Qualitative Data Analysis
Qualitative Data Analysis
Qualitative Data Analysis
Qualitative Research
• Qualitative research is based on subjective,
interpretive and contextual data, making the
findings more likely to be scrutinized and
questioned.
• Therefore, it is critical that researchers take
steps to ensure the reliability and validity of
their research findings.
• The findings must be believable, consistent,
applicable and credible if they are to be
useful to readers and other researchers.
When to use which method
Data Analysis
• Review research aims/objectives
This helps to focus the analysis
Qualitative Questions
• Open questions are harder to interpret as they give unique and wide ranging
answers
No common way of analysing
• Organise comments into similar categories
• Attempt to identify patterns, or associations and relationships
• To analyse opinions on a spreadsheet it is best to use rating questions
Creating a data set
• May involve coding and data entry
• Coding = assigning numerical value to
each value of a variable
– Gender: 1= male, 2 = female
– Year in school: 1= primary, 2= O level, etc.
– May need codes for missing data (no
response, not applicable)
– Large data sets come with codebooks
Displaying and Presenting Data
• Frequency distribution – list of all possible
values of a variable and the # of times
each occurs
– May require grouping into categories
– May include percentages, cumulative
frequencies, cumulative percentages
– Use with categorical (nominal) data
• Levels, types, groupings, yes/no
Ordinal Level Data
Frequencies and percentages can be
computed for ordinal data
– Examples: Likert Scales (Strongly Disagree to
Strongly Agree); A level/Vocational/Univ
Graduate/Post-graduate
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Strongly Agree Disagree Strongly
Agree Disagree
Empirical Results and Discussion
Qualitative Research
¨Describe the discernible patterns and relate
them to the hypotheses (expected outcomes)
– Qualitative trends (frequencies etc)
– Common occurrences and their effects
– Lessons there from
• Discuss the implications of the findings
– In relation to the literature
• Do they validate or refute
• What contribution
Reliability and validity
• Reliability refers to consistency with
which the research will produce the same
results if repeated.
• Validity refers to accuracy or correctness
of the findings.
Reliability - checks
• Credibility - Often called internal validity, refers to the
believability and trustworthiness of the findings.
Triangulation is a commonly used method for verifying
accuracy that involves cross-checking information from
multiple perspectives.
• Transferability - Often called external validity, refers to the
degree that the findings of the research can be transferred to
other contexts by the readers.
• Dependability - Otherwise known as reliability, refers to the
consistency with which the results could be repeated and
result in similar findings.
• Confirmability - A measure of the objectivity used in
evaluating the results, describes how well the research
findings are supported by the actual data collected when
examined by other researchers.
Reliability checks
• Techniques for establishing credibility
– Prolonged Engagement - Spending sufficient time in the field to learn or
understand the culture, social setting, or phenomenon of interest.
– Persistent Observation – depth and detail
– Triangulation -using multiple data sources in an investigation to produce
understanding
– Negative case analysis - this involves searching for and discussing elements of
the data that do not support or appear to contradict patterns or explanations that
are emerging from data analysis.
• Techniques for establishing transferability
– Thick description - detailed account of field experiences
• Techniques for establishing dependability
– Inquiry audit - External audits involve having a researcher not involved in the
research process examine both the process and product of the research study
• Techniques for establishing confirmability
– Confirmability audit
Validity
• Five categories to judge the validity of qualitative
research:
– descriptive validity - accuracy of the data – capturing what
the participants said or did
– interpretive validity – how well the researcher reports
participants’ meaning of events, objects and/or behaviours
– theoretical validity - theoretical constructions that the
researcher brings to, or develops during, the study –
accurate explanation of the phenomena
– Generalizability - ability to apply the theory resulting from
the study universally
– evaluative validity - moves away form the data itself and
tries to assess the evaluations drawn by the researchers.
Overview
• Both qualitative and quantitative
paradigms seek the same result; the truth.
– Therefore both traditions strive to ensure their
findings are generated from an appropriate
sample size and are valid.
• quantitative results provide the researcher with
hard facts and figures to validate and generate
theory.
• a qualitative analysis uncovers a subjective
viewpoint at the very heart of these hard facts and
figures.
Overview
• Qualitative research can uncover new
theories and variables. Quantitative
research can test these new theories and
variables.
• Quantitative research can highlight causal
variable in theoretical models and
qualitative research can provide the
understanding of the detailed
operationalization of the variable.
Thank you