Analysis and Interpretation of Data

The focus here is a method proposed by Colaizzi (1978), which is little-known

in psychology but widely used in other disciplines such as the health sciences. The
researcher argues that the method offers considerable potential for qualitative
psychologists, particularly those who come fresh to descriptive phenomenology. The
distinctive seven-step method of Colaizzi (1978) offers a detailed analysis, with each
step closer to the results. The end result is a concise yet all-encompassing
description of the under study phenomenon, validated by the participants who
created it. The method depends on rich first-person experiential accounts; these may
come from face-to - face interviews, but can also be obtained in many other ways;
written narratives, blogs, research diaries, online interviews, etc. The steps were as
follows:

1. Familiarisation - The researcher familiarises him or herself with the data, by

reading through all the participant accounts several times
2. Identifying significant statements - The researcher identifies all statements in
the accounts that are of direct relevance to the phenomenon under investigation
3. Formulating meanings - The researcher identifies meanings relevant to the
phenomenon that arise from a careful consideration of the significant statements.
4. Clustering themes - The researcher clusters the identified meanings into themes
that are common across all accounts. Again bracketing of pre-suppositions is crucial,
especially to avoid any potential influence of existing theory.
5. Developing an exhaustive description - The researcher writes a full and
inclusive description of the phenomenon, incorporating all the themes produced at
step 4.
6. Producing the fundamental structure - The researcher condenses the
exhaustive description down to a short, dense statement that captures just those
aspects deemed to be essential to the structure of the phenomenon.
7. Seeking verification of the fundamental structure - The researcher returns the
fundamental structure statement to all participants (or sometimes a subsample in
larger studies) to ask whether it captures their experience. He or she may go back
and modify earlier steps in the analysis in the light of this feedback.
First, the encoded transcript was read over and over again to grasp the
information given by the respondents. Second, the researcher established several
important statements from the transcript. The researcher contributed to this phase by
recognizing important statements directly from the transcribed data or transcripts.
The first column contained the important statements found. For each sentence, the
second column had the acronym, its respective transcript number, page number, and
line numbers. Thirst, after the important statements were recognize, the researcher
formulated the meaning of each sentence. The researcher first look for the important
statement, which was the actual response of the respondents, then formulated its
meaning. Giving meaning to those important statements were essential in a way that
there will be no misconceptions to the readers. Fourth, after providing formulated
meanings, the researcher identified the theme clusters and emergent themes.
Clustering, or cluster analysis, generally refers to the method of grouping objects into
groups whose members are identical with respect to a criterion of similarity or
distance. The formulated meanings found was clustered into themes which they are
appropriate with. After identifying the cluster themes, the emergent themes were
made. This step resulted in the finalization of the emerging concepts defining the
phenomenon under study. See tables 1, 2, and 3 below.

Table 1: Significant Statements and Formulated Meaning

Significant Statements Code Formulated Meaning
1. Tungod sa Covid, naundang Ares, He lost his job and
amoang trabaho unya nadugay ko Transcript 3, incapable of
pag-uli sa amoa kay bawal mubiyahi. Page 3, Line supporting his
Wala koý mapadalang kwarta sa 10 family’s needs.
akong pamilya, wala sila’y kaon.
2. Tungod sa quarantine maam, She was forced to
Geia,
gepaundang mig trabaho stop working
Transcript 6,
maong “no work, no pay” because of the
Page 7, Line
jud mi maam. quarantine
10
3. Kung sauna galisod name, mas
Kronus, Although they were
naglisod mi pagsugod sa quarantine
Transcript 7, already having a
Page 8, Line 4 tough living before,
when the quarantine
was lifted, it made
their life even harder.
Table 2: Formulated Meanings and Clustered Themes
Formulated Meanings Clustered Themes

1. Incapability to support the family’s needs.

Feeling of incompetency
2. Having a much tough living every day.
3. Losing jobs and having “no work, no pay” status

Table 3: Clustered Themes and Emergent Themes

Clustered Themes Emergent Theme
1. Feeling of Incompetency
Destitute
2. Feeling of hopelessness

Fifth, based on the emerging concepts, the researcher wrote the findings offering
a comprehensive summary of the phenomenon. This explained the hardships,
coping strategies and perspectives of poor Filipinos, offering a glimpse of the lives of
poor Filipinos in the Philippines. The researcher then asked an expert to review and
assess the description of the phenomenon outlined after writing the findings. The
researcher then forwarded the results to the school's Research Committee for
analysis and confirmation.

Sixth, after creating an exhaustive description of the emerging theme, the

researcher later on review on redundant terms and themes to further improves the
study. In this moment, the researcher took some help with her peers in order to
review and contemplate whether there are no more loopholes on the results. In this
step, the researcher diminished some terms and specifies only those essential
details in the study.

Lastly, the researcher then on asked for the informant’s verification of the
results to validate if the results definitely described their experiences. The results
were sent to the informants and have them signed to the participant’s verification
form.