Qualitative Data

Analysis
Operations and Systems Management

Nigel.Williams@port.ac.uk
Moving onto data analysis
• Qualitative data analysis - cutting data up in order to put it together again in relevant
and meaningful manner
• Integrate related data from different sources
• Identify key themes, patterns and relationships
• Develop/test theories (propositions)
STAGES OF QUALITATIVE
ANALYSIS
Miles and Huberman (1994)

1. Data reduction
– The mass of qualitative data you may obtain –
interview transcripts, field notes, observations etc. – is
reduced and organised, for example coding, writing
summaries, discarding irrelevant data and so on.
– At this stage, try and discard all irrelevant information,
but do ensure that you have access to it later if
required, as unexpected findings may need you to re-
examine some data previously considered
unnecessary.
Key resource: Miles, M.B. and Huberman, A.M. (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.), Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.
STAGES OF QUALITATIVE
ANALYSIS
2. Data display.
– To draw conclusions from the mass of data, Miles and
Huberman suggest that a good display of data, in the
form of tables, charts, networks and other graphical
formats is essential.
– Continual process, rather than just one to be carried out
at the end of the data collection.
3. Conclusion drawing/verification.
– Your analysis should allow you to begin to develop
conclusions regarding your study. These initial
conclusions can then be verified, that is their validity
examined through reference to your existing field notes
or further data collection.
Moving onto data analysis
• Many possible approaches
• Thematic analysis – identifying themes that emerge from data
• Comparative analysis – comparing and contrasting data until no more themes arise
• Content analysis – researcher works systematically through each transcript looking to see how
often certain factors (recorded by codes) arise
• Discourse analysis - patterns of speech and the way that language is used to convey meaning
What is thematic analysis?
• Criticised – looking for broad areas of similarity and difference
• A process of identifying, analysing patterns or themes, and interpreting patterns of
meaning (‘themes’) within qualitative data.
• Systematic procedures for generating codes and themes
• A common pitfall - use the main interview questions as the themes (Clarke & Braun,
2013).

see Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2012, 2013Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative
Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101. doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Thematic analysis
• Examining commonalities from all the material across datasets that has something in
common (e.g. common characteristic such being female PM)
• Examining differences across the datasets (a common experience such as enjoying the
team development)
• Examining relationship - how different parts of analysis fit together and contribute to
an understanding of differed issues and themes (Gibson and Brown 2009)
What are the Codes?
• Coding attaching the labels to data - captures the meaning while reducing the amount
of content
• The smallest units of analysis that capture interesting features of the data (potentially)
relevant to the research question.
• Codes - attached to ‘chunks’ of varying size – words, phrases, sentences or whole
paragraphs. (Miles & Huberman (1994, p.56)
• Codes should be:
• Valid - accurately reflect what is being researched.
• Mutually exclusive - distinct, with no overlap.
• Exhaustive - all relevant data should fit into a code.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X7VuQxPfpk
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_YXR9kp1_o
Numerous coding strategies
• Miles & Huberman (1994) complex system of abbreviations and
numbers
• Charmaz (2006), Saldana(2009) – full words and short phrases
• Mathew & Ross (2010) – both abbreviations and numbers
Thematic analysis
• Codes are the building blocks for themes, (larger) patterns of meaning, underpinned
by a central organizing concept - a shared core idea.
• Themes - a framework for organizing and reporting the researcher’s analytic
observations.
• Not only to summarize the data content, but to identify, and interpret, key features of
the data, guided by the research question
• The research question is not fixed and can evolve throughout coding and theme
development. The emphasis is on producing rigorous and high-quality analysis;
Types of thematic analysis
• Braun & Clarke (2006)
• a top-down or theoretical thematic analysis - driven by the specific research question(s) and/or the
analyst’s focus,
• a bottom-up or inductive one that is more driven by the data itself.

• The link below is video by Braun & Clark about thematic analysis so please watch it.
• The paper is also on moodle so please read it .

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zFcC10vOVY
Braun & Clarke (2006)
• Step 1: Become familiar with the data
• Step 2: Generate initial codes
• Step 3: Search for themes
• Step 4: Write – up.
Example of research
• The research explored the ways in which students make sense of and use feedback.
• Method of data gathering: 8 Focus groups, 40 UG students
• Discussions focused on what students thought about the feedback they had received
over the course of their studies: how they understood it; the extent to which they
engaged with it and how they used it.
Step 1: Become familiar with the data

• Be very familiar with your entire body of data

• Making notes on ideas as you read through the transcript - make notes and jot down
early impressions
• Example of some early, rough notes made on the extract:
• The students do seem to think that feedback is important but don’t always find it useful. There’s a
sense that the whole assessment process, including feedback, can be seen as threatening and is not
always understood. The students are very clear that they want very specific feedback that tells them
how to improve in a personalised way. They want to be able to discuss their work on a one-to-one
basis with lecturers, as this is more personal and also private. The emotional impact of feedback is
important.
Step 2: Generate initial codes

• Organise our data in a meaningful and systematic way.

