Qualitative Data Analysis

Session Aim and Objectives

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
M.Phil Education 2
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 als (1992, p4)
M.Phil Education 3
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
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)


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The Creativity of Qualitative Inquiry
..the human element of qualitative inquiry is
both is strength and weakness - its strength
is fully using human insight and experience,
its weakness is being so heavily dependent
on the researchers skill, training, intellect,
discipline, and creativity. The researcher is
the instrument of qualitative inquiry, so the
quality of the research depends heavily on
the qualities of that human being (Patton,
1988)
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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

M.Phil Education 6
The Critical and Creative Thinker
Just 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
apartOn one hand, there are those who are always telling
you why ideas wont work but who never 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)
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Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Critical 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.
Key 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

M.Phil Education 8
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 M.Phil Education 9
Guidance for Creative Thinking
1 Be open
2 Generate Options
3 Divergence before convergence
4 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
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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
M.Phil Education 11
A Credible Qualitative Study
A credible qualitative study needs to
address the following issues:
1 What techniques and methods were used
to ensure the 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
M.Phil Education 12
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
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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

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The Analysis Continuum
Raw Data
Descriptive
Statements
Interpretation
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The Qualitative Analytical
Process
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1. Analysis Considerations
1 Words
2 Context (tone and inflection)
3 Internal consistency (opinion shifts during groups)
4 Frequency and intensity of comments (counting,
content analysis)
5 Specificity
6 Trends/themes
7 Iteration (data collection and analysis is an iterative
process moving back and forth)
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2. The Procedures
1 Coding/indexing
2 Categorisation
3 Abstraction
4 Comparison
5 Dimensionalisation
6 Integration
7 Iteration
8 Refutation (subjecting inferences to scrutiny)
9 Interpretation (grasp of meaning - difficult to
describe procedurally)
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The Qualitative Analytical Process
(Adapted from descriptions of Strauss and Corbin, 1990, Spiggle
1994, Miles and Huberman, 1994)
Components Procedures Outcomes
Data Reductions
Data Display
Conclusions &
Verification
Coding
Categorisation
Abstraction
Comparison
Dimensionalisation
Integration
Interpretation

Description
Explanation/
Interpretation
M.Phil Education 20