Analyzing the Meaning

of the Data
In a Qualitative Research

 Data analysis involves a systematic process

 The goal is to make a qualitative analysis of voluminous data
as organized and scientific as possible.
 Emerging patterns from the collected data must also be
identified for a comprehensive discussion and meaningful
conclusions.
 Qualitative Data are textual rather than numerical, so no
statistical methods can aid the analysis of data.
 includes almost all variables, not just a set of variables related
to the topic of interest.
DATA ANALYSIS DEFINITION

Analysis in the context of research, refers to the

meticulous study of research variables to learn about
their constituent parts and how they are related to
each other within the given research problem.
 Research Data are factual information used to
analyze research variables and produce relevant
research results or findings.
FOR QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS

DATA must be prepared, organized, and

transcribed to written narratives, especially that
large amount of information needs to be
analyzed.
 DECISION must also be made whether to
process these vast amounts of data manually or
using a computer program.
SOFTWARE PROGRAMS

 SOFTWARE PROGRAMS are available to help

qualitative researchers analyze the vast amount
of information.
 COMMONLY USED SOFTWARES are Nvivo,
ATLAS.ti, Dedoose, webQDA, Ethnograph,
f4analyze, Hyper RESEARCH, QDA Miner, Qiqqa,
MAXQDA, Qualrus and Xsight.
SOFTWARE PROGRAMS

