How to Understand and Apply the Concept of Qualitative Research
Realize that there is no standard procedure for qualitative analysis., Read through all the transcriptions carefully, once you have organized and prepared the data for analysis., Select one document (one transcript interview)., Once you have...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Realize that there is no standard procedure for qualitative analysis.
This does not mean that it is not systematic and rigorous.
Moving back and forth between the different levels can make it lengthy. -
Step 2: Read through all the transcriptions carefully
Make notes of some ideas as they come to mind.
If the transcripts are too extensive, do not attempt to read them all at once.
When your mind starts to wander or you become impatient or start to feel disinterested, it is time to pause.
Refrain from reading the transcripts from the beginning of the document.
When you start out, you are in peak form.
If you always confine this energy to the first section of your data, you are more likely to exclude or overlook valuable information from later sections. , This can be the most interesting, the shortest transcript or the one on top of the file.
Go through it and ask yourself:
What is this all about? Do not think about the content of the information, but focus on its underlying meaning.
Write down your thoughts in the margin. , Put similar topics together.
Form these topics into columns that can be grouped as "Major topics"
"Unique topics" and "leftovers"
, An example of this would be:
Feelings and emotional reactions ca be assigned the code F/ER.
This is merely an example.
The researcher will decide on which code suits him or her the best.
In this instance a code basically serves as a tag or label.
A code is a shorter way of identifying the theme/category in a transcription. , Look for ways of reducing your total list of themes and categories by grouping the topics that relate to each other. ,, This may become necessary if codes closely resemble each other and can become confusing and lead to misinterpretation when the data is being analyzed.
You can now start on interpreting and reporting your research findings. -
Step 3: once you have organized and prepared the data for analysis.
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Step 4: Select one document (one transcript interview).
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Step 5: Once you have completed the step above
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Step 6: make a list of all the topics.
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Step 7: Understand that a topic can refer to feelings and emotional reactions
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Step 8: support structures
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Step 9: means employed as coping strategies or concepts similar to the ones pertaining to your study.
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Step 10: Take this list of topics and assign an identifiable code to each topic.
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Step 11: Find the most descriptive wording for your topics and turn them into themes/categories.
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Step 12: Make a final decision on the abbreviation for each theme/category and arrange these codes in alphabetical order.Example
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Step 13: F/ER- feelings and emotional reactions
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Step 14: SS-support structures
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Step 15: If necessary
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Step 16: recode the existing data.
Detailed Guide
This does not mean that it is not systematic and rigorous.
Moving back and forth between the different levels can make it lengthy.
Make notes of some ideas as they come to mind.
If the transcripts are too extensive, do not attempt to read them all at once.
When your mind starts to wander or you become impatient or start to feel disinterested, it is time to pause.
Refrain from reading the transcripts from the beginning of the document.
When you start out, you are in peak form.
If you always confine this energy to the first section of your data, you are more likely to exclude or overlook valuable information from later sections. , This can be the most interesting, the shortest transcript or the one on top of the file.
Go through it and ask yourself:
What is this all about? Do not think about the content of the information, but focus on its underlying meaning.
Write down your thoughts in the margin. , Put similar topics together.
Form these topics into columns that can be grouped as "Major topics"
"Unique topics" and "leftovers"
, An example of this would be:
Feelings and emotional reactions ca be assigned the code F/ER.
This is merely an example.
The researcher will decide on which code suits him or her the best.
In this instance a code basically serves as a tag or label.
A code is a shorter way of identifying the theme/category in a transcription. , Look for ways of reducing your total list of themes and categories by grouping the topics that relate to each other. ,, This may become necessary if codes closely resemble each other and can become confusing and lead to misinterpretation when the data is being analyzed.
You can now start on interpreting and reporting your research findings.
About the Author
Amanda Stewart
Amanda Stewart specializes in lifestyle and practical guides and has been creating helpful content for over 3 years. Amanda is committed to helping readers learn new skills and improve their lives.
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