Qualitative Data Analysis Methods 101:

https://gradcoach.com/qualitative-data-analysis-methods/

SO, HOW’S THAT DIFFERENT FROM QUANTITATIVE DATA, YOU ASK?

Simply put, qualitative research focuses on words, descriptions, concepts or ideas – while
quantitative research focuses on numbers and statistics. Qualitative research investigates the “softer
side” of things to explore and describe, while quantitative research focuses on the “hard numbers”,
to measure differences between variables and the relationships between them.

SO, QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS IS EASIER THAN QUANTITATIVE, RIGHT?

Not quite. In many ways, qualitative data can be challenging and time-consuming to analyse and
interpret. At the end of your data collection phase (which itself takes a lot of time), you’ll likely have
many pages of text-based data or hours upon hours of audio to work through. You might also have
subtle nuances of interactions or discussions that have danced around in your mind, or that you
scribbled down in messy field notes. All of this needs to work its way into your analysis.

Making sense of all of this is no small task and you shouldn’t underestimate it. Long story short –
qualitative analysis can be a lot of work! Of course, quantitative analysis is no piece of cake either,
but it’s important to recognise that qualitative analysis still requires a significant investment in terms
of time and effort.

1. Thematic Analysis

Thematic analysis looks at patterns of meaning in a data set – for example, a set of interviews or
focus group transcripts. But what exactly does that… mean? Well, a thematic analysis takes bodies of
data (which are often quite large) and groups them according to similarities – in other words,
themes. These themes help us make sense of the content and derive meaning from it.

Let’s take a look at an example.

With thematic analysis, you could analyse 100 online reviews of a popular sushi restaurant to find
out what patrons think about the place. By reviewing the data, you would then identify the themes
that crop up repeatedly within the data – for example, “fresh ingredients” or “friendly wait staff”.

So, as you can see, thematic analysis can be pretty useful for finding out about people’s experiences,
views, and opinions. Therefore, if your research aims and objectives involve understanding people’s
experience or view of something, thematic analysis can be a great choice.

Since thematic analysis is a bit of an exploratory process, it’s not unusual for your research questions
to develop, or even change as you progress through the analysis. While this is somewhat natural in
exploratory research, it can also be seen as a disadvantage as it means that data needs to be re-
reviewed each time a research question is adjusted. In other words, thematic analysis can be quite
time-consuming – but for a good reason. So, keep this in mind if you choose to use thematic analysis
for your project and budget extra time for unexpected adjustments.

2. Grounded theory (GT)

Grounded theory is a powerful qualitative analysis method where the intention is to create a new
theory (or theories) using the data at hand, through a series of “tests” and “revisions”. Strictly
speaking, GT is more a research design type than an analysis method, but we’ve included it here as
it’s often referred to as a method.

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What’s most important with grounded theory is that you go into the analysis with an open mind and
let the data speak for itself – rather than dragging existing hypotheses or theories into your analysis.
In other words, your analysis must develop from the ground up (hence the name).

Let’s look at an example of GT in action.

Assume you’re interested in developing a theory about what factors influence students to watch a
YouTube video about qualitative analysis. Using Grounded theory, you’d start with this general
overarching question about the given population (i.e., graduate students). First, you’d approach a
small sample – for example, five graduate students in a department at a university. Ideally, this
sample would be reasonably representative of the broader population. You’d interview these
students to identify what factors lead them to watch the video.

After analysing the interview data, a general pattern could emerge. For example, you might notice
that graduate students are more likely to read a post about qualitative methods if they are just
starting on their dissertation journey, or if they have an upcoming test about research methods.

From here, you’ll look for another small sample – for example, five more graduate students in a
different department – and see whether this pattern holds true for them. If not, you’ll look for
commonalities and adapt your theory accordingly. As this process continues, the theory would
develop. As we mentioned earlier, what’s important with grounded theory is that the theory
develops from the data – not from some preconceived idea.

So, what are the drawbacks of grounded theory? Well, some argue that there’s a tricky circularity to
grounded theory. For it to work, in principle, you should know as little as possible regarding the
research question and population, so that you reduce the bias in your interpretation. However, in
many circumstances, it’s also thought to be unwise to approach a research question without
knowledge of the current literature. In other words, it’s a bit of a “chicken or the egg” situation.