 These software programs are mostly menu-

driven and user friendly to make coding,
organization, and retrieval of information easier
and faster.
 These programs can look for trends and
relationships and form and test theories.
COMMON WAYS TO ANALYZE QUALITATIVE
DATA
 THEMATIC
NARRATIVE
CONTENT ANALYSES
THEMATIC ANALYSIS
 the researcher looks across all the
data to identify some recurring issues.
Main themes that summarize all the
views collected can be derived from
these issues.
MAIN STAGES OF THEMATIC ANALYSIS:
1. READ AND ANNOTATE TRANSCRIPTS
– researcher can have a feel of data
because primary observations are
provided. However, overview of the data
cannot be achieved in this early stage.
MAIN STAGES OF THEMATIC ANALYSIS:
2. IDENTIFY THEMES – researcher can look
at the data in details to identify themes. In
each transcript, the researcher may note at
the onset what the interviewee is trying to
impart in his/her responses. These themes
must be enumerated and notes be made as
abstract as possible.
SEVERAL THEMES RESEARCHER CAN
IDENTIFY THIS STAGE:
A. ORDINARY THEMES – are those that
researchers expect to find. (e.g.
students’ exposure to bullying situations
in school)
SEVERAL THEMES RESEARCHER CAN
IDENTIFY THIS STAGE:
B. UNFORSEEN THEMES – are those that
researchers do not expect to come out
in the investigation (e.g. school policies
on bullying that are unimplemented)
SEVERAL THEMES RESEARCHER CAN
IDENTIFY THIS STAGE:
C. HARD-TO-CLASSIFY THEMES – are
those that researchers find difficult to
classify because they overlap with one
another or several themes (e.g. students
assemble in the playground)
SEVERAL THEMES RESEARCHER CAN
IDENTIFY THIS STAGE:
D. MAJOR & MINOR THEMES – are those
that researchers represent as major and
secondary ideas in the database (e.g.
major idea-desire to quit smoking;
secondary idea- body’s reaction to
smoking)
MAIN STAGES OF THEMATIC ANALYSIS:
3. DEVELOP A CODING SCHEME – initial
themes can be collected to develop a
coding scheme. This includes the
enumerated themes and the codes
applicable to the data. Each broad code
have a number of sub codes. It is
recommended to use a coding scheme as
soon as initial data have been gathered.
MAIN STAGES OF THEMATIC ANALYSIS:
4. CODING THE DATA – the next step is
applying these codes to the whole data set.
This can be done on either the margins of
the transcripts or the statements in line. In
an ideal setting, the whole set of data
should be coded to ensure honest and
exhaustive analysis.
SIX BASIC STEPS IN CODING DATA
A. GET AN IDEA OF THE ENTIRE DATA
SET – after reading the transcriptions
carefully, write down some ideas as they
arise in the margins of the transcription.
.
SIX BASIC STEPS IN CODING DATA
B. SELECT ONE INTERESTING
DOCUMENT – choose the shortest and
perhaps the most interesting transcript,
reread it and ask the question, “What is
the respondent talking about?” Discern
the underlying meaning and jot it down
in the margins of the transcript.
SIX BASIC STEPS IN CODING DATA
C. START THE DOCUMENT CODING
PROCESS – divide the transcript into
segments, put brackets in each of the
segments, and give specific code to each
phase or word that exactly explains or
describes the meaning of the text
segment.
SIX BASIC STEPS IN CODING DATA
D. LIST ALL CODE WORDS – after coding the
whole text, look for redundant codes by
grouping similar ones. Through this process,
the list of codes can be reduced into a more
manageable number. It is recommended to
limit the number of codes from the start of
the process, so that it is easier to manage
the reduction of code number.
SIX BASIC STEPS IN CODING DATA
E. REVIEW THE LIST AGAINST THE DATA
apply this preliminary organizing
process to the same transcripts and find
out if new codes appear.
SIX BASIC STEPS IN CODING DATA
F. CATEGORIZE THE CODES FOR EMERGING THEMES
OR DESCRIPTIONS OF THE SUBJECT OR SETTING.
Themes or categories are the same codes combined
together to identify major ideas in the data set.
Identify five to seven code categories representing
the most discussed responses for the subject. These
few themes will enable the researcher to write an
in-depth information about a few themes, rather
than a broad description about many themes.
NARRATIVE ANALYSIS
 the researcher looks narratively within each case,
so that the story of a research subject or the
description of the setting is not lost. The narratives
of the subjects reveal about themselves and their
environment. The researcher may examine in
details some cases to see how the themes show
relationships in a particular case. This process uses
documents and observations that focus on how
stories are made rather than on the outcome of the
narrative.
CONTENT ANALYSIS
 enables the researcher to focus on human
behavior indirectly through discourse analysis. The
written content of documents like reference books,
newspapers and magazines, songs, advertisements,
and photographs can be analyzed using content
analysis. An individual’s or group’s attitudes, beliefs,
ideas and values are often exposed in their
communication patterns or correspondences.
CONTENT ANALYSIS
 is often used in conjunction with other
methods like ethnography and historical
research. It can be utilized in any context in
which the researcher wants to have a way of
systematizing and quantifying data. Content
analysis is very valuable in the analysis of data
collected from observations and interviews.
DISCOVERING PATTERNS
Lofland and colleagues (2006) presented six
ways of looking for patterns in a particular
research topic. The following should make sense
out of the data gathered:
1. Frequencies refer to how often a situation
occurred.
Example: How often does bullying occur among
selected public schools under study?
DISCOVERING PATTERNS
2. Magnitudes provide the level of the situation.
Example: What are the levels of bullying? How
severe are they in the research locale?
3. Structures give information whether types and
relationships exist in the given situation.
Example: What are the different types of bullying?
Are they related in any particular manner?
DISCOVERING PATTERNS
4. Processes denote if there are order and variation in the given
research interest.
Example: Is there any order among the elements of structure?
Do bullies begin with verbal, move to social, then to physical and
cyberbullying? Does the order of the elements differ?
5. Causes refer to how common and how often the causes are.
Example: What are the causes of bullying? Is it common in public
schools or private schools? Does it occur more often during
break time or after class?
DISCOVERING PATTERNS
6. Consequences mean the effect, if there is, in both
short-term and long-term periods and the changes
that the situation caused.
Example: How does bullying affect the students in
both short-term and long-term periods? What
changes did it cause to the bullied student?
WAYS TO PRESENT QUALITATIVE DATA
DATA PROCESSING is any operation done on the data such
as gathering and managing it.
DATA GATHERED may be processed using computer
programs and presented in textual, tabular, and graphical
formats.
DATA PRESENTATION refers to the process of arranging
data into logical, sequential, and meaningful manner to
make them acceptable for analysis and interpretation.