Qualitative Data Analysis

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The key takeaways are that qualitative research findings must be believable, consistent, applicable and credible to be useful. Researchers must take steps to ensure the reliability and validity of qualitative research findings.

Some of the main steps to ensure reliability and validity in qualitative research are triangulation, prolonged engagement, persistent observation, thick description, inquiry audits and confirmability audits.

Some techniques for establishing credibility in qualitative research include prolonged engagement, persistent observation, triangulation and negative case 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

• Interpret results with care


Consider that some people may distort answers to
affect the outcome

• Look for facts and patterns

• Don’t ignore negative results

• Take time when analysing results


Looking for patterns
• A pattern can be characterized by:
– similarity (things happen the same way)
– difference (they happen in predictably
different ways)
– frequency (they happen often or seldom)
– sequence (they happen in a certain order)
– correspondence (they happen in relation to
other activities or events)
– causation (one appears to cause another)
Coding examples
• 1 I notice that the • 1 SECURITY
grand majority of
homes have chain
link fences in front of
them. There are many
dogs
(mostly German
shepherds) with signs
on fences that
say “Beware of the
Dog.”
Coding filters
• 1 There’s just no place • Which is it?
in this country for • 1 “NO PLACE”
illegal immigrants.
Round them up and
send those criminals • 1 IMMIGRATION
back to where they ISSUES
came from.
• 1 XENOPHOBIA
Data Analysis (2)
Quantitative Questions

• Collect data and input into spreadsheet


Excel is the simplest
• Display data using charts and graphs
• Use graphs and charts that are clear and easy to understand
• Run correlations to assess potential relationships
• Run regressions to establish causation
• Interpret data and explain any patterns and trends
May have to break down analysis to find patterns

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

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