Chapter 8: Coding of Qualitative Data

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CHAPTER OVERVIEW

Preamble
What is coding?
What to look for when you are
coding
Example #1: Coding
Example #2: Coding





Example #3: Coding
Example #4: Coding
Computer software

Key Terms
Summary
References
CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Introduction to Qualitative Research
Chapter 2: Qualitative Data Collection Method
Chapter 3: Ethnography
Chapter 4: Case Study
Chapter 5: Action Research
Chapter 6: Other Qualitative Methods
Chapter 7: Qualitative Data Analysis
Chapter 8: Coding of Qualitative Data
CHAPTER LEARNING OUTCOMES

When you have completed this chapter you will be able to:
Discuss the techniques of coding qualitative data
Apply data coding techniques when analysing qualitative data


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Since coding is an important and sometime most difficult phase of qualitative data
analysis, this chapter has been devoted to the coding phase. Several examples are
provided to illustrate how coding is done. However, the coding method shown is not the
only way to go about coding qualitative data as there are several other methods.





Let us repeat what was discussed in Chapter 7 about coding. Coding is the process
of examining the raw qualitative data which will in the form of words, phrases, sentences
or paragraphs) and assigning CODES or labels. Strauss and Corbin (1990) identified the
following types of coding: Axial coding and Open Coding (see Figure 8.1).



Data

[from a Transcript]


OPEN CODING
Code or Label words and phrases found in
the transcript or text

AXIAL CODING
Create Themes or Categories by grouping
codes or labels given to words and phrases












PREAMBLE
WHAT IS CODING?

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Open Coding You sweep through the data and mark (by circling or
highlighting) sections of the text selected codes or labels. For example,
you circle words or phrases describing the behaviour of the head of
department.
Axial Coding Eventually, you have a large number of codes and you
will find it necessary to sort them into some sort of order or into groups
and this is called axial coding. Two common types of axial coding are:
Non-hierarchical or Hierarchical
Non-Hierarchical: For example, in a study a the researcher asked a group of adults
how they take a break from their normal work. The responses are grouped are
grouped as follows in a non-hierarchical manner (also called flat coding).
CODES / LABELS

















Hierarchical: Here you find that several codes group together as types or kinds of
something. You need to put some of the codes or labels into a group of their own or
make them sub-codes, i.e. a hierarchical arrangement of codes, like a tree, a
branching arrangement of sub-codes. Ideally, codes in a tree relate to their parents by
being 'examples of...', or 'contexts for...' or 'causes of...' or 'settings for...' and so on.
For example, a researcher was doing a study on friendship and asked a group of
adults their views on the topic and the following is the classification.


take a holiday,
go out for a walk,
read a book,
watch TV,
take a nap,
wander round the garden,
work out at the gym,
go for a drink with friends,
go for a drive,
play a computer game,
follow a hobby,
do voluntary work
Adults taking a
break from
work
THEME / CATEGORY

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THEME / CATEGORY CODES / LABELS
Friendship types
Close friend
Sporting
Club
Non-club
Work
Changes in Friendship
Making new friends
New same sex
friends
New different sex
friends
Losing touch
Becoming sexual relationship
the data into meaningful analytical units (i.e.,
segmenting the data). When you locate meaningful
segments, you code them.
Coding is defined as marking the segments of data
with symbols, descriptive words, or category
names.
To recap, whenever you find a meaningful segment of text in a transcript, you assign a
code or label to signify that particular segment. You continue this process until you have
segmented all of your data and have completed the initial coding. Next, you find
relationships between the codes or labels and group them into themes or categories.
During coding, you must keep a master list (i.e., a list of all the codes that are developed
and used in the research study). Then, the codes are reapplied to new segments of data
each time an appropriate segment is encountered.



Most typically, when coding, you usually have some codes already in mind and
are also looking for other ideas that seem to arise out of the data. According to Charmaz
(2003), you should ask the following questions about the data you are coding:
Sub-codes
Sub-codes
WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN YOU ARE CODING

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What is going on?
What are people doing?
What is the person saying?
What do these actions and statements take for granted?
How do structure and context serve to support, maintain, impede or change these
actions and statements?
Lewins, Taylor. & Gibbs, (2005) provide a more detailed list of the kinds of
things that can be coded (see Table 8.1). The examples of each kind tend to be descriptive
because it makes it is easier to explain the phenomena. However, when you are coding it
is advisable to move from descriptive codes to more analytic ones as quickly as possible.
What can be coded Examples
1 Behaviours, specific acts Seeking reassurance, Bragging
2 Events short once in a lifetime events or things
people have done that are often told as a story.
Wedding day, day moved out
of home for university, starting
first job
3 Activities these are of a longer duration, involve
other people within a particular setting
Going clubbing, attending a
night course, conservation
work
4 Strategies, practice or tactics Being nasty to get dumped,
Staying late at work to get
promotion
5 States general conditions experienced by people
or found in organisations
Hopelessness Ill never meet
anyone better at my age
settling for someone who is
not really suitable
6 Meanings A wide range of phenomena at the
core of much qualitative analysis. Meanings and
interpretations are important pars of what directs
participants actions.


