CHAPTER 5:

UNDERSTANDING DATA
AND WAYS TO
SYSTEMATICALLY
COLLECT DATA
LESSON 3:
DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
PROCEDURE
Learning Competency: Plans data collection and analysis procedures CS_RS11-IVa-c-3
 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION
TECHNIQUES
1. Interview
2. Participant Observation
3. Focused Group Interview
4. Observational Evaluation
5. Biography/Autobiography
6. Questionnaire
 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION
TECHNIQUES
1. Interview
 In this method, research participants are prodded
to talk about their experiences, feelings, beliefs,
outlooks, etc.
 The interview can take the form of informal
conversations, open-ended interviews or in-depth
discussions.
 It can be one-time interviews, multiple interviews
with the same participants, multiple interviews with
various participants, or group interviews.
 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION
TECHNIQUES
1. Interview
 They can also be structured, unstructured and semi-
structured, in accordance to the research design used.
a. Structured interviews – used a set of questions
prepared by the researcher. During the course of
interview, the researcher or interviewer codes the
responses.
b. Unstructured interviews – use open-ended questions
which the interviewee or research participants
answers freely.
c. Semi-structured interviews – use both closed and
 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION
TECHNIQUES
1. Interview
 When interviewing face-to-face, the researcher and
participant engage in a conversations, which is usually
audio-recorded and the recording is transformed into a
written text, ready for analysis, through a process of
transcription.
 The same basic procedure applies for telephone
interviews via skype have also been explored, or via
instant messaging or chat.
 Interviews are ideally suited for experience type of
research questions. (Braun and Clarke, 2013)
 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION
TECHNIQUES
2. Participant Observation
 In this method, the researcher immerses
himself/herself in the natural setting of the research
participant. This can be a home, an office, an
institution, etc.
 The researcher’s immersion in the natural setting of
research participants enable him/her to see, hear,
feel, and experience the research participant’s daily
life.
 The participant observe and participates fully in the
 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION
TECHNIQUES
3. Focus Group Interview
 6 to 8 persons participate in the interview.
 The advantage of this is that critical issue or sensitive
ones can be more freely discussed with a group.
 Because of the variety and depth of opinions, views,
perspective expressed, this type of interview is a very
rich source of data.
 Needless to say, the moderator or researcher must be
skilled in facilitating such group discussion, and stay
focused on the goal and topic of said interview.
 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION
TECHNIQUES
4. Observational Evaluation
 The researcher may or may not participate
in activities of the group being observed. But
mostly, observes and records both the verbal
and non-verbal behavior of a person or group
of persons.
 Some researchers use especially designed
evaluation instruments to collect
observational data.
 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION
TECHNIQUES
5. Biography/ Autobiography
 Personal biographies offer a rich source of
data or evidence that can shed light or
provide tentative answers to research
questions.
 Perhaps even diaries can be added here,
just like the Diary of Ann Frank that offered
much information or evidence on Nazi
atrocities.
 PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION
TECHNIQUES
6. Questionnaire
 A more formal way of gathering facts,
data, opinions, through well-structured
instruments with very clear purpose,
directions and print.
 BASIC TYPES OF DATA COLLECTION
Cresswell (2003) cites four basic types of
data collection procedures in qualitative
research:
1. Observations
2. Interviews
3. Documents
4. Audio and Visual Materials
 BASIC TYPES OF DATA COLLECTION
1. Observations
 The researcher takes field notes on the
behavior and activities of research participants
at the research site or in their natural setting.
 He/ She records, in an unstructured or semi-
structured (using prior questions that the
researcher wants to know) way activities at the
research site.
 The qualitative observer may take the role of a
 BASIC TYPES OF DATA COLLECTION
2. Interviews
 Here the researcher may:
a. Conduct face-to-face interviews with participants;
b. Do telephone interviews of participants; or
c. Engage in focus group interviews, with 6 to 8
interviewees
 The above interviews involve unstructured and
generally open-ended questions that are few in
number and are intended to elicit views and opinions
form the participants.
 BASIC TYPES OF DATA COLLECTION
2. Interviews
 Cresswell (2003) adds that the interviewer (researcher) must equip
himself/herself with an interview protocol, so that interview will remain
focused, either face-to-face, or focused group discussion.
