Analysis of Qualitative Data

Our goals today: Address some of the major considerations in the

analysis of qualitative data Develop shared terminology so we can continue

discussing this, read research with understanding, and access resources that will help us use these techniques

Introduce some of the major methods families of qualitative data analysis

Our goal today in NOT to teach all there is about the analysis of qualitative data.

Analysis of Qualitative Data

Qualitative vs. Quantitative

This is not a competition. The two schemes can complement each other.

Qualitative is focused more on description of relationships and qualities—nominal data.

Qualitative is also focused on the effects and interactions of qualities (feelings, norms, expectations) that cannot be measured, but often do fit on a continuum—more happy, less satisfied—and some can relate to quantitative variables.

Qualitative Research Questions How do teachers feel about the use of English as the

medium of instruction in mathematics and science?

What is the experience of secondary students in all-girl schools?

How does the degree of diversity in a primary school affect students’ openness to people who are not like them in terms of race, ethnicity, gender and home culture?

What are the concerns that influence parents’ decisions regarding their choices of preschool experiences for their children?

A Quick Model--Successive Approximation I’m researching something called a “foozler”. I have some examples and some non-examples

of foozlers. As you look at the figures, write a rule for what

makes some things foozlers and others not foozlers.

Modify your rule, as needed, each time you get new information.

What makes it a “foozler”?

YES NO

What makes it a “foozler”?

YES NO

What makes it a “foozler”?

YESNO

What makes it a “foozler”?

YES NO

What makes it a “foozler”?

YES NO

Last one!

Analysis of Qualitative Data

How is the theory affected by new data? How is the interpretation of the data

affected by the theory? What is the status of “theory”? How is the analysis judged as “research”?

What is the status of “Theory”

In qualitative analysis, “theory” is:An attempt to describe and explain data in

ways that provide meaningful interpretations“Meaningful” may be judged in many ways,

such as through “subjective concurrence” (consensus), predictive power, or recognition

Typically qualitative theories are more tentative that in quantitative theories

How is the analysis judged as “research”? Systematic—there is a method that is shaped by

the data

Articulated—given a verbal form that can be shared with others

Situated—explicitly related to other theories, data, research, etc.

ConceptsMore Like Quantitative More Like Qualitative

Generalizability Transferability

Research Subject Informant/Participant

Reliability—precise and accurate

Reliability—consistent across perspectives

Reproducible/Replicable Triangulation

Detached Objectivity Ethical Subjectivity

Data Handling Gathering—forethought, piloting, responding Organizing—maintaining records carefully Processing—establishing anonymity, transcriptions,

steps for data reduction Coding—by hand or using technology (HyperQual,

Nudist) Iterative analysis—go back repeatedly to the same

data Situating emergent categories/concepts in a field Making statements that may be transferable

between contexts

An example from my own work…

Ethical Considerations

Purposes—Whose are being served by the interpretation? Respect—Is the interpretation respectful of the informant? Verisimilitude (truth-like-ness) or accuracy—What fits and

what doesn’t? How are those handled? Audit trail—could someone check your work? Member checking—do participants agree? Triangulation—multiple data sources Transferability—usefulness in another context Grand narratives (e.g., the victorious change agent,

progress, triumph of will, )—does there have to be a moral for every story

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Provides an ethical check in “human subjects research”

Approval should come before data collection begins—but not always

Checks issues around health, deception, researcher conduct, confidentiality, etc..

Some of the Major Families of Qualitative Methods Ethnographic studies Content analysis Grounded theory Narrative summary analysis

Let’s try it…Why did you sit where you did today?

Ethnographic Studies

Thick Description Making the strange familiar Making the familiar strange Emergent categories Participant observer Phenomenology

Content Analysis

It is a qualitative analysis method for the systematic description of behavior, asking who, what, when, where and how questions within explicitly formulated systematic rules to limit the effects of analyst bias.

