TOOLS OF ANALYSIS

These four tools record our interactions

with primary data - reflect, categorize, &
compare/contrast
Segments
Passages or blocks of text. Segments are our unit of analysis
as they're what we retrieve during a search. They're about
something of interest & contain enough context to stand on
their own

Codes
Labels we use to index data. Codes become our search terms
when we want to come back & read everything related to a
particular theme

Memos
Notes we make for ourselves as we read through data. Memos
are reflections on the data, patterns we are seeing, &
interpretations that we can track over time

Variables
Characteristics of a text or the participants that produced them.
Variables track discrete info that we can use to group & compare
data

PROCESSES OF ANALYSIS

These are the ways we interact with our

data after building in the tools of analysis

Retrieve
We use codes & variables to retrieve data in ways that focus our
reading of the data

Review
We read & re-read data that we retrieve in multiple searches,
usually in conjunction with the memos we have written, in order
to observe patterns in the data

Reflect
We reflect on meaning, similarity & difference, comparisons &
interpretations

Reduce
We then reduce the data & important patterns into concise
descriptions