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Coding of Qualitative Data

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW

• Preamble

• What is coding?

• What to look for when you are coding

• Example #1: Coding • Example #2: Coding

• Example #3: Coding

• Example #4: Coding

• Computer software Key Terms Summary References

LEARNING OUTCOMES

When you have completed this chapter you will be able to:

• Discuss the techniques of coding qualitative data

• Apply data coding techniques when analysing qualitative data


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Since coding is an important and sometime most difficult phase of qualitative data analysis, this chapter has been devoted to the coding phase. Several examples are provided to illustrate how coding is done. However, the coding method shown is not the

only way to go about coding qualitative data as there are several other methods.

Let us repeat what was discussed in Chapter 7 about coding. Coding is the process

of examining the raw qualitative data which will in the form of words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs) and assigning CODES or labels. Strauss and Corbin (1990) identified the following types of coding: Axial coding and Open Coding (see Figure 8.1).

Data

[from a Transcript]

OPEN CODING

Code or Label words and phrases found in

the transcript or text AXIAL CODING

Create Themes or Categories by grouping

codes or labels given to words and phrases

• Open Coding – You “sweep” through the data and mark (by circling or highlighting) sections of the text selected codes or labels. For example,

you circle words or phrases describing the behaviour of the head of department.

PREAMBLE

WHAT IS CODING?


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• Axial Coding – Eventually, you have a large number of codes and you will find it necessary to sort them into some sort of order or into groups

and this is called axial coding. Two common types of axial coding are: Non-hierarchical or Hierarchical

• Non-Hierarchical: For example, in a study a the researcher asked a group of adults

how they take a break from their normal work. The responses are grouped are grouped as follows in a non-hierarchical manner (also called flat coding).

CODES / LABELS

• Hierarchical: Here you find that several codes group together as types or kinds of something. You need to put some of the codes or labels into a group of their own or make them sub-codes, i.e. a hierarchical arrangement of codes, like a tree, a

branching arrangement of sub-codes. Ideally, codes in a tree relate to their parents by being 'examples of...', or 'contexts for...' or 'causes of...' or 'settings for...' and so on.

For example, a researcher was doing a study on friendship’ and asked a group of adults their views on the topic and the following is the classification.

• take a holiday,

• go out for a walk,

• read a book,

• watch TV,

• take a nap,

• wander round the garden,

• work out at the gym,

• go for a drink with friends,

• go for a drive,

• play a computer game,

• follow a hobby,

• do voluntary work

Adults taking a

break from

work

THEME / CATEGORY


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THEME / CATEGORY CODES / LABELS

Friendship types

• Close friend

• Sporting

• Club

• Non-club

• Work

Changes in Friendship

• Making new friends

• New same sex friends

• New different sex friends

• Losing touch

• Becoming sexual relationship

• the data into meaningful analytical units (i.e., segmenting the data). When you locate meaningful segments, you code them.

• Coding is defined as marking the segments of data with symbols, descriptive words, or category

names.

To recap, whenever you find a meaningful segment of text in a transcript, you assign a code or label to signify that particular segment. You continue this process until you have

segmented all of your data and have completed the initial coding. Next, you find relationships between the codes or labels and group them into themes or categories. During coding, you must keep a master list (i.e., a list of all the codes that are developed

and used in the research study). Then, the codes are reapplied to new segments of data each time an appropriate segment is encountered.

Most typically, when coding, you usually have some codes already in mind and are also looking for other ideas that seem to arise out of the data. According to Charmaz

(2003), you should ask the following questions about the data you are coding:

Sub-codes

Sub-codes

WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN YOU ARE CODING


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• What is going on?

• What are people doing?

• What is the person saying?

• What do these actions and statements take for granted?

• How do structure and context serve to support, maintain, impede or change these actions and statements?

Lewins, Taylor. & Gibbs, (2005) provide a more detailed list of the kinds of

things that can be coded (see Table 1). The examples of each kind tend to be descriptive because it makes it is easier to explain the phenomena. However, when you are coding it

is advisable to move from descriptive codes to more analytic ones as quickly as possible.

What can be coded Examples

1 Behaviours, specific acts Seeking reassurance, Bragging

2 Events – short once in a lifetime events or things

people have done that are often told as a story.

Wedding day, day moved out

of home for university, starting first job

3 Activities – these are of a longer duration, involve

other people within a particular setting

Going clubbing, attending a

night course, conservation work

4 Strategies, practice or tactics Being nasty to get dumped,

Staying late at work to get promotion

5 States – general conditions experienced by people or found in organisations

Hopelessness “I’ll never meet anyone better at my age”

settling for someone who is not really suitable

6 Meanings – A wide range of phenomena at the

core of much qualitative analysis. Meanings and interpretations are important pars of what directs participants actions.