The term chilling out is used
by young people to mean
relaxing and not doing very
much
a. What concepts do participants use to
understand their world? What norms,
values, and rules guide their actions
b. What meaning or significance it has for
participants, how do they construe events,
what are the feelings
Jealousy I just felt why did
she get him
c. What symbols do people use to
understand their situation? What names do
they use for objects, events, persons, roles,
setting and equipment?
A PhD is referred to as a test
of endurance (because
finishing a PhD is a challenge)
7 Participation adaptation to a new setting or
involvement
About new neighbours In my
new house I have to keep my

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music down at night as the
neighbours have young
children.
8 Relationships or interaction Seeing family Now my sister
lives in the next road she visits
more and weve become much
closer.
9 Conditions or constraints Lose of job (before financial
difficulties), moving away
(before lost contact with old
friends)
10 Consequences Confidence gets dates, positive
attitude attracts opportunities
11 Settings the entire context of the events under
study
University, work place,
housing estate
12 Reflexive researchers role in the process, how
intervention generated the data
Probing question How did
you feel when he said that?

Table 8.1: Types of phenomena that can be coded






Refer to this EXAMPLE in which a researcher interviewed several staff in an office
and asked this question: What specific problems that needed immediate action in your
organisation?

The following are some of the responses to the question. Try to code the data and
compare your themes / categories with the themes / categories provided below:

LEARNING ACTIVITY

a) What is coding?
b) What is the difference between open and axial coding?
c) What do you look for when coding data?
d) Lewins, Taylor. & Gibbs (2005) provide a list of phenomena
that is often coded. What are they? Are there others?

EXAMPLE #1: CODING QUALITATIVE DATA

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Table 8.2 Reponses of subjects in an office


The responses to the question: What specific problems that needed immediate
action in your organisation?

There is not enough space for everyone
Our office furniture is dated and needs replacing
We nee a better cleaning service for the office
We need more objective recruitment and hiring standards
We need objective performance appraisal and reward system
We need consistent application of policy
There are leadership problems
Unproductive staff should not be retained
Each department stereotypes of other departments
Decisions are often based on inaccurate information
We need more opportunities for advancement here
Our product is not consistent because there are too many styles
There is too much gossiping and criticising
Responsibilities at various levels are unclear
We need a suggestion box
There is a lot of us and them sentiment here.
There is a lack of attention to individual needs.
There is favouritism and preferential treatment of staff.
More training is needed at all levels.
There need to better assessment of employee ability and performance can be
more objectively based.
Training is needed for new employees.
Many employees are carrying the weight of other untrained employees.
This off ice is turf oriented.
There is a pecking order at every level and within every level.
Communication needs improving.
Certain departments are put on a pedestal.
There are too many review levels for our products.
Too many signatures are required.
There is a lot of overlap and redundancy.
The components of our office work against one another rather than a team.
We need more computer terminals


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THE DATA IS CODED INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:





CATEGORIES DATA



Management Issues
There are leadership problems
We need a suggestion box
There is a lack of attention to individual needs.
There is favouritism and preferential treatment of staff.
Decisions are often based on inaccurate information
We need consistent application of policy


Physical Environment
We nee a better cleaning service for the office
Our office furniture is dated and needs replacing
We need more computer terminals
There is not enough space for everyone
We need more objective recruitment and hiring
standards
We need objective performance appraisal and reward
systems
Non-productive staff members should not be retained
There need to be better assessment of employee ability
and performance so that promotions can be more
objectively based
Employee Development
More training is needed at all levels
Training is needed for new employees
Many employees are carrying the weight of other
untrained employees
We need more opportunities for advancement here

Intergroup and Interpersonal Relations

The office is turf oriented
There is a lot of us and them sentiment here

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There is pecking order at every level and within every
level
Communication needs improving
There is too much gossiping and criticising
Certain departments are put on a pedestal
Each department has stereotypes of the other
departments

Work Structure
There are too many reviews for our product
Too many signatures are required
Responsibilities at various levels are unclear
The components of our office work against one another
rather than as a team
There is a lot of overlap and redundancy
Our product is not consistent because there are too
many styles





















LEARNING ACTIVITY

Try coding this short passage about Terry in Example #2.


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The example below show the coding of a short passage of text about a Terry moving
out of his parents home and becoming independent.






