Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses

data (Jacelon & O’Dell, 2005; Kearney, 2001) that range from simple to most
complex. To address this question of what the data mean, one could start with
the simplest level of research analysis and merely describe the phenomenon. As
the levels progress to more complex, researchers become increasingly engaged
in exploration, explanation, and synthesis. Qualitative researchers should strive
for a product that meets level 5 in Table 14-1 and provides the most useful level
of information aimed at positively influencing nursing practice.

For practical purposes, Miles and Huberman (1994) suggested 13 tactics
for generating meaning from data. These are summarized in Table 14-2.
Using strategies such as these, qualitative researchers extract the most important
points from large amounts of data to form a logical conclusion.

To verify the conclusions drawn, Miles and Huberman (1994) suggested
several other strategies. These include checking for researcher effects or bias

Strategy Summary

Noting patterns, themes Items that “jump out” at you; commonalities

Seeing plausibility When categories make sense, feel right, fit

Clustering Clumping or grouping data into categories

Making metaphors Making comparisons with things that people identify with

Counting Looking at number of times, recurrence

Making contrasts/comparisons Comparing cases with practical significance

Partitioning variables Unbundling variables as needed; separating variables that

should not be clumped together

Subsuming particulars into the

general

Asking whether a specific thing really stands alone, or does

it belong in a more general category

Factoring Identifying general themes to see which go together

Noting relations among

variables

Describing the effects of one variable on another and any

relationships among concepts

Finding intervening variables Identifying the variables that go together only with the

help of an additional variable to facilitate

Building a logical chain of

evidence

Defining causal links that make logical sense when viewed

as a whole

Making conceptual/theoretical

coherence

Moving from constructs and interrelationships to theories

that can be predictive

Modified from Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis. Thousand Oaks,

CA: Sage.

TABLE 14-2 Strategies for Generating Meaning

14.2 Qualitative Data Interpretation 387