Presentation of Qualitative

DataBy Davin Marcus Raja

University of Guelph

EDRD6000 Qualitative Analysis

Presentation of Qualitative Data

“Researchers often have amassed enormous amount of data and have to select the best

presentation of the data to support their description and interpretation of the

phenomena under study.”

(Krane, Andersen, and Strean, 1997)

Importance Of Proper Selection Of

Data Presentation Strategies

Presentation of primary data allows the participants in the study to provide rich source of information separate from the interpretation of the researcher.

Presentation of few quotations taken out of context make this task extremely difficult.

Wolcott (1990) suggests that, it is more elucidating for researchers to include more primary data in their presentation and less analysis, allowing the participants to speak for themselves.

Collins (1991) emphasized that qualitative analysis and presentation is socially situated and that there are multiple “truths” emanating form the different socio cultural situations faced by individuals.

Opie (1992) suggests that presentation of participants experiences must be expressed in their own voices so that different truths can be heard.

Different Epistemological Perspectives:

Because there is no single acceptable method for conducting qualitative analysis, it is evident that different perspectives will influence our own writings as well as our data presentation.

Hermeneutic Perspective (Dilthey, 1910)

An approach used for the interpretation of ancient and biblical texts – has over time been applied to the human sciences more

generally.

Ethnographies Perspectives(Brewer, 2000)

Collection of data through “social meanings and ordinary activities” of

people in “natural occurring settings” that are commonly referred to as “the field”.

Grounded Theory Approach (Glaser and Strauss, 2009)

Rather than beginning with a hypothesis, the first step is data collection, through a

variety of methods.

DATA PRESENTATION STRATEGIES

Ways Qualitative Data Can Be Arranged And Presented:

1. Natural

2. Most Simple to Most Complex

3. First Discovered/Constructed to Last Discovered/Constructed

4. Quantitative-Informed

5. Theory-Guided

6. Narrative Logic

7. Most Important to Least Important or From Major to Minor

8. Dramatic Presentation

9. No Particular Order

Natural• The data is presented in a shape that resembles the phenomenon being

studied.

• Example: For instance, if the data are excerpts from a therapy session, present them in a sequential order or in an order that re-presents the flow of the session itself.

Most Simple to Most Complex• For the sake of understanding, start the presentation of data with the

simplest example you have found. As the complexity of each example or exemplar presented increases, the reader will have a better chance of following the presentation. Erving Goffman's work is a good example of this style.

• Note: Goffman was primarily an observer of face-to-face interaction who possessed an extraordinary ability to appreciate the subtle importance of apparently insignificant aspects of everyday conduct. Goffman made his readers aware of this almost invisible realm of social life, with the result that the banal exchanges and glances observable in any public place become a continual source of fascination (Manning, 1992).

First Discovered/Constructed to Last Discovered/Constructed

• The data are presented in a chronicle-like fashion, showing the course of the researcher's personal journey in the study.

• Example: This style is reminiscent of an archeological style of presentation: What was the first "relic" excavated, then the second and so forth

Quantitative-Informed • In this scheme data are presented according to strategies commonly

found in quantitative or statistical studies.

• Example: Data are arranged along lines of central tendencies and ranges, clusters, and frequencies.

Theory-Guided• Data arrangement is governed by the researcher's theory or theories

regarding the phenomenon being re-presented in the study.

• Example: For instance, a Marxist-informed researcher might present data from a doctor-patient interview in terms of talk which shows who controls the means for producing information in the interaction, talk which illustrates who is being marginalized, and so forth.

Narrative Logic • Data are arranged with an eye for storytelling. Researchers plot out the

data in a fashion which allows them to transition from one exemplar to another just as narrators arrange details in order to best relate the particulars of the story.

Most Important to Least Important or From Major to Minor

• Like the journalistic style of the inverted pyramid, the most important "findings" are presented first and the minor "discoveries" come last.

Dramatic Presentation • This one is the opposite of the inverted pyramid style. With the

dramatic arrangement scheme, researchers order their data presentation so as to save the surprises and unforeseen discoveries for last.

No Particular Order Order • As it sounds, data are arranged with no particular, conscious

pattern in mind, or the researcher fails to explain how or why the data are displayed the way they are.

Conclusion

“Major component of quality qualitative studies is that the researchers “present their case,” researchers must provide

enough information to show how they derived their conclusions.”

Regardless of which strategies used by researcher to present their data, the presentation will result in identifying and acknowledging the multiple perspectives of the participants and researcher and the readers may then consider all perspectives in their interpretation of the research.

Reference:Brewer, J. D. (2000). Ethnography. Buckinghan, Philadephia: Open University Press

Chenail, R. J. (1995). Presenting Qualitative Data. The Qualitative Report Vol. 2 (3). Retrieved from: http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR2-3/presenting.html

Collins, P. H. (1991). Learning from the outsider within: The Sociological Significance of Black Feminist Thought. In M.M. Fonow and J.A. Cook (Eds). Beyond Methodology: Feminist scholarship as lived research. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. Pp. 35 – 59.

Dilthey, Wilhelm (1910). The formation of the historical world in the human sciences (Selected works, vol. 3, Rudolf A. Makkreal & Frithjof Rodi, Ed. & Trans.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Ferraris, Maurizio (1996). History of hermeneutics (Luca Somigli, Trans.). Atlantic Highlands, NY: Humanities Press.

Krane, V., Andersen, M. B., and Strean, W. B. (1997). Issues of Qualitative Research Methods and Presentation. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology (19). Pp. 213 – 218.

Manning, P. (1992). Erving Goffman and Modern Sociology. Stanford University Press, 1992. Pp. 202.

Opie, A. (1992). Qualitative research, appropriate of the ‘other’ and empowerment. Feminist Review (40). Pp. 52-69.

Wolcott, H. F. (1990). On seeking - and rejecting – validity in qualitative research. In E.W. Eisner and A. Peshkin (Eds), Qualitative Inquiry in education: The continuing debate. New York: Teachers College Press. Pp. 121-152.

Additional readings:Atkinson, B., Heath, A., & Chenail, R. (1991). Qualitative research and the legitimacy of knowledge. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 17, 161-166.

Brewer, J. D. (2000). Ethnography. Buckinghan, Philadephia: Open University Press

Chenail, R. J. (1994). Qualitative research and clinical work: "Private-ization" and "Public-ation". The Qualitative Report [On-line journal], 2(1), 1, 3-13. Available World Wide Web: http://alpha.acast.nova.edu/nova/centers/ssss/index.html

Constas, M. A. (1992). Qualitative analysis as a public event: The documentation of category development procedures. American Educational Research Journal, 29, 253-266.

Dilthey, Wilhelm (1910). The formation of the historical world in the human sciences (Selected works, vol. 3, Rudolf A. Makkreal & Frithjof Rodi, Ed. & Trans.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Ferraris, Maurizio (1996). History of hermeneutics (Luca Somigli, Trans.). Atlantic Highlands, NY: Humanities Press.

Glaser, B. G. and Strauss, A., L. (2009). The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Observations (Chicago, III) Reprint. Transaction Publisher, 2009. Pp. 271.

Waitzkin, H. (1991). The politics of medical encounters: How patients and doctors deal with social problems. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.