Terry
When you move into your own home, you're alone. There is no bustle of people
around the house. I miss having someone to chat to when I get home. I put the TV
or some music so theres some background noise, the silence makes me feel so alone.
Sometimes I will be sat watching trash TV and thinking I should be out doing
something rather than watching this rubbish. I read a lot but sometimes I am too
tired and just want to veg out. But it's been good to move out of mum and dads as
it's not healthy to rely on them as they won't last forever. I become independent
and made my own decisions. It's good they still there when I need them. It's good to
have some distance as when I was at home I was arguing a lot with my dad and that
was what made me decide it was time to go.

EXAMPLE #2: CODING QUALITATIVE DATA

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In Example #2, to help the analyst mark up the page, the text has been printed using
double spacing, so that it is possible to write code ideas and code labels between the
lines.













DESCRIPTIVE CODING AND NOTES.





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The analyst has read the text carefully and circled what seem to be key terms or key
events or actions. A short note of what these are has been written besides the circling.
These are the start of descriptive, or what grounded theorists refer to as open coding. An
initial coding list from this might be:
Own home
Lonely
I ndependence
Moving out of parents
Conflict
Dependence
Desire for company

These terms summarise the events and actions noted by the coding in Example #2, and
some are more analytical, i.e. not merely describing something that happened or was said.
They could form the start of a coding list that could be used to mark-up the rest of this
transcript and other similar cases.













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DESCRIPTIVE AND ANALYTIC CODING WITH NOTES.
Using the sample data, a wide margin is used, so that code labels and other
comments can be written there. Print out your transcriptions in whatever way supports
your preferred approach to coding the text.



































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The codes used are still essentially descriptive but begin to move away from
simply summarising what the respondent has said. Using brackets to the right of the
transcribed text, they also code much larger chunks or passages of text. This form of
coding is most useful when you go on to make retrievals, i.e. gather together all the text
about one topic that is to say, all the text that is coded the same way. With larger
chunks, the retrieved text is less likely to be decontextualised. The analyst has also used a
highlighter to identify words that refer to feelings and these words suggest that the
passage about living alone is actually about the emotions and feelings associated with
living alone.















Read the passage of text below about Amanda finding out she was pregnant. Look
at the list of codes below and decide which code sums up what is being talked about
in each line of the text (you may use a code more than once).
List of codes
1. Breaking up
2. Getting pregnant
3. Insecurity
4. Lifestyle
5. Moving in together
6. Not wanting to move
7. Proposal
8. Settling down
9. Uncertainty




LEARNING ACTIVITY

Try coding this short passage about Amanda.

EXAMPLE #3: CODING QUALITATIVE DATA

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
When I found out I was pregnant, I wasnt sure if I wanted to
get married and he

wasnt the settling down kind. He was old enough to bring
up a child but I knew he

wasnt ready to. He was in the Navy he liked the life and
preferred going off with

his friends and that bothered me. At first I hoped something
would happen so I

didnt have the baby and I wanted him to marry me cause he
wanted to not

because I was pregnant. Anyway when the baby was born we
broke up and I have

seen him a couple of times but he has phoned lots and says
he will marry me. He

wanted me to marry him and go and live with him, but I
didnt want to leave home.

He leaves the Navy in 6 months so Im getting the flat ready
for him to move in. But

I still worry hell go off with his friends and wont be able to
give up the life.


COMPARE your answer with the possible answer below. You may have chosen to
use different codes from the ones we used, this does not mean you are wrong as you may
have a very good reason for selecting that code. Often the same text can be coded in two
or more different ways.


















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ANSWER:

CODES
When I found out I was pregnant, I wasnt sure if I wanted to get
married and he
Getting pregnant
wasnt the settling down kind. He was old enough to bring up a child
but I knew he
Settling down
wasnt ready to. He was in the Navy he liked the life and preferred
going off with
Lifestyle
his friends and that bothered me. At first I hoped something would
happen so I
Uncertainty
didnt have the baby and I wanted him to marry me cause he wanted to
not
Insecurity
because I was pregnant. Anyway when the baby was born we broke up
and I have
Breaking up
seen him a couple of times but he has phoned lots and says he will
marry me. He
Proposal
wanted me to marry him and go and live with him, but I didnt want to
leave home.
Not wanting to move
He leaves the Navy in 6 months so Im getting the flat ready for him to
move in. But
Moving in together
I still worry hell go off with his friends and wont be able to give up
the life.
Insecurity

You may have chosen to use different codes from the ones we used, this does not mean
you are wrong as you may have a very good reason for selecting that code. Often the
same text can be coded in two or more different ways.





LEARNING ACTIVITY

Try coding this short passage about Karen.


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Read the passage of text below about Karen leaving home. Provide a code that
summaries what is happening for each line of text in the boxes.

