Class 17

• Qualitative data analysis involves general strategies such as Analytic Induction, Grounded Theory, Primary Qualitative Data Collection, Coding: Typologies and Taxonomies, and Narrative Analysis.
• Analytic induction is an iterative process where a general research question is devised, some data are gathered, and an hypothesis is proposed.
• If a case is inconsistent with the hypothesis, the hypothesis is redefined to exclude the case, or the hypothesis is dropped or fundamentally revised.
• The researcher continues to gather data until no contradictory cases are found.
• Coding exercise: What is going on in this video?
• Code: #dooring and close calls - attention of doorer
• Coding questions include: Of what general category is this datum an instance? What does this datum represent? What is this datum about? What question does this datum suggest? What sort of answer to that question does this datum imply? What is happening here? What are people doing? What do people say they are doing? What kind of event is going on?
• Loftland (1971) devised six classes on which to plan a coding scheme for 'social phenomena': Acts, Activities, Meanings, Participation, Relationships, Settings.
• Grounded Theory involves processes such as Coding, Constant comparison (of data and concepts), Theoretical saturation, and Selective coding.
• Coding in Grounded Theory involves assigning labels to issues/activities being observed that can be grouped together.
• Coding in Grounded Theory starts in the early stage of the research project and is the first step in interpreting data and developing theory.
• Data in Grounded Theory are treated as potential indicators of concepts and the indicators are repeatedly compared for concepts/categories.
• Computer software in qualitative analysis fragments textual material into very small pieces of data where the natural flow of the story is broken.
• Narrative analysis is a method in qualitative research that aims to understand the story behind the data.
• Criticisms of using software in qualitative analysis include it primarily working to quantify coded text and negating the qualitative, thematic interpretation of meaning important in qualitative analysis.
• Computer software in qualitative analysis allows to estimate how representative different quotes from qualitative interviews are.
• Advantages of using software in qualitative analysis include proposing new visual ways of looking at data which stimulate its holistic perception and point to connections between ideas and concepts.
• Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) eliminates many, if not most, of the clerical tasks associated with the manual coding and retrieving of data.
• Computer software in qualitative analysis will sort data once the codes are defined.
• Problems with coding include the risk of losing the context by selecting parts of the text, which weakens the connection between description and social setting in which the events occur, resulting in a loss of context.
• Computer software in qualitative analysis improves the transparency of qualitative analysis, as researchers are more explicit about how they conduct the study and describe how they used CAQDAS.
• Leading software in qualitative analysis includes QSR NVivo and MAXQDA.
• Computer software in qualitative analysis is too closely built around the grounded theory and this diminishes another key strength of qualitative research, its flexibility.
• Computer software in qualitative analysis does not interpret the data.
• Codes can be used to label different aspects of the subjects of study.
• Criticisms of Grounded Theory include differences between concepts and categories that may be vague, and observation and data gathering may not be as 'theory neutral' as claimed, i.e., the research process may be deductive to some extent.
• Analysis of texts and documents is a collection and interpretation of written sources.
• Taxonomy is the science of organizing things such as plants or animals into a system of different groups according to the features that they share, and of giving them names.
• Qualitative interviewing involves asking questions and prompting conversation in order to gain information and understanding of social phenomena and attitudes.
• Grounded Theory involves memos that provide reminders about the terms used and aid in conceptual and theoretical reflection.
• Typology is the study or system of dividing a large group into smaller groups according to similar features or qualities.
• Discourse and conversation analysis is a language-based approach to examine how versions of reality are created.
• Substantive Theory involves observing patterns and developing a theory to explain the connections in a specific setting.
• Miles and Huberman (1994) suggest that there are three concurrent flows of action in qualitative data analysis: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing/verification.
• Primary Qualitative Data Collection methods include Ethnography and participant observation, which involves the immersion of the researcher into the social setting for an extended period in order to observe, question, listen and experience the situation in order to gain an understanding of processes and meanings.
• Focus groups involve asking questions and prompting discussion within a group to elicit qualitative data.
• Formal Theory is a theory applied at a higher level, requiring data collection in different settings, and is applicable to a variety of settings.