DATA ANALYSIS IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

A study will not be meaningful if the results of the study have no value. Research
is said to have rules when the results of the research can be held accountable. By using the
right data analysis in accordance with the objectives of the research through procedural
research that can be accounted for and scientifically accountable.

A. Qualitative Data
Qualitative data are forms of information gathered in a nonnumeric form. These
data may be text based, as in notes, Interview transcript, and other written materials, or
they may be from audio or visual sources, such as recordings, pictures, or video.

B. Qualitative Data Analysis

Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) is the processes and procedures whereby
researchers systematically search and arrange their data in order to increase their
understanding of the data and to enable them to present what they learned to others. Data
analysis is the most complex and mysterious phase of qualitative research. Data analysis
in qualitative research is a time-consuming and difficult process because typically the
researcher faces massive amount of field notes, interview, transcripts, audio recordings,
video data, reflections, or information from documents, all of which must be examined and
interpreted. Analysis involves reducting, organizing data, synthesizing, searching for
significant patterns, and discovering what is important.
QDA is usually based on an interpretative philosophy. The idea is to examine the
meaningful and symbolic content of qualitative data. For example, by analyzing interview
data the researcher may be attempting to identify any or all of:
 Someone's interpretation of the world,
 Why they have that point of view,
 How they came to that view,
 What they have been doing,
 How they conveyed their view of their situation,
 How they identify or classify themselves and others in what they say.
C. Stages of Qualitative Data Analysis
The stages of QDA usually involves two things, writing and the identification of
themes. Writing of some kind is found in almost all forms of QDA. In contrast, some
approaches, such as discourse analysis or conversation analysis may not require the
identification of themes. They are four stages in qualitative data analysis such as:
1. Writing
Writing involves writing about the data and what you find there. In many cases
what you write may be analytic ideas. In other cases it may be some form or
summary of the data, though this usually contains some analytic ideas.
2. Coding into themes
Coding or categorizing the data is the most important stage in the qualitative data
analysis process. Coding and data analysis are not synonymous, though coding is a
crucial aspect of the qualitative data analysis process. Coding merely involves
subdividing the huge amount of raw information or data, and subsequently
assigning them into categories. In simple terms, codes are tags or labels for
allocating identified themes or topics from the data compiled in the study.
Traditionally, coding was done manually, with the use of color pens to categorize
data, and subsequently cutting and sorting the data.
3. Interpreting
Interpreting involves reflecting about the words and acts of the study’s participants
and abstracting important understanding from them. It is an inductive process in
which you make generalizations based on the connections and common aspects
among the categories and patterns. Interpretation is about bringing out the meaning,
telling the story, providing an explanation, and developing plausible explanations.
Interpreting qualitative data is difficult because there are not set rules to follow.
The quality of the interpretation depends on the background, perspective,
knowledge, and theoretical orientation of the researcher and the intellectual skills
he or she brings to the task. In interpreting qualitative data, you confirm what you
already know is supported by the data, you question what you think and you know,
eliminate misconceptions, and you illuminate new insights and important things
that you did not know but you should have known. Although interpretation is
 personal and proceeds without rules, this doesn’t mean that qualitative researcher
can rely strictly on personal feelings when interpreting the data. The interpretation
cannot be just a figment of your imagination but must be supported by the data.
4. Organizing
The data sets used in QDA tend to be very large. Though samples may be quite
small compared with those used in quantitative approaches such as surveys, the
kinds of meaningful data collected (field notes, video recordings and interviews,
for example) tend to be very lengthy and require the kind of intensive examination,
understanding and reading that only humans can do. In order to keep a clear mind
and not become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data and analytic writings,
the analyst needs to be organized.
Researchers tend to approach this organization in one of two ways.
 Manual methods
Notes and interviews are transcribed and transcripts and images etc. are
copied. The researcher then uses folders, filing cabinets, wallets etc. to
gather together materials that are examples of similar themes or analytic
ideas. This facilitates easy retrieval of such linked material, but necessitates
two things:
Making multiple copies of the original data as the same data may represent
two or more themes or analytic ideas.
A careful method of labelling the material in the folders or files so
that it is possible to check back and examine the broader context in which
that data occurred. The analyst needs to know where the snippets of data in
the files came from so that they can be re-contextualized.
 Computer based
Nevertheless, the computer does not do the analysis for the researchers.
Users still have to create the categories, code, decide what to collate,
identify the patterns and draw meaning from the data. The use of computer
software in qualitative data analysis is limited due to the nature of
qualitative research itself in terms of the complexity of its unstructured data,
the richness of the data and the way in which findings and theories emerge
from the data. The programmer merely takes over the marking, cutting, and
sorting tasks that qualitative researchers used to do with a pair of scissors,
paper and note cards. It helps to maximise efficiency and speed up the
process of grouping data according to categories and retrieving coded
themes. Ultimately, the researcher still has to synthesise the data and
interpret the meanings that were extracted from the data. Therefore, the use
of computers in qualitative analysis merely made organization, reduction
and storage of data more efficient and manageable