introduction to qualitative research - p2

Question 1

what are the main features of qualitative data analysis?

Answer 1

• systematic process defined but is flexible
• identifies patterns of data - usually inductive but can be deductive
• describing and understanding variation in experience
• active engagement with data

Question 2

what is the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning?

Answer 2

Inductive reasoning takes you from the specific to the general, while in deductive reasoning, you make inferences by going from general premises to specific conclusions

Question 3

what are the main forms of qualitative analysis?

Answer 3

content analysis
grounded theory
discourse analysis
interpretative phenomenological analysis
thematic analysis

Question 4

what is content analysis?

Answer 4

aims to use qualitative data to examine patterns in communication in a replicable and systematic manner. Systematic labelling of data allows for statistical analyses of non-numerical data
- As it doesn’t tap into the key goal of qualitative analysis (meaning, understanding), it is often not considered qualitative analysis

Question 5

what is grounded theory analysis?

Answer 5

aims to generate theories of social phenomena through systematic data analysis – it has inductive and deductive stages
- As it focuses on meaning and understanding, this is always considered a qualitative method

Question 6

what is discourse analysis?

Answer 6

identify rules of conversational organisation. Participant discourse is recorded to reflect how participants understand and respond to each other

Question 7

what is interpretative phenomenological analysis?

Answer 7

• Offers insights into how a given person, in a given context, make sense of a phenomenon. These phenomena usually relate to experiences of some personal significance, such as a major life event or the development of an important relationship.
• This method uses small homogenous samples
• Very focuses on the richness of their experience

Question 8

what is thematic analysis?

Answer 8

Method of identifying, analysing and reporting patterns within data. It organises and describes data in rich detail and allows for the interpretation of the research topic

Question 9

what are the benefits of thematic analysis?

Answer 9

• It’s a very flexible method of analysis e.g semantic or latent; inductive or deductive, essentialist or constructionist
• Easy and quick to do – accessible to novice researchers
• Highlights similarities and differences across a data set
• Can generate unanticipated insights
• Allows for social and psychological interpretations of data
• Results are accessible to the public – can be used for policy/greater good

Question 10

what are the six phases of thematic analysis?

Answer 10

1. Data familiarisation
2. Generating codes
3. Searching for themes – grouping related codes into candidate themes
4. Reviewing themes – checking themes fit the data and address RQ
5. Defining and naming themes – describing themes and selecting data extracts
6. Producing a report

Question 11

thematic analysis stages: what are the features of the data familiarisation stage?

Answer 11

• STAGE ONE
• Is it inductive or deductive – an inductive approach would suggest that codes and themes are derived from the data focusing on the experience of the participants, rather than using pre-defined sets of concepts and assumptions
• Semantic or latent meanings? – usually research questions have a combination of both, describing ideas present in the data and underlying meanings

Question 12

thematic analysis stages: what are the features of the coding stage?

Answer 12

• STAGE TWO
• codes break data down into basic elements - shift towards systematic data
• concise ‘tags’ that can be understood independently from the data
  Codes can be semantic - i.e. a description of the idea, or latent - i.e. a description of underlying meaning
• codes are often revisited and re-written

Question 13

thematic analysis stages: what are the two types of codes?

Answer 13

1st order/descriptive or semantic codes
- Describes ideas of the data in researchers own words
- E.g ‘sense of confidence in own’s abilities’
2nd order/abstract, latent or interpretative
- Captures underlying meaning analysist has perceived of an idea in the data
- E.g ‘structure is important to the participant’ – ppt may not have explicitly said this but implies it heavily
Coding is a shift towards a systematic

Question 14

thematic analysis stages: what are the features of the theme development stage?

Answer 14

• THIRD STAGE
  -codes organised into themes
• represents patterns/groups that codes can be grouped into
• allows shaping of codes coherently which allows further understanding of data

Question 15

thematic analysis stages: what are the features of the theme review stage?

Answer 15

• themes are revisited and scrutinised - themes should not overlap and should, fit the data and address the research question