Qualitative

Data Analysis
(QDA)
Chapter III: Methodology
Lesson by Marielle Dominique G. De la
Cruz
What is Data Analysis?
– Data analysis in research is a process in which
gathered information are summarized in such
a manner that it will yield answers to the
research questions.
Why is it necessary to plan the
data analysis method?
- A clear and reliable data analysis method that
is planned prior to data collection helps
researchers know ways to interpret raw data
after it has been gathered.
Before choosing an appropriate QDA method, it is
vital that you know what kind of qualitative data
you are collecting.

Qualitative data refers to pretty much any data

that’s “not numbers”. In other words, it’s not
the stuff you measure using a fixed scale or
complex statistics or mathematics.
 Qualitative Variable
Qualitative variables are those that can
be observed and measured, but which
cannot be expressed numerically.
Qualitative variables include things like
hair color, eye color, and gender.
“We count the qualitative variables,
while we measure the quantitative
variables.”
-Reza Asadi, Methodologist in
Medical Research
2 Types of Qualitative
Variable
1. Nominal
2. Ordinal
 2 Types of Qualitative Variable
1. Nominal
The word “nominal” means “name”, which is
exactly what qualitative variables are.
A nominal scale is a scale where no ordering is
possible or implied (except for alphabetical
ordering like New York, Washington, West
Virginia or Chelsea, Edinburgh, London).
 2 Types of Qualitative Variable
1. Nominal
A nominal variable can be coded but
arithmetic operations cannot be
performed on them. In other words,
nominal variables cannot be quantified. 
 Examples of Nominal Variable
1. Address (Ormoc City, Manila, London, Taiwan,
etc.)
2. Sex (male, female)
3. Nationality (Filipino, American, etc.)
4. Race/ethnicity (African-American, Hispanic,
White, Asian, Black American, etc.)
5. Favorite pet
 Nominal Variable is divided into 2
categories:
1. Categorical variables are those that can be
placed into distinct groups, such as eye color
(brown, blue, green, etc.).
2. Binary (aka Dichotomous) variables are
those that can only have two values, such as
sex (male or female).
 Nominal Variable Types
1. Open-Ended Nominal Variable - When
participants are asked open-ended questions
such that they are free to respond in any way
they like it is known as a nominal variable. For
example, "How can a teacher improve his
teaching methods?" is an open-ended nominal
variable.
 Nominal Variable Types
2. Closed-Ended Nominal Variable - When the
response of participants to a question has been
restricted then such a question forms a closed-ended
nominal variable.
"How can a teacher improve his teaching methods?
a) Acquiring better knowledge, b) Improving
communication, c) Demonstrating flexibility. This is an
example of a close-ended approach.
 Nominal Variable Types
3. Numeric and Non-Numeric Nominal Variable
- A numeric nominal variable can take on a
quantitative value but does not have any numeric
property. For example, phone numbers. A non-
numeric nominal variable neither takes on a
numerical value nor does it have any numeric
property. For example, an open-ended / closed-
ended question.
 2 Types of Qualitative Variable
2. Ordinal
Ordinal variables are similar to nominal variables
in that they can be placed into groups. However,
with ordinal variables, the groups can be rank-
ordered.
For example, you could group people by their
level of education (elementary school, high school,
college, graduate school).
 2 Types of Qualitative Variable
2. Ordinal
The most common way to rank ordinal
variables is by using numbers, but other
methods, such as letters or words, can also
be used.
 Examples of Ordinal Variable
1. A survey might ask respondents to rate their
satisfaction with a product on a scale of 1-5,
with 1 being “very dissatisfied” and 5 being
“very satisfied.” Ordinal variables are different
from numerical variables in that they cannot be
meaningfully added or subtracted from one
another.
 Examples of Ordinal Variable
2. One common example of an ordinal variable is
educational attainment. Educational attainment
can be measured on a scale of 1-8, with 1 being
“no schooling” and 8 being “doctoral degree.”
Educational attainment is often used as a proxy
for socioeconomic status.
 Examples of Ordinal Variable
3.. Another common example of an ordinal
variable is income. Income can be measured
on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being “low
income” and 5 being “high income.
 When to Use Ordinal Variable
You might use an ordinal variable in situations
where you want to be able to say that
something is better or worse than something
else. For example, you might use an ordinal
scale to measure satisfaction with a product
on a scale from 1 (very unsatisfied) to 5 (very
satisfied).
Analysis
 Analysis Q’s
1. How can a restaurant service be
improved?
a) Improving menu
b) Changing the chef
c) Better Decor
What type of nominal variable is this?
 Answer
1. How can a restaurant service be improved?
a) Improving menu
b) Changing the chef
c) Better Decor
What type of nominal variable is this?
Close-ended nominal variable
 Analysis Q’s
2. How satisfied are you with the course
curriculum?
1. Dissatisfied
2. Satisfied
3. Very Satisfied
Is this a nominal variable?
 Answer
2. How satisfied are you with the course
curriculum?
1. Dissatisfied
2. Satisfied
3. Very Satisfied
Is this a nominal variable? NO
 Practice Quiz