CODES
It was challenging, after living in Italy for 6 months and then I moved home
before

I started university. I was used to doing things my own way when it suited me


and not having to tell people where I was going. I was living with friends and
they

didnt care what I did or where I went. It was really hard to go back to sort of


thinking of others cause Mum and Dad wanted to know where I was
going and

who with, which was a nightmare. My parents were strict but I had a lot of
freedom growing up, as long as I didnt overstep the boundaries. After I came


back from Italy they realised I was more independent and things changed and


they didnt try and stop me doing things anymore but they would still let
know if

they didnt approve.

COMPARE your answer with the possible answer below. You may have chosen to
use different codes from the ones we used, this does not mean you are wrong as you may
have a very good reason for selecting that code. Often the same text can be coded in two
or more different ways.














EXAMPLE #4: CODING QUALITATIVE DATA

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ANSWER:


CODES
It was challenging, after living in Italy for 6 months and then I moved home
before
Moving away
I started university. I was used to doing things my own way when it suited me

Independence
and not having to tell people where I was going. I was living with friends and
they
Freedom
didnt care what I did or where I went. It was really hard to go back to sort of

Moving back
home
thinking of others cause Mum and Dad wanted to know where I was
going and
Control
who with, which was a nightmare. My parents were strict but I had a lot of Control
freedom growing up, as long as I didnt overstep the boundaries. After I came

Boundaries
back from Italy they realised I was more independent and things changed and

Growing up
they didnt try and stop me doing things anymore but they would still let
know if
Letting go
they didnt approve. Disapproval

The important point is that line-by-line coding helps you to focus on the content of the
text in the line and helps you to focus on what it is about. When doing line-by-line coding
there is a tendency to produce descriptive codes. However, some of those you have
suggested may be more analytic or more theoretical. That's good. The next step is to try
and develop such analytic codes and/or recode some of the descriptive codes you have
used.


Today, various types of software are available to assist in qualitative data
analysis. Thus many researchers have replaced physical files and cabinets with computer
based directories and files along with the use of word processors to write and annotate
texts. Many analysts now also use dedicated computer assisted qualitative data analysis
(CAQDAS) packages that not only make the coding and retrieval of text easy to do, but
can add other functions like searching that computers do quickly but which takes humans
ages to do or in some cases, which humans have never done.
At first the focus of CAQDAS was on text since that was easy to handle on PCs,
but now that much audio and video is in digital form too, software has been developed to
COMPUTER-BASED QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS

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support the analysis of audio and video data. Among the popular software used in
analysing qualitative data is NVivo, Nudist and an open source software called Weft
QDA [We will not be discussing the use of these software in this course]. You can
download Weft QDA and try it out. http://www.pressure.to/qda/






















Coding is the process of examining the raw qualitative data which will in the form
of words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs) and assigning CODES or labels.

Open Coding You sweep through the data and mark (by circling or
highlighting) sections of the text selected codes or labels.

Eventually, you have a large number of codes and you will find it necessary to
sort them into some sort of order or into groups and this is called axial coding.

The way codes are developed and the timing of this process will depend on
whether your research project and your approach is inductive or deductive.

Most typically, when coding, researchers have some codes already in mind and
are also looking for other ideas that seem to arise out of the data.
SUMMARY
KEY WORDS
Coding
Open coding
Axial coding
Hierarchical
Non-Hierarchical
Meanings
Reflexive
Categories
Descriptive codes
Analytic codes
Conditions



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In coding, the researcher is looking for what is going on, what are people doing,
what is the person saying, what do these actions and statements take for granted,
how do structure and context serve to support, maintain, impede or change these
actions and statements.

In coding, the researcher is looking for behaviours, events, activities, states,
strategies, meanings, participation, relationships, conditions, consequences,
settings and reflexive.

Computer software is used by researchers to facilitate qualitative data analysis.



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Bernard. R. (1996) Qualitative Data, Quantitative Analysis. Cultural Anthropology
Methods Journal, Vol. 8 no. 1, 9-11.
Bogdan, R. & Biklen, S.K. (1998). Qualitative research for education. Boston: Allyn &
Bacon.
Bryman, A. & Burgess, R. (1993). Analysing Qualitative Data. London: Routledge.
Coffey, A., B. Holbrook and P. Atkinson (1996) 'Qualitative Data Analysis:
Technologies and Representations', Sociological Research Online, vol. 1, no. 1.

Gibbs, G R (2002) Qualitative Data Analysis: Explorations with NVivo. Buckingham:
Open University Press.
Lacey, A. & Luff, D. (2001). Trent focus for research and development in primary health
care: An introduction to qualitative analysis. London: Trent Focus.
Lewins, A., Taylor, C. & Gibbs, G. (2005). What is qualitative data analysis? School of
Human & Health Sciences, University of Huddersfield. United Kingdome.
Miles, M. & Huberman, A. (1984). Qualitative Data Analysis. London: Sage.
Strauss, A. (1987). Qualitative analysis for social scientists. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
Strauss, A. and Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory
procedures and techniques. London: Sage.