Qualitative Data Analysis

Grounded Theory Stages (Strauss & Corbin)

• Open Coding – a procedure for developing

categories of information • Axial coding – a procedure for interconnecting

the categories • Selective coding – a procedure for building a

story that connects the categories producing a set of theoretical propositions.

Coding • Use gerunds (doing words). (Charmaz) • Stress on ACTION (Strauss)

– Not what does this represent, but what is the person doing? What are they trying to achieve? What strategy are they using?

• Code social and psychological processes (not structures)

• Coding process is iterative. Builds up gradually, based on early coding.

• Grounded Theory is the study of a concept, not a description – Glaser.

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• Examine the text for salient categories • Apply codes to the text as a way of labelling phenomena • Avoid mere description. Try to conceptualize the data in

broader, more abstract terms • “Information gathering” not “reading the schedule” • “Conferring” rather than “talked to manager”

• Categorize it (i.e., grouping concepts). • Develop categories properties and dimensions.

Open Coding

Open Coding and Discovering Categories

• Naming categories – Option 1: Use theoretical ideas from literature

(restrictive perspective; literature may be too limited)

– Option 2: Use informants’ terms (in vivo) (generalizable?)

– Option 3: Use broad in vivo • Strauss & Corbin: “tradition bearer” = nurse on the

ward who inculcates new nurses to the rules

Approaches to open coding

• Line by line • Sentence by sentence • Several phrases or sentences • Paragraph by paragraph • Whole document

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Open Coding and Identifying Properties & Dimensions (sub-codes)

• Identify hierarchical structure of categories • Categories may be seen as having properties

or dimensions just like color (hue, tone, shade, intensity)

• Establish the nature of variance along each dimension (dichotomous, continuum) Watching Frequency Often-----------never

Extent More-----------less

Intensity High-----------low

Duration Long----------short

Open Coding and Theoretical Sensitivity • Questioning

– Who, when, where, what, how, how much, why? • Text Fragment from Strauss & Corbin

– Pain relief is a major problem when you have arthritis. Sometimes, the pain is worse than other times, but when it gets really bad, whew! It hurts so bad, you don't want to get out of bed. You don't feel like doing anything. Any relief you get from drugs that you take is only temporary or partial. (p. 78)

• Content = pain experience, varying intensity, activity limitation, bed bound, pain relief….

• What to ask yourself in coding – basis of codes/categories – Who provides relief? – What gives relief? – How does pain occur? – What precipitates action aimed at pain relief?

• For each, pick representative word as the code – Identify properties – Validate across cases by comparing extremes of category across cases

• Pain occurrence for young versus old, men versus women – Think about “what if” to identify conditional properties

Open Coding and Constant Comparison

• Maintain close connection between categories (codes) and data

• Watch out for red flags suggesting taken for granted assumptions: “Never” “Always” “Couldn’t possibly be”

• Compare data coded in the same way (same category) to start thinking about relationships between codes basis of theory

• Thoughts about and explanations of relations are recorded as memos.

• Theoretical saturation reached when – No new relevant data – Categories have well developed dimensions and properties – Relations among categorized are well established, validated and

conditional variations appear to be exhausted

Memos • Theorizing and commenting about codes as you

go along • Notes to yourself • Glaser’s classic definition

“… the theorizing write-up of ideas about codes and their relationships as they strike the analyst while coding… it can be a sentence, a paragraph or a few pages… it exhausts the analyst’s momentary ideation based on data with perhaps a little conceptual elaboration.”

Glaser, B (1978)Theoretical Sensitivity: Advances in the methodology of

grounded theory Mill Valley CA: Sociology Press.

Typical uses for memos • A new idea for a code

• “Place holding” - just a quick hunch

• Integrative discussion (e.g. of previous reflective remarks)

• As dialogue amongst researchers

• To question quality of data.

• To question original analytic framework.

• What is puzzling or surprising about a case (??)