3. Is a personal bio-data (name, gender,

date of birth) a nominal variable?
 Answer
3. Is a personal bio-data (name, gender,
date of birth) a nominal variable?
Yes, because the categories cannot be
ranked and do not possess numeric
properties.
 Analysis Q’s
4. Let’s say I collected data and coded it:
Women = 1
Men = 2
Non-binary = 3
Does it make any sense to add these
numbers? To find the “mean” of gender?
 Answer
4. Let’s say I collected data and coded it:
Women = 1
Men = 2
Non-binary = 3
No. An average gender of 1.75 (or whatever) doesn't
tell us much since gender is a qualitative variable
(nominal scale of measurement), so you can only count
it.
Qualitative
Data Analysis
(QDA) Methods
So, qualitative analysis is easier than quantitative,
right?

Well…. not quite. In many ways, qualitative data can

be challenging and time-consuming to analyse and
interpret. At the end of your data collection phase (which
itself takes a lot of time), you’ll likely have many pages of
text-based data or hours upon hours of audio to work
through. You might have subtle nuances of interactions or
discussions that have danced around in your mind, or
that you scribbled down in messy field notes.
QDA “Big 6”
1. Qualitative Content Analysis
2. Narrative Analysis
3. Thematic analysis
4. Grounded theory (GT)
5. Interpretive phenomenological analysis
(IPA)
6.Discourse Analysis
Qualitative Content Analysis
Content analysis is possibly the most common
and straightforward QDA method. At the simplest
level, content analysis is used to evaluate
patterns within a piece of content (for example,
words, phrases or images) or across multiple
pieces of content or sources of communication.
Qualitative Content Analysis
With content analysis, you could, for
instance, identify the frequency with
which an idea is shared or spoken
about – like the number of times
Skusta Clee is mentioned on Twitter.
Qualitative Content Analysis
Or you could identify patterns of
deeper underlying interpretations –
for instance, by identifying phrases or
words in tourist pamphlets that highlight
India as an ancient country.
Qualitative Content Analysis
Because content analysis can be used in
such a wide variety of ways, it’s important
to go into your analysis with a very
specific question and goal, or you’ll get
lost in the fog.
Example
Narrative Analysis
As the name suggests, narrative analysis is all
about listening to people telling stories and
analysing what that means. We can gain insights
into the ways that people deal with and make
sense of reality by analysing their stories and the
ways they’re told.
Discourse Analysis
Discourse analysis is all about analysing
language within its social context. In other
words, analysing language – such as a
conversation, a speech, etc – within
the culture and society it takes place in. For
example, you could analyse how a janitor speaks
to a CEO, or how politicians speak about
terrorism.
Thematic Analysis
A thematic analysis takes bodies of data (which
are often quite large) and groups them according
to similarities – in other words, themes. These
themes help us make sense of the content and
derive meaning from it.
Thematic Analysis
It can be pretty useful for finding out
about people’s experiences, views,
and opinions. Therefore, if your research aims
and objectives involve understanding people’s
experience or view of something, thematic
analysis can be a great choice.
Grounded Theory
Grounded Theory is powerful qualitative
analysis method where the intention is to create
a new theory (or theories) using the data at
hand, through a series of “tests” and
“revisions.”
Grounded Theory
For example, you could try to develop a theory
about what factors influence students to read
watch a YouTube video about qualitative
analysis… The important thing with grounded
theory is that you go into the analysis with
an open mind and let the data speak for
itself – rather than dragging existing hypotheses
or theories into your analysis.
Interpretive Phenomenological
Analysis (IPA)
IPA is designed to help you understand
the personal experiences of a subject (for
example, a person or group of people) concerning a
major life event, an experience or a situation. It’s
important to remember that IPA is subject–
centred. In other words, it’s focused on
the experiencer. This means that, while you’ll
likely use a coding system to identify commonalities
How to Choose the right analysis method
Selecting the right qualitative analysis method largely
depends on your research aims, objectives and questions.
In other words, the best tool for the job depends on what
you’re trying to build. For example:
1. Perhaps your research aims to analyse the use of
words and what they reveal about the intention of the
storyteller and the cultural context of the time.
How to Choose the right analysis method
2. Perhaps your research aims to develop an
understanding of the unique personal
experiences of people that have
experienced a certain event.
3. Or perhaps your research aims to develop
insight regarding the influence of a certain
culture on its members.