaknessis being so heavily dependent on the researcher¶s

skill, training, intellect, discipline, and creativity.

The researcher is the instrument of qualitative

inquiry, so the quality of the research dependsheavily on the qualities of that human being¶

(Patton, 1988)



The Science and Art of Qualitative

Inquiry(Patton, 1988)

The Science

The scientific part is systematic, analytical,

rigorous, disciplined, and critical in perspective

The Art

The artistic part is exploring, playful,

metaphorical, insightful, and creative



The Critical and Creative Thinker

µJust as creative thinkers want to be creative, critical thinkers, it seems

, want to be critical, or at least to be certain. Yet the critical attitude

and the creative attitude seem to be poles apart«On one hand, there

are those who are always telling you why ideas won¶t work but whonever seem able to come up with alternatives of their own; and, on the

other hand, there are those who are constantly coming up with ideas

but seem unable to tell good from bad. There are people in whom both

attitudes are developed to a high degree«, but even these people say

they assume only one of these attitudes at a time. When new ideas are

needed, they put on their creative caps, and when ideas need to be

evaluated, they but on their critical caps¶

(Anderson, 1980:66)



CriticalT

hinking Critical Thinking

µCritical Thinking calls for a persistent effort to examine any belief or

supposed form of knowledge in the light of the evidence that supports

it and the further conclusions to which it tends¶ (Glaser, 1941)

or more simply!

Critical Thinking means weighting up the arguments and evidence for

and against.

K ey points when thinking critically are (Glaser, 1941):

± Persistence: Considering an issue carefully and more than once

± Evidence: Evaluating the evidence put forward in support of the

belief or viewpoint

± Implications: Considering where the belief or viewpoint leads;

what conclusions would follow; are these suitable and rational; and

if not, should the belief or viewpoint be reconsidered



Analytical Thinking

Analytical Thinking involves additional processes: Standing back form the information given

Examining it in detail from many angles

Checking closely whether each statement follows logically from what

went before

Looking for possible flaws in the reasoning, the evidence, or the way

that conclusions are drawn

Comparing the same issues from the point of view of other writers

Being able to see and explain why different people arrived at different

conclusions

Being able to argue why one set of opinions, results or conclusions is

preferable to another

Being on guard for literary or statistical devices that encourage the

reader to take questionable statements at face value

Checking for hidden assumptions

Checking for attempts to lure the reader into agreements



Guidance for Creative Thinking

1 Be open

2 Generate Options

3 Divergence before convergence4 Use multiple stimuli

5 Side track, zig-zag, and circumnavigate

6 Change patterns

7 Make Linkages

8 Trust yourself

9 Work and Play at it



The Credibility of Qualitative Analysis

The credibility for qualitative inquiry depends on three

distinct but related inquiry elements:

1 Rigorous techniques and methods for gathering high-quality data that is carefully analysed, with attention to

issues of validity, reliability, and triangulation

2 The credibility of the researcher, which is dependent on

training, experience, track record, status, and presentation

of self

3 Philosophical belief in the phenomenological paradigm,

that is, a fundamental appreciation of naturalistic inquiry,

qualitative methods, inductive analysis and holistic

thinking



A Credible QualitativeS

tudy

A credible qualitative study needs to address the

following issues:

1 What techniques and methods were used to ensurethe integrity, validity, and accuracy of the findings

2 What does the researcher bring to study in terms

of qualifications, experience, and perspective

3 What paradigm orientation and assumption

undergrid the study



Qualitative Research:

Common Features of Analytic Methods

(Miles and Huberman, 1994)

1 Affixing codes to a set of field notes drawn from data collection

2 Noting reflections or other remarks in margin

3 Sorting or shifting through the materials to identify similar phrases,

relationships between themes, distinct differences between subgroups

and common sequences

4 Isolating patterns and processes, commonalties and differences, and

taking them out to the filed in the next wave of data collection

5 Gradually elaborating a small set of generalisations that cover the

consistencies discerned in the data base

6 Confronting those generalisations with a formalised body of

knowledge in the from of constructs or theories



Principles of Analysing

Qualitative Data

1 Proceed systematically and rigorously (minimise human

error)

2 Record process, memos, journals, etc.3 Focus on responding to research questions

4 Appropriate level of interpretation appropriate for situation

5 Time (process of inquiry and analysis are often

simultaneous)6 Seek to explain or enlighten

7 Evolutionary/emerging



The Analysis Continuum

Raw DataDescriptive

StatementsInterpretation



The Qualitative Analytical

Process



1. Analysis Considerations

Words

Context (tone and inflection)

Internal consistency (opinion shifts during groups)Frequency and intensity of comments (counting, content

analysis)

S pecificity

Trends/themesIteration (data collection and analysis is an iterative process

moving back and forth)



2. TheP

rocedures

Coding/indexing

Categorisation

AbstractionComparison

Dimensionalisation

Integration

Iteration

Refutation (subjecting inferences to scrutiny)

Interpretation (grasp of meaning - difficult to describe

procedurally)



The Qualitative Analytical Process

(Adapted from descriptions of S

trauss and Corbin, 1990,S

piggle1994, Miles and Huberman, 1994)

Components Procedures Outcomes

Data Reductions

Data Display

Conclusions &

Verification

Coding

Categorisation

Abstraction

ComparisonDimensionalisation

Integration

Interpretation

Description

Explanation/

Interpretation



Qualitative Data Management Tools

QSR NUD.IST

( Non-numerical unstructured data indexing searching and theorising)

Enables efficient data management by supporting the processes of indexing, searching and hence data theorising

Creates an environment to store and explore data and

ideas, it does not determine the research approach.

The major advantage of the package is that it enables anefficient and flexible approach to rigorously and

systematically analysing qualitative data.



SAFEFOOD Interactive Workshops

A worked example

Preliminary qualitative data analysis

(information to be provided)



QS

R NUD.IS

T The QSR NUD.IST software tools are incorporated into two

interlocking systems; a document system and an index system

Document Database

Enables text to be stored, edited and retrieved; memos to record ideas

can be attached to text; and word and phrase searches can be

conducted on the documents

Index Database

Enables the researcher to: code the data; conduct multiple concept or

coded category searches thereby providing responses to researchquestions and theory development; and provides the means to record

ideas about the data through memos attached to the various indices

Documents

quali data research