The term ‘chilling out’ is used

by young people to mean relaxing and not doing very

much

a. What concepts do participants use to understand their world? What norms, values, and rules guide their actions

b. What meaning or significance it has for participants, how do they construe events, what are the feelings

Jealousy “ I just felt why did she get him”

c. What symbols do people use to understand their situation? What names do they use for objects, events, persons, roles,

setting and equipment?

A PhD is referred to as ‘a test of endurance’ (because finishing a PhD is a challenge)

7 Participation – adaptation to a new setting or involvement

About new neighbours “In my new house I have to keep my


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music down at night as the

neighbours have young children”.

8 Relationships or interaction Seeing family “ Now my sister

lives in the next road she visits more and we’ve become much closer.

9 Conditions or constraints Lose of job (before financial

difficulties), moving away (before lost contact with old

friends)

10 Consequences Confidence gets dates, positive attitude attracts opportunities

11 Settings – the entire context of the events under

study

University, work place,

housing estate

12 Reflexive – researcher’s role in the process, how intervention generated the data

Probing question “How did you feel when he said that?”

Table 1: Types of phenomena that can be coded

Refer to this EXAMPLE in which a researcher interviewed several staff in an office

and asked this question: “What specific problems that needed immediate action in your

organisation”?

The following are some of the responses to the question. Try to code the data and compare your themes / categories with the themes / categories provided below:

LEARNING ACTIVITY

a) What is coding?

b) What is the difference between open and axial coding? c) What do you look for when coding data?

d) Lewins, Taylor. & Gibbs (2005) provide a list of phenomena that is often coded. What are they? Are there others?

EXAMPLE #1: CODING QUALITATIVE DATA


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Table 2 Reponses of subjects in an office

The responses to the question: “What specific problems that needed immediate

action in your organisation”?

• There is not enough space for everyone

• Our office furniture is dated and needs replacing

• We nee a better cleaning service for the office

• We need more objective recruitment and hiring standards

• We need objective performance appraisal and reward system

• We need consistent application of policy

• There are leadership problems

• Unproductive staff should not be retained

• Each department stereotypes of other departments

• Decisions are often based on inaccurate information

• We need more opportunities for advancement here

• Our product is not consistent because there are too many styles

• There is too much gossiping and criticising

• Responsibilities at various levels are unclear

• We need a suggestion box

• There is a lot of “us and them” sentiment here.

• There is a lack of attention to individual needs.

• There is favouritism and preferential treatment of staff.

• More training is needed at all levels.

• There need to better assessment of employee ability and performance can be more objectively based.

• Training is needed for new employees.

• Many employees are carrying the weight of other untrained employees.

• This off ice is “turf” oriented.

• There is a pecking order at every level and within every level.

• Communication needs improving.

• Certain departments are put on a pedestal.

• There are too many review levels for our products.

• Too many signatures are required.

• There is a lot of overlap and redundancy.

• The components of our office work against one another rather than a team.

• We need more computer terminals


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THE DATA IS CODED INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

CATEGORIES DATA

Management Issues

• There are leadership problems

• We need a suggestion box

• There is a lack of attention to individual needs.

• There is favouritism and preferential treatment of staff.

• Decisions are often based on inaccurate information

• We need consistent application of policy

Physical Environment

• We nee a better cleaning service for the office

• Our office furniture is dated and needs replacing

• We need more computer terminals

• There is not enough space for everyone

• We need more objective recruitment and hiring standards

• We need objective performance appraisal and reward systems

• Non-productive staff members should not be retained

• There need to be better assessment of employee ability and performance so that promotions can be more

objectively based Employee Development

• More training is needed at all levels

• Training is needed for new employees

• Many employees are carrying the weight of other untrained employees

• We need more opportunities for advancement here

Intergroup and Interpersonal Relations

• The office is “turf” oriented


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• There is a lot of “us and them” sentiment here

• There is pecking order at every level and within every level

• Communication needs improving

• There is too much gossiping and criticising

• Certain departments are put on a pedestal

• Each department has stereotypes of the other departments

Work Structure

• There are too many reviews for our product

• Too many signatures are required

• Responsibilities at various levels are unclear

• The components of our office work against one another rather than as a team

• There is a lot of overlap and redundancy

• Our product is not consistent because there are too many styles

LEARNING ACTIVITY

Try coding this short passage about Terry in Example #2.


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The example below show the coding of a short passage of text about a Terry moving

out of his parents home and becoming independent.

In Example #2, to help the analyst mark up the page, the text has been printed using

double spacing, so that it is possible to write code ideas and code labels between the

lines.

