Miles and Huberman (1994) defined qualitative
analysis as having three “concurrent flows of activity:
data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/
verification” (p. 10). Although each of these definitions
differs somewhat, there is agreement that data analysis
involves some type of process in which data are managed,
organized, arranged, or prioritized.
Unfortunately, qualitative research is still often viewed
as less essential or of less significance than quantitative research is. Certainly,
it is usually ranked lower on most hierarchies of evidence. Recent evidence
suggests that despite the progress in qualitative methods, published qualitative
studies use methods inconsistently, terminology is not uniform across studies,
and rigor may still be lacking in some studies (Ball, McLoughlin, & Darvill,
2011). Researchers can demonstrate rigor in this type of research by addressing
the evaluation strategies that will be discussed in this chapter.Managing the Data
Researchers begin analysis by examining data. Remember that qualitative
researchers may have mounds of data from numerous pages of transcribed
interviews and field notes. This large amount of data must be reduced or broken
into manageable units (Houghton, Murphy, Shaw, and Casey, 2015; Ganapathy,
2016). Because the nature of qualitative research is thick description, “the pur-
pose of analysis is to organize the description so that it is manageable” (Patton,
1990, p. 430). Remember that data gathering and analysis may be occurring
simultaneously, with ideas and results enlightening subsequent data collection
and interaction with participants (Clissett, 2008).Coding and Data Reduction
Line-by-line coding was historically a common way to begin data analysis and
one by which many new researchers learned about this process. It involves
reading transcripts line by line and attaching labels to each line. Coding is
done to categorize the data into groups. Line-by-line coding done by hand,
as many novice researchers do to gain practice, is tedious and frustrating
work and not always as fruitful as one would like. Stepping back and taking
in the whole data set by thorough reading and rereading prior to considering
the grouping of data into meaningful and manageable units should precede
any type of systematic coding.
There are many ways to approach coding, or labeling. Some researchers use
a note card system with labels, filing key quotes under the basic codes, while
others handwrite codes into the margins in a complicated hierarchy accordingKEY TERMS
qualitative data
analysis: The
production of
knowledge that
results from analysis
of words
coding: Assignment
of labels to each
line of transcript in
qualitative analysisFYI
Because qualitative data are made up of
words rather than numbers, analyzing the
data is less straightforward, more subjective,
and more labor intensive than analyzing
quantitative data is. Qualitative data analysis
involves processes in which data are managed,
organized, arranged, or prioritized.380 CHAPTER 14 What Do the Qualitative Data Mean?