What is Qualitative Research – Data Analysis

Introduction

Up to this point, we have been setting up your research project so that it sits on solid foundations with sound theory and methodology. With that robust starting point, you collected the data that you believe will be needed from appropriate sources. The raw data will not really solve your problem although it may give some hints. It is in the analysis of your data where you will find the deeper meanings to answer your research question.

Up to this point, we have been setting up your research project so that it sits on solid foundations with sound theory and methodology. With that robust starting point, you collected the data that you believe will be needed from appropriate sources. The raw data will not really solve your problem although it may give some hints. It is in the analysis of your data where you will find the deeper meanings to answer your research question.

Codes

Data analysis is a process of collating and abstraction. Grounded in your data, the process moves from the raw data to an understanding of the key ideas your participants are trying to convey. Codes are the first level of this process. The code is intended to be a kind of summary across data sources – a kind of label – representing the idea or essence of what your participant is saying. Putting this more formally:

A code in qualitative inquiry is most often a word or short phrase that symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence-capturing, and/or evocative attribute for a portion of language-based or visual data.

Saldana, 2013, p3

As you go through the transcripts of interviews, for example, it will become clear that individuals will use different words and phrases to express similar ideas. A code represents this idea.

As a simplified example, imagine you are doing research on how cars are being sold in online advertisements in a set of magazines where you live. You look at the text and notice certain kinds of phrases occur regularly in your sample. Codes might then relate to fuel economy, service costs, car handling or length of warranty. The images may have similar scenes, photo angles, colours of the cars, types of characters, locations. Codes are used to express these ideas.

Themes

At the end of the coding process, you may find you have lots of codes representing the many messages in your data. The aim of this phase of analysis is to consolidate the codes into broader categories that represent the key ideas found in your research.

From our simple example, you may find you have codes such as ‘fuel efficiency,’ ‘good value,’ ‘cheap to run,’ and ‘low service costs.’ The theme for these ideas may be something like ‘economical to own.’ The advertisers are using phrases and images that convey to a prospective buyer that the car is good value. From coding images, you may have coded car colour, red, black, white. The theme may be as simple as car colour. Or your theme may be even broader and include various characteristics of the depicted and your analysis will use these to explore the intended message and to whom these may be directed.

Themes play an important role in structuring your argument allowing you to deeply explore key ideas. This also means they play an important role in structuring your thesis: themes can be signposts through a chapter.

Conclusion

Coding and theming your data are a crucial phase in the analysis process and finding out what your data has to say about your research questions. Throughout the process it is essential to keep your research questions in mind. Ultimately, in any research project, you want to find an answer, one way or another, to your research questions.

Next: Common Methods

Previous: Data

Back to “Start Here“

---

Reference

Saldaña, J. (2013). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. London, UK: Sage Publications Ltd.