Terry

“When you move into your own home, you're alone. There is no bustle of people around the house. I miss having someone to chat to when I get home. I put the TV or some music so there’s some background noise, the silence makes me feel so alone. Sometimes I will be sat watching trash TV and thinking I should be out doing something rather than watching this rubbish. I read a lot but sometimes I am too tired and just want to veg out. But it's been good to move out of mum and dad’s as it's not healthy to rely on them as they won't last forever. I become independent and made my own decisions. It's good they still there when I need them. It's good to have some distance as when I was at home I was arguing a lot with my dad and that was what made me decide it was time to go.”



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DESCRIPTIVE CODING AND NOTES.

The analyst has read the text carefully and circled what seem to be key terms or key events or actions. A short note of what these are has been written besides the circling. These are the start of descriptive, or what grounded theorists refer to as open coding. An

initial coding list from this might be:

• Own home

• Lonely

• Independence

• Moving out of parents

• Conflict


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• Dependence

• Desire for company

These terms summarise the events and actions noted by the coding in Example #2, and some are more analytical, i.e. not merely describing something that happened or was said. They could form the start of a coding list that could be used to mark-up the rest of this

transcript and other similar cases.

DESCRIPTIVE AND ANALYTIC CODING WITH NOTES.

Using the sample data, a wide margin is used, so that code labels and other comments can be written there. Print out your transcriptions in whatever way supports your preferred approach to coding the text.

The codes used are still essentially descriptive but begin to move away from simply summarising what the respondent has said. Using brackets to the right of the


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transcribed text, they also code much larger chunks or passages of text. This form of coding is most useful when you go on to make retrievals, i.e. gather together all the text about one topic – that is to say, all the text that is coded the same way. With larger

chunks, the retrieved text is less likely to be decontextualised. The analyst has also used a highlighter to identify words that refer to feelings and these words suggest that the

passage about living alone is actually about the emotions and feelings associated with living alone.

Read the passage of text below about Amanda finding out she was pregnant. Look

at the list of codes below and decide which code sums up what is being talked about

in each line of the text (you may use a code more than once).

List of codes

1. Breaking up 2. Getting pregnant

3. Insecurity 4. Lifestyle

5. Moving in together 6. Not wanting to move 7. Proposal

8. Settling down 9. Uncertainty

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

When I found out I was pregnant, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to

LEARNING ACTIVITY

Try coding this short passage about Amanda.



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get married and he …

wasn’t the settling down kind. He was old enough to bring up a child but I knew he …

wasn’t ready to. He was in the Navy he liked the life and preferred going off with …

his friends and that bothered me. At first I hoped something would happen so I …

didn’t have the baby and I wanted him to marry me ’cause he wanted to not …

because I was pregnant. Anyway when the baby was born we broke up and I have …

seen him a couple of times but he has phoned lots and says he will marry me. He …

wanted me to marry him and go and live with him, but I didn’t want to leave home.

He leaves the Navy in 6 months so I’m getting the flat ready for him to move in. But …

I still worry he’ll go off with his friends and won’t be able to give up the life.

COMPARE your answer with the possible answer below . You may have chosen to use different codes from the ones we used, this does not mean you are wrong as you may

have a very good reason for selecting that code. Often the same text can be coded in two or more different ways.


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ANSWER:

CODES

When I found out I was pregnant, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get married and he …

Getting pregnant

wasn’t the settling down kind. He was old enough to bring up a child but I knew he …

Settling down

wasn’t ready to. He was in the Navy he liked the life and preferred going off with …

Lifestyle

his friends and that bothered me. At first I hoped something would happen so I …

Uncertainty

didn’t have the baby and I wanted him to marry me ’cause he wanted to not …

Insecurity

because I was pregnant. Anyway when the baby was born we broke up and I have …

Breaking up

seen him a couple of times but he has phoned lots and says he will marry me. He …

Proposal

wanted me to marry him and go and live with him, but I didn’t want to leave home.

Not wanting to move

He leaves the Navy in 6 months so I’m getting the flat ready for him to move in. But …

Moving in together

I still worry he’ll go off with his friends and won’t be able to give up the life.

Insecurity

You may have chosen to use different codes from the ones we used, this does not mean you are wrong as you may have a very good reason for selecting that code. Often the same text can be coded in two or more different ways.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

Try coding this short passage about Karen.