 The interview protocol may include the following components:
i. Heading
ii. Instruction to the interviewer, such as opening statements
iii. The key research questions
iv. Probes to follow key questions
v. Transition messages for the interviewer
vi. Space for recording the interviewee’s comments, and space in
which the researcher records reflective notes.
 BASIC TYPES OF DATA COLLECTION
3. Documents
 These take the form of public
documents (newspapers, minutes
of meetings, official reports) or
private documents (personal
journals, diaries, letters, emails)
which are all collected during the
BASIC TYPES OF DATA COLLECTION
4. Audio and Visual Materials
 May take the form of photographs,
art objects, videotapes, or any
forms of sound.
 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
1. Coding
2. Recursive Abstraction
3. Content or Discourse Analysis
4. Computer-Assisted Qualitative
Data Analysis Software
 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
1. Coding – reads the data, marks segments
within the data, each one of which is labeled
with a “code” (a word or a phrase that
suggests how the associated data segments
address the research objective)
 When coding is complete, the analyst prepares
a report summarizing codes that consistently
surface, discussing similarities and differences,
or showing the relationship between one or
 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
1. Coding
Coding is the process of labeling and organizing your
qualitative data to identify different themes and the
relationships between them.
 At the simplest level, a code is a label that describes the
content of a piece of text. For example, in the sentence:
“Pigeons attacked me and stole my sandwich.” You could use
“pigeons” as a code. This code simply describes that the
sentence involves pigeons.
 So qualitative data coding is the process of creating and
assigning codes to categorize data extracts.
 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
1. Coding
 Coding and analysis can take place simultaneously, but it’s
important to note that coding does not necessarily involve
identifying. Instead, it generally refers to the process of
labelling and grouping similar types of data to make
generating themes and analyzing the data more manageable.
 Coding is a way of making sure your data is valid. In
other words, it helps ensure that your analysis is undertaken
systematically and that other researchers can review it. In
other words, good coding is the foundation of high-
quality analysis.
 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
1. Coding
The most common form of coding:
a. Open-ended coding - when you take your textual data and
break it up into discrete parts
b. Axial coding or Integration - is when you draw
connections between your codes
c. Selective Coding - is when you select one central category
that connects all the codes from your analysis and captures
the essence of your research.
 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
1. Open Coding
 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
1. Axial Coding
 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
1. Selective Coding
 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
Line-by-line coding
 With line-by-line coding, the objective is to pay close
attention to your data to add detail to your codes. For
example, if you have a discussion of beverages and
you previously just coded this as “beverages”, you
could now go deeper and code more specifically, such
as “coffee”, “tea”, and “orange juice”. The aim here is
to scratch below the surface. This is the time to get
detailed and specific so as to capture as much
richness from the data as possible.
 Examples of line-by-line coding
Shifting symptoms, having If you have lupus, I mean one
inconsistent days day it’s my liver; one day it’s
my joints; one day it’s my
head and . . .
Interpreting images of self It’s like people really think
given by others you’re a hypochondriac if you
keep complaining about
different ailments . . .
Avoiding disclosure It’s like you don’t want to say
anything because people are
Predicting rejection going to start thinking, you
know, God, don’t go near
her . . .
 Examples of line-by-line coding
Keeping others unaware And I think that’s why I never
say anything because I feel
like everything I have is
Seeing symptoms as related one way or another to
connected the lupus . . .
Anticipating disbelief But most of the people don’t
know I have lupus, and even
Controlling other’s views those that do are not going to
believe that ten different
Avoiding stigma ailments are the same thing.
And I don’t want anybody
Assessing potential losses saying, you know (that) they
and risks of disclosing don’t want to come around
 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
2. Recursive Abstraction
 Some qualitative data sets are analyzed
without coding; instead, recursive abstractions
are used.
 In this kind of analysis, data sets are
summarized. Then further summarized, and so
on. The end result is a more compact summary
that would have been difficult to accurately
discern without the preceding steps of
 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
3. Content or Discourse Analysis
 In this kind of data analysis, the most basic
technique is counting of words, phrases, or
coincidences of tokens within the data. Other similar
techniques are the analyses of phrases and
exchanges in conversational analyses.