• As alternative hypotheses to another memo

• If you have no clear idea but are struggling to find one.

• To raise a general theme or metaphor.

Memos 2 • Memos should be dated and linked to places in

field notes, case analysis discussion, case summaries, codes, documents etc.

• Write in margin or separate sheet, linked to data. • Computers a great help with linking

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Guidelines for memos 1. Always give priority to writing memos, while the flash of insight

remains. 2. Jot down memo as the idea occurs 3. Begin when first field data comes in and continue till report is

written. 4. Keep separate from data 5. Indicate what’s just a hunch 6. Modify memos during analysis (it’s not the data) 7. Keep list of codes handy to help 8. Consider combining codes if memos on them look similar 9. Keep people/cases out of memos - they’re about the

codes/concepts/ideas 10. Make sure memos are not just examples, they are about

ideas/concepts. (Mix of Dey, Miles and Huberman, Glaser and Stauss and Corbin.)

• Data has been entirely coded • Objective of Axial Coding involves model

development • Look for:

• Causal conditions: what influences the central phenomenon, events, incidences, happening

• Strategies: How do actors address the phenomenon • Context: When, where, with whom? • Intervening conditions: What factors constrain

strategies? • Actions – How are strategies enacted? • Consequences – What are the consequences

Axial Coding 1

• Put the model together • Exploring relations among categories, and making

connections between them (i.e., Cause and Effect) • Specifying the moderating conditions, and

intervening states that may play a role in shaping outcomes.

• Specify model discursively: • When I have (condition) arthritic pain (phenomenon), I take aspirin

(strategy). After a while, I feel better (consequence).

• Look for confirmation in the data & look for possible exceptions • Exceptions don’t refute model but may suggest

additional moderators

Axial Coding 2

Axial Coding: The Resulting Paradigm Model (Strauss & Corbin)

Model component

Description How to identify Example

A Causal condition

events or incidents that lead to the occurrence of a phenomenon

Point out by: when, while, since, because, due to, on account of.

breaking a leg

B Phenomenon central idea Ask: what is this data referring to?

pain

C Context Set of properties and that pertain to a phenomenon and conditions within the strategies are taken

Under the specific condition… Located in, of high intensity

D Intervening conditions

Broad and general condition bearing upon strategies

Time, space, culture, economic and technological status, career, history and individual biography.

Person age, other illnesses, past history with pain

E Action / Interaction strategies

Respond, handle, carry out a phenomenon

Action oriented verbs or participles

Keep warm, go for emergency help

F Consequences Outcomes to a phenomenon Events or happenings, actual or potential.

Pain relief

Selective Coding • Identify one or two categories as the Central

Phenomena(on). • Then construct a story around this

– Story line = the conceptualization of the story around the core category

– Selective coding = systematically relating the core category to other categories and filling in categories that need further refinement.

• Relate and group categories by comparing along the dimensional ranges of their properties in accordance with discovered patterns.

• Validate these relationships against data. • Fill in, refine and develop categories as required so as

to provide density to the theory • Example from research on childhood sexual abuse

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Morrow, S. & Smith, M. (1995). “A grounded theory study: Constructions of survival and coping by women who have survived childhood sexual abuse”. In John Cresswell (Ed.), Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions (pp. 297-321). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

The Importance of the Core Concept

• Glaser - coding not a description, rather it gets to the concept/pattern

• Core category – Accounts for most of variation – Most other categories relate to it

• Glaser on “GT is the study of a concept”. – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcpxaLQDnLk&fea

ture=share&list=PL8CB91CC62C1C2C7E – E.g. credentialising and supernormalising

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Using Qualitatitive Analysis Software for Coding and Analysis

• Popular Software • The coding process in Nvivo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9eTvP3E5TE

Exercise: Coding Interviews and Fieldnotes

• Code one interview and one set of field notes from data given to you by the instructor.

• Think about relations among the codes – Hierarchies of codes – Causal relations

• Jot these down as memos as you code