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Read the passage of text below about Karen leaving home. Provide a code that

summaries what is happening for each line of text in the boxes. CODES

It was challenging, after living in Italy for 6 months and then I moved home before …

I started university. I was used to doing things my own way when it suited me …

and not having to tell people where I was going. I was living with friends and they …

didn’t care what I did or where I went. It was really hard to go back to sort of …

thinking of others … ’cause Mum and Dad wanted to know where I was going and …

who with, which was a nightmare. My parents were strict but I had a lot of … freedom growing up, as long as I didn’t overstep the boundaries. After I came …

back from Italy they realised I was more independent and things changed and …

they didn’t try and stop me doing things anymore but they would still let know if …

they didn’t approve.

COMPARE your answer with the possible answer below. You may have chosen to use different codes from the ones we used, this does not mean you are wrong as you may

have a very good reason for selecting that code. Often the same text can be coded in two or more different ways.



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ANSWER:

CODES

It was challenging, after living in Italy for 6 months and then I moved home before …

Moving away

I started university. I was used to doing things my own way when it suited me …

Independence

and not having to tell people where I was going. I was living with friends and they …

Freedom

didn’t care what I did or where I went. It was really hard to go back to sort of …

Moving back home

thinking of others … ’cause Mum and Dad wanted to know where I was going and …

Control

who with, which was a nightmare. My parents were strict but I had a lot of … Control freedom growing up, as long as I didn’t overstep the boundaries. After I came …

Boundaries

back from Italy they realised I was more independent and things changed and …

Growing up

they didn’t try and stop me doing things anymore but they would still let know if …

Letting go

they didn’t approve. Disapproval

The important point is that line-by-line coding helps you to focus on the content of the text in the line and helps you to focus on what it is about. When doing line-by-line coding there is a tendency to produce descriptive codes. However, some of those you have suggested may be more analytic or more theoretical. That's good. The next step is to try

and develop such analytic codes and/or recode some of the descriptive codes you have used.

Today, various types of software are available to assist in qualitative data

analysis. Thus many researchers have replaced physical files and cabinets with computer based directories and files along with the use of word processors to write and annotate

texts. Many analysts now also use dedicated computer assisted qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS) packages that not only make the coding and retrieval of text easy to do, but

COMPUTER-BASED QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS


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can add other functions like searching that computers do quickly but which takes humans ages to do or in some cases, which humans have never done.

At first the focus of CAQDAS was on text since that was easy to handle on PCs, but now that much audio and video is in digital form too, software has been developed to

support the analysis of audio and video data. Among the popular software used in analysing qualitative data is NVivo, Nudist and an open source software.

• Coding is the process of examining the raw qualitative data which will in the form of words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs) and assigning CODES or labels.

• Open Coding – You “sweep” through the data and mark (by circling or highlighting) sections of the text selected codes or labels.

• Eventually, you have a large number of codes and you will find it necessary to sort them into some sort of order or into groups and this is called axial coding.

• The way codes are developed and the timing of this process will depend on whether your research project and your approach is inductive or deductive.

SUMMARY

KEY WORDS

• Coding

• Open coding

• Axial coding

• Hierarchical

• Non-Hierarchical

• Meanings

• Reflexive

• Categories

• Descriptive codes

• Analytic codes

• Conditions

•


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• Most typically, when coding, researchers have some codes already in mind and are also looking for other ideas that seem to arise out of the data.

• In coding, the researcher is looking for what is going on, what are people doing, what is the person saying, what do these actions and statements take for granted, how do structure and context serve to support, maintain, impede or change these

actions and statements.

• In coding, the researcher is looking for behaviours, events, activities, states, strategies, meanings, participation, relationships, conditions, consequences, settings and reflexive.

• Computer software is used by researchers to facilitate qualitative data analysis.

REFERENCES:

Bernard. R. (1996) Qualitative Data, Quantitative Analysis. Cultural Anthropology Methods Journal, Vol. 8 no. 1, 9-11.

Bogdan, R. & Biklen, S.K. (1998). Qualitative research for education. Boston: Allyn &

Bacon.

Bryman, A. & Burgess, R. (1993). Analysing Qualitative Data. London: Routledge.

Coffey, A., B. Holbrook and P. Atkinson (1996) 'Qualitative Data Analysis: Technologies and Representations', Sociological Research Online, vol. 1, no. 1.

Gibbs, G R (2002) Qualitative Data Analysis: Explorations with NVivo. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Lacey, A. & Luff, D. (2001). Trent focus for research and development in primary health care: An introduction to qualitative analysis. London: Trent Focus.

Lewins, A., Taylor, C. & Gibbs, G. (2005). What is qualitative data analysis? School of Human & Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield. United Kingdome.

Miles, M. & Huberman, A. (1984). Qualitative Data Analysis. London: Sage.

Strauss, A. (1987). Qualitative analysis for social scientists. New York: Cambridge University Press.


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Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. London: Sage.

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