 Content analyses are frequently used in Sociology
to explore relationships, such as change in
perceptions or race over time (Morning, 2008) or the
lifestyle of temporal contractors (Evans, et al. 2004)
 DATA ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
4. Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data
Analysis Software
 This has replaced the detailed hand coding and
labeling of the past decades. These programs
enhance the analyst’s efficiency at data storage/
retrieval and at applying the codes to the data.
 Many programs offer efficiencies in editing,
revising and coding which allow for work sharing,
peer review and recursive examination of data.
 GENERIC STEPS IN DATA ANALYSIS
 Cresswell (1998) also suggests generic steps to
follow in data analysis.
1. Organize and prepare the data for analysis.
This involves transcribing interviews, optically
scanning material, typing up field notes, or sorting
and arranging the data into different types,
depending on the sources of information.
2. Read through all the data. Obtain a general
sense of information and reflect on its over-all
meaning: What general ideas are participants
 GENERIC STEPS IN DATA ANALYSIS
2. Read through all the data. What is the tone of the
ideas? At times, the qualitative researcher writes
marginal note or starts recording general thoughts
about the data at this stage.
3. Begin detailed analysis with coding process.
Rossman and Rollis (1998) define coding as the process
of organizing material into “chunks” before bringing
meaning to those “chunks”. It involves taking text data
or pictures, segmenting sentences (or paragraphs) or
images into categories, and labeling those categories
with a term, often a term based on the actual language
 GENERIC STEPS IN DATA ANALYSIS
4. Use the coding process to generate a description
of the setting or people as well as categories or
themes for analysis. Description involves a detailed
rendering of information about people, places or events
in a setting. This analysis is useful in designing detailed
descriptions for case studies, ethnographies, and
narrative research projects. Then, use the coding to
generate a small number of themes or categories-
about 5 to 7 categories. These themes are the ones
that appear as major findings in qualitative
studies and are stated under separated headings
in the findings section of the study.
 GENERIC STEPS IN DATA ANALYSIS
5. Decide how the description and themes will be
represented. One approach is to use a narrative
passage to convey the findings of the analysis and
detailed discussion of themes and sub-themes or
interconnecting themes.
The following are used by qualitative researchers as
adjuncts to the discussion: visuals, figures or tables.
 They present a process model (as in grounded theory)
a drawing of the specific research site (as in
ethnography) or they convey descriptive information
about each participant in a table (as in case studies and
 GENERIC STEPS IN DATA ANALYSIS
6. A final step in data analysis involves making an
interpretation of data, that is, what Lincoln and
Guba (1985) call “LESSON LEARNED”. This lessons
could be:
 The researcher’s personal interpretations, expressed in
the individual understanding that the researcher brings to
the study form his/her own culture, history and
experiences.
 A meaning derived from a comparison of the findings
with information gleaned from the literature or extant
theories.
 DATA ANALYSIS ACCORDING TO
RESEARCH DESIGN
 Cresswell (1998) says that analysis/interpretation
must be closely linked to the research design chosen.
 Grounded Theory for example, has systematic steps
to follow according to Strauss and Corbin (1990, 1998):
Generating categories of information (open coding)
Selecting one of the categories and positioning it within a
theoretical model (axial coding)
Explicating a story from the interconnection of these
categories (selective coding)
In ideal cases, initial codes and broad themes coalesce
into a grounded theory.
 DATA ANALYSIS ACCORDING TO
RESEARCH DESIGN
 Case Study and Ethnographic Research involve a
detailed description of the setting or individuals, followed
by analysis of the data for themes or issues (Stake, 1995)
 Phenomenological Research uses the analysis of:
 significant statements
 the generalization of meaning units and
 development of an “essence” description (Moustakas, 1994)

 Narrative Research employs restorying the

participants’ stories, using structural elements such as plot,
setting, activities, climax and denouement (Clandinin and
Connelly, 2000).
 DATA ANALYSIS ACCORDING TO
RESEARCH DESIGN
 The type of
qualitative analysis
you adopt will depend
heavily on your
research aims,