qualitative data analysis

Question 1

what is qualitative analysis?

Answer 1

textual or other data transformed into findings

Question 2

what is qualitative research good for?

Answer 2

relativism - focuses on context, assumes multiple truths exist

Question 3

what are the strengths of qualitative research?

Answer 3

1. holistic
2. provides comprehensive understanding
3. compliments quantitative data by providing explantions

Question 4

what kinds of data can be analysed?

Answer 4

1. interviews/focus groups transcripts
2. field notes
3. newspaper articles
4. blogs
5. parliamentary debates
6. policy docs
7. public consultations
8. mass observation responses
9. pictures/images
10. paintings
11. TV ads/youtube vids

Question 5

what is qualitative data analysis?

Answer 5

bringing order to data, organising into patterns, categories and looking for relationships between them (Brewer)

Question 6

what are the different kinds of qualitative data analysis?

Answer 6

1. discourse analysis
2. ethnographic
3. critical discourse
4. thematic
5. grounded theory
6. matrix of displays
7. content
8. conversation
9. argumentation
10. foucauldian/freudian
11. multimodal

Question 7

what is thematic analysis?

Answer 7

meaning of a topic to a person/group can be broken down into a set of themes

Question 8

what is content analysis?

Answer 8

frequency of content is informative about how a topic is covered

Question 9

what is ethnographic analysis?

Answer 9

characterise a set of cultural practices, we interpret what people say and do in light of their context

Question 10

what is discourse analysis?

Answer 10

discourse (language/knowledge) has power and produces social effects, interpretation of texts can show us how

Question 11

what are the two types of qualitative data analysis?

Answer 11

1. bottom up (inductive, data driven)
2. top down (deductive, theory driven)

Question 12

what is purely inductive data analysis?

Answer 12

1. participant experiences drive analysis
2. develop codes
3. group codes into larger/broader themes
4. may deploy constant comparisons
5. limits possibilites of researchers forcing a preconceived results

Question 13

what are the key principles of qualitative analysis?

Answer 13

1. directed and focused (‘purposive’): provides and answer to the research question
2. systematic: analytic strategy or procedure with steps to be followed
3. transparent and traceable: provide a clear account of assumptions, procedures, steps
4. interpretive: beyond simply describing what’s in the data, synthesising interpretation of the data, links back to existing theory

Question 14

what is discourse?

Answer 14

a form of social practice that uses language [symbolic resources] to produce knowledge and subjectivity

Question 15

what is textual dimension?

Answer 15

naming, modality, cohesion

Question 16

what is discursive dimension?

Answer 16

intertextuality (quoted speech), genres

Question 17

what is societal dimension?

Answer 17

post-modern culture, public sphere, imagined communities, reflexive modernity, neo-liberal, globalisation

Question 18

what power does discourse have?

Answer 18

1. to establish the forms of action that are made possible in social contexts
2. to impose certain representations of the world as legitimate and authoritative
3. to establish the relationships between social identities

Question 19

what is discourse as social action?

Answer 19

language as a ritual of communication where knowledge is co-constructed between two or more people

Question 20

what is language as a neutral tool?

Answer 20

language as a code of transmission where knowledge is passed on from one person to another

Question 21

what is coding?

Answer 21

process of categorising data in to chunks that are alike

Question 22

how to present thematic analysis?

Answer 22

visual summary in the thematic map
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