M C F O R T E G O 2 0 2 3

CODING
Coding
üa label that describes the content of a piece of text
ü“The morning was wonderful because of the beautiful
sunset” – code: sunset
üQualitative data coding is the process of creating
and assigning codes to categorize data extracts
üCodes will be used for actual data analysis (either thematic
or content analysis)
üCoding AND analysis can be simultaneous
üDoes not necessarily involve identifying themes
üprocess of labelling and grouping similar types of data to
make generating themes and analyzing data more
manageable
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Sample codes
When are you happy? Code
I am happy when I am Food
eating my favorite food
I am happy when my Cooking and associated
mother cooks for me relationships
I am happy when I have Money to buy food
money to buy the food I
want

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Kinds of Coding
üDeductive coding
üresearcher begins with a set of pre-established
codes and applies them to the data set or interview
transcripts
üInductive coding
üresearcher creates the set of codes based on the
data itself
ücodes emerge from the data

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Deductive Coding
üdrawing up a set of codes based on a research
question or previous research
üyou could also use a code set from the codebook
of a previous study

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 Deductive Coding
Why do students submit Pre-established codes
requirements late?
P1: I have no interest in doing it Lack of interest
since it wasn’t my chosen
program
P2: There’s too much happening Family problems
in my family. I can’t afford to pay
attention to my studies.

P5: I have so much to do Requirements overload

academically
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 Inductive Coding
Why do students submit Codes
requirements late?
P1: I have no interest in doing it Lack of interest
since it wasn’t my chosen
program
P2: There’s too much happening Family problems
in my family. I can’t afford to pay
attention to my studies.

P5: I have so much to do Academic tasks

academically
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Steps in Coding
1. Familiarize.
• get a thorough overview of all the data collected
analyzing individual items
• might involve transcribing audio, reading through
the text and taking initial notes, and generally
looking through the data to get familiar with it

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Steps in Coding
2. Initial coding
• identify the essence/ gist of the text and code it accordingly.
• read through the answer and understand
• when using inductive coding, this is when you develop
initial codes

• “Personally, I’m not sure. I think the climate is changing,

sure, but I don’t know why or how. People say you should
trust the experts, but who’s to say they don’t have their own
reasons for pushing this narrative? I’m not saying they’re
wrong, I’m just saying there’s reasons not to 100% trust
them. The facts keep changing – it used to be called global
warming.” Initial code – uncertainty on climate change
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Steps in Coding
3. Line by line coding
• Delve deeper into the data and (re)organize it
according to (potentially new) codes.
• Pay close attention to your data to add detail
(specificity and richness) to your codes.
• At this stage, code everything that is relevant and
potentially interesting in the data to be thorough.

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 Steps in Coding
3. Line by line coding

“Personally, I’m not sure. I think the climate is

Code:
changing, sure, but I don’t know why or how. People
say you should trust the experts, but who’s to say they Uncertainty
don’t have their own reasons for pushing this Acknowledgement of
narrative? I’m not saying they’re wrong, I’m just climate change
saying there’s reasons not to 100% trust them. The Distrust of experts
facts keep changing – it used to be called global Changing terminology
warming”

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Steps in Coding
4. Collate codes with supporting data
• organize excerpts/ extracts under their
codes

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Steps in Coding
5. Create themes.
• Themes help us see trends and patterns in the data
• How can the various codes be combined? Are there
themes that could be divided further into sub-
themes? What are the patterns in the data?
• Discard codes that are too vague or not relevant
enough
• Other codes, if dominant and prevalent enough,
could become themes
• Create potential themes that tell us something
helpful about the data.

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Steps in Coding
5. Create themes.
• organize excerpts/ extracts under their
codes

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Steps in Coding
6. Review and revise themes.
• Ensure that each theme has enough data to
support them and is distinct. Consider merging
together themes that are similar, and removing
themes that don’t have enough data to back
them up.
• Re example, “changing terminology” might fit
better under the “uncertainty” theme than under
“distrust of experts,” since the data labelled with
this code involves confusion, not necessarily
distrust

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Steps in Coding
6. Review and revise themes.
• Create themes starts simultaneously with analysis.
• Begin formulating how your themes can come together
into a narrative.
• Once the list of themes is finalized, name and define
each of them.
• Naming themes involves coming up with a succinct and
easily understandable name for each theme.
• Defining themes involves formulating exactly what we mean
by each theme and figuring out how it helps us understand
the data.
• Re example, “distrust of experts” might lead us to determine
exactly who these “experts” are. A better name for the theme
could be “distrust of authority” or “conspiracy thinking”.
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References
• Caulfield, J. (2022, November 25). How to Do Thematic Analysis
| Step-by-Step Guide & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved January 22,
2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/methodology/thematic-
analysis/
• Delve, Ho, L., & Limpaecher, A. (2020a, August 31). How to Do
Thematic Analysis. Essential Guide to Coding Qualitative Data.
https://delvetool.com/blog/thematicanalysis

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