• Reduces lots of data into small chunks of meaning.
• In this case this was a theoretical thematic analysis rather than an inductive
• Used open coding (not pre-set codes, but developed and modified the codes as we worked through
the coding process)
Exercise
• In the exercise folder you have a project example read it and assign codes - couple of
words/ a sentence that express the meaning
Step 3: Search for themes
• A theme is a pattern that captures something significant or interesting about the data
and/or research question.
• Themes - a framework for organizing and reporting the researcher’s analytic
observations.
• A theme is characterised by its significance.
Exercise
Look at the codes that you have created. Put similar codes –under one umbrella – a
theme
Review the themes and draw links between them
Step 4: Writing it up

• The end-point of research - some kind of report, often a journal article or dissertation.
• Bigger picture of the overall project
• Two styled writing around data in TA:
• Illustrative - if data extracts are used primarily as examples within the analytic narrative, evidence
from the data that Illustrates key elements of the story, they are being used illustratively.
• Analytic - particulars of extracts are discussed by the researcher, with specific aspects or features
forming the basis for analytic claims.
• Many analyses contain both styles, and there is often some blurring between the two, such as
some analytic commentary about extracts otherwise used illustratively
Content Analysis
Content analysis identifies patterns in recorded (written or spoken or graphic)
communication. To conduct content analysis, you systematically collect data from
a set of texts, which can be written, oral, or graphic:
 Books, newspapers and magazines.
 Speeches and interviews.
 Web content and social media posts.
 Photographs and films.
Content Analysis
Content analysis can be quantitative (focused on counting and measuring) and/or
qualitative (focused on interpreting and understanding). In both types, you
categorize or “code” words, themes, and concepts within the texts and then
analyse the results.

Quantitative Content analysis can be used to quantify the occurrence of certain

words, phrases, subjects or concepts in a set of historical or contemporary texts.
To research the importance of Sustainability in project reports, you could analyse
the reports for the frequency of terms related to environmental responsibilities
and use statistical analysis to find differences over time or between firms
Content Analysis
• Content analysis can be used to make qualitative inferences by analysing the meaning
and semantic relationship of words and concepts. To gain a more qualitative
understanding of Sustainability issues in projects, you could locate the word
“sustainability ” in project reports, identify what other words or phrases appear next to
it (such as “social”, “community”, “ethics”, “procurement” etc.), and analyse the
meanings of these relationships to better understand the intentions of different
stakeholders or their understanding of what sustainability means to them.
How to Conduct Content Analysis?
Select the content you will analyse, based on your research question. You need to decide:
 The medium (e.g. newspapers, speeches or websites) and genre (e.g. opinion pieces, political campaign
speeches, marketing copy …).
 The criteria for inclusion (e.g. newspaper articles that mention a particular event, speeches by a certain
politician or websites selling a specific type of product …).
 The parameters (or limits of what is included) in terms of date range, location, etc.
 If there are only a small number of texts that meet your criteria, you might analyse all of them. If there is a
large volume of texts, you can select a sample.
 Define the units and categories of analysis – e.g. is the unit of analysis each individual politician (so
individuals) or politicians from each of the political parties (so parties).
Level
Next, you need to determine the level at which you will analyse your chosen texts. This means defining:
 The unit(s) of meaning that will be coded. For example, are you going to record the frequency of
individual words and phrases, the characteristics of people who produced or appear in the texts, the
presence and positioning of images or the treatment of themes and concepts that fit with your coding
system?
 The set of categories that you will use for coding. Categories can be objective characteristics (e.g.
Project Manager , aged 40-50, …) or more conceptual (e.g. trustworthy, corrupt, family oriented …).
Code the text according to the rules
• Coding involves organizing the units of meaning into the previously defined
categories.
• Especially with more conceptual categories, it’s important to clearly define the
rules for what will and will not be included to ensure that all texts are coded
consistently.
• In considering the category “young Project Manager,” you decide which titles
will be coded with this category. With “trustworthy”, you decide which specific
words or phrases related to trustworthiness (e.g. honest and reliable) will be
coded in this category.
• You go through each text and record all relevant data in the appropriate
categories. This can be done manually on Excel or aided with computer
programs, such as NVivo
Analyse the results and draw
conclusions
Once coding is complete, the collected data is examined to find patterns and draw conclusions in response
to your research question.
In quantitative content analysis, you can use basic descriptive tables to show frequencies of coded
categories. Further, you might use statistical analysis to find correlations or trends, discuss your
interpretations of what the results mean, and make inferences about the creators, context and audience of
the texts.
In qualitative content analysis, you can produce a coding tree to show your first-order/level,
second-order/level codes and final main themes emerged.
Discourse Analysis
Discourse analysis is a research method for studying written or spoken language in relation to its social
context. It aims to understand how language is used in real life situations. Discourse analysis is a qualitative
and interpretive method of analysing texts (in contrast to more systematic methods like content analysis).
You make interpretations based on both the details of the material itself and on contextual knowledge.
Value of Discourse Analysis
When you do discourse analysis, you might focus on:
• The purposes and effects of different types of language.
• Cultural rules and conventions in communication.
• How values, beliefs and assumptions are communicated.
• How language use relates to its social, political and historical context.
What is Discourse Analysis used for
Conducting discourse analysis means examining how language works and how meaning is created in
different social contexts. It can be applied to any instance of written or oral language, as well as non-verbal
aspects of communication such as tone and gestures. By analysing these types of discourse, researchers
aim to gain an understanding of social groups and how they communicate.

Materials that are suitable for discourse analysis include:

 Books, newspapers and periodicals.
 Marketing material, such as brochures and advertisements.
 Business and government documents.
 Websites, forums, social media posts and comments.
 Interviews and conversations.