Content Analysis

Inductive Category Generation—Developing categories by grouping like data instances

Deductive Category Generation--

Developing categories from a pre-existing theory, and applying them to data

Inductive category generation

Research questionDetermine tentative category definitionIncrease detail of category attributesFormative check of reliability (10-30%)Continued/finished data analysisSummative check of reliabilityInterpretation of results

Deductive category generation

Research questionTheoretically-based definition of categoriesIncreased detail consistent with theoryFormative check of reliability (10-30%)Continued/finished data analysisSummative check of reliabilityInterpretation of results

Deductive Categories—Which fit you? Social

With friends Away from…someone Familiarity

Convenience Near the door Near the aisle In the back

Learning Considerations Near the front—so I can see and ask questions Away from the front—so I can blend in easily Near the back—so I won’t be as likely to be called on

Potential problems with categories/concepts They may focus on the obvious They may overlap They may not tell us much of use They may tell us more about the

researcher than the data

Grounded Theory (GT)

Grounded theory uses a systematic hierarchical set of procedures to develop inductively derived theory grounded in data

Grounded Theory

Iterative comparison of incidents to concepts No pre-established theory (well, almost none) “All is data”

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/catalogue/viewOnline.aspx?catalog_name=springliving2008

Grounded theory categories

Broad categories Concepts—labels placed on events Properties—attributes of a category/concept Dimensions—location of a property on a

continuum

Three main principles in GT

Relevance. A relevant study deals with the real concern of participants, evokes "grab" (captures the attention) and is not only of academic interest.

Workability. The theory works when it explains how the problem is being solved with much variation.

Modifiability. A modifiable theory can be altered when new relevant data is compared to existing data. A GT is never right or wrong, it just has more or less fit, relevance, workability and modifiability.

Workability

Workability refers to the capacity of a grounded theory to “explain what happened, predict what will happen and interpret what is happening” (Glaser 1978, p. 4)

A quality grounded theory should be capable of explaining the variation in patterns in terms of behaviour in the substantive area of inquiry.

Narrative Summary Analysis

The idea here is to gain valuable insights by putting the data back together, not in their raw form, but in re-ordered form to tell stories from the points of view of different participants. Narrative Summary Analysis Technique is also called "threading".

Narrative analysis

Analysis of a chronologically told story, with a focus on how elements are sequenced, why some elements are evaluated differently from others, how the past shapes perceptions of the present, how the present shapes perceptions of the past, and how both shape perceptions of the future.

When I met my match…

Tami and I met in my first college class. I was still 17, and pretty excited to have gone out on my own after high school. I’d moved to this new city and campus just a couple days before. I saw her when I entered the classroom. I sat down next to her and started a conversation. She was easy for me to talk to. There were a few of us from that class that enjoyed hanging out together some evenings after class. Over time, Tami and I started going places; just the two of us. I liked being with her. By spring, we were dating almost every weekend.

The first time Tami and I met…

Tami was in the class when I got there. She’d put her long brown hair up in a bun, and she was wearing a tan sweater with a flowery skirt. Sitting down beside her, I noticed her slender hands holding a pen. She seemed so together; confident and alert. I said hello, and she greeted me in return. She helped me feel at ease in class and, over time, she helped me get to know the strange city. She knew the city, having lived nearby all her life. At first, we’d go out with others from class. By spring, she was going out with me almost every weekend.

Consider the categories

Appearance Action/Agency Feelings

Narrative analysis

Scripts--the events chosen as the basis for telling the story Stories--expand on generalized scripts, add specific events

and evaluative elements that reveal the narrator's viewpoint regarding these particulars. Metaphors may be identified, by which subjects organize their stories. Different metaphors throw light on new meanings in the stories being told.

Interviews--Narratives are gathered through interviewing. The interviewer and respondent joint create the narrative framework.

Patterns--recurring forms that are used to organize the story.

Coding--the use of categories to identify meaning and relationships among events

What are the limits of “data”

Data can be drawn from a wide range of sources—anything that has a legitimate relationship to the topic of study

Gathering data is a systematic effort that is guided by a rationale related to relevance

Interpreting data is a methodical undertaking that allows open-endedness

Is this data?Interogating the scene

What might this sayabout what is valued?

Observations as Qualitative Data?

Preconceptions Being misled Who’s watching anyway?

Analysis of Qualitative Data

Our goals today:Address some of the major considerations in

the analysis of qualitative dataDevelop shared terminology so we can

continue discussing this, read research with understanding, and access resources that will help us use these techniques

Introduce some of the major methods families of qualitative data analysis