Finding Patterns in Words
Analyzing qualitative data like interview transcripts requires systematic methods distinct from numbers. Thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke) proceeds through structured stages: familiarizing with data, generating codes, searching for themes, refining them, naming them, and writing up with quotes.
Coding marks meaningful text segments. Open coding applies labels with minimal preconceived categories, staying close to the text. Axial coding connects those codes to build an integrated structure.
| Concept | What it involves |
|---|---|
| Open coding | Labeling data without preconceived categories |
| Axial coding | Finding relationships between codes |
| Theme | A broader pattern uniting related codes |
Theory and Rigor
Grounded theory (Glaser and Strauss) builds theory inductively, letting it emerge from the data during coding rather than testing it deductively beforehand. This suits novel, under-studied phenomena.
Qualitative research checks inter-rater reliability by having multiple independent researchers code the same material, guarding against idiosyncratic bias.
Common pitfall: Assuming qualitative coding is a purely subjective free-for-all. Rigor is maintained through explicit coding schemes, inter-rater checks, and actively searching for contradictory evidence.