Regardless, grounded theory remains a popular (and powerful) option. Naturally, it’s a very useful
method when you’re researching a topic that is completely new or has very little existing research
about it, as it allows you to start from scratch and work your way from the ground up.

3. Narrative Analysis

As the name suggests, narrative analysis is all about listening to people telling stories and analysing
what that means. Since stories serve a functional purpose of helping us make sense of the world, we
can gain insights into the ways that people deal with and make sense of reality by analysing their
stories and the ways they’re told.

You could, for example, use narrative analysis to explore whether how something is being said is
important. For instance, the narrative of a prisoner trying to justify their crime could provide insight
into their view of the world and the justice system. Similarly, analysing the ways entrepreneurs talk
about the struggles in their careers or cancer patients telling stories of hope could provide powerful
insights into their mindsets and perspectives. Simply put, narrative analysis is about paying attention
to the stories that people tell – and more importantly, the way they tell them.

Of course, the narrative approach has its weaknesses, too. Sample sizes are generally quite small due
to the time-consuming process of capturing narratives. Because of this, along with the multitude of
social and lifestyle factors which can influence a subject, narrative analysis can be quite difficult to
reproduce in subsequent research. This means that it’s difficult to test the findings of some of this
research.

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Similarly, researcher bias can have a strong influence on the results here, so you need to be
particularly careful about the potential biases you can bring into your analysis when using this
method. Nevertheless, narrative analysis is still a very useful qualitative analysis method – just keep
these limitations in mind and be careful not to draw broad conclusions. If you’re keen to learn more
about narrative analysis, the video below provides a great introduction to this qualitative analysis
method.

4. Discourse Analysis

Discourse is simply a fancy word for written or spoken language or debate. So, discourse analysis is
all about analysing language within its social context. In other words, analysing language – such as a
conversation, a speech, etc – within the culture and society it takes place. For example, you could
analyse how a janitor speaks to a CEO, or how politicians speak about terrorism.

To truly understand these conversations or speeches, the culture and history of those involved in the
communication are important factors to consider. For example, a janitor might speak more casually
with a CEO in a company that emphasises equality among workers. Similarly, a politician might speak
more about terrorism if there was a recent terrorist incident in the country.

So, as you can see, by using discourse analysis, you can identify how culture, history or power
dynamics (to name a few) have an effect on the way concepts are spoken about. So, if your research
aims and objectives involve understanding culture or power dynamics, discourse analysis can be a
powerful method.

Because there are many social influences in terms of how we speak to each other, the potential use
of discourse analysis is vast. Of course, this also means it’s important to have a very specific research
question (or questions) in mind when analysing your data and looking for patterns and themes, or
you might land up going down a winding rabbit hole.

Discourse analysis can also be very time-consuming as you need to sample the data to the point of
saturation – in other words, until no new information and insights emerge. But this is, of course, part
of what makes discourse analysis such a powerful technique. So, keep these factors in mind when
considering this QDA method. Again, if you’re keen to learn more, the video below presents a good
starting point.

5. Visual analysis
https://www.monash.edu/student-academic-success/excel-at-writing/annotated-assessment-samples/art-design-and-architecture/mada-
visual-analysis#:~:text=Visual%20analysis%20identifies%20and%20explores,argument%20based%20on%20visual%20evidence.

Visual analysis increases your understanding of how visual material communicates and functions,
whether it generates meaning, elicits emotion or creates a mood. Visual analysis can be applied to
any visual material including art, design and architecture.

Visual analysis identifies and explores characteristics of example material and relationships within
the context in which they were produced and encountered. The purpose of visual analysis is to make
an argument based on visual evidence. There are three parts to writing a visual analysis:

1. identify, describe and analyse the visual material

Identify, describe and analyse the visual material

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Begin by stating the type of material (for example, a building, a photograph, etc.), who made it, its
title/name, and the year it was created. If relevant, also state its media, materials, components,
dimensions, and location.

Then, examine and describe formal elements such as colour, line, shape, texture, and tone.

Next, analyse the composition, for example, relationships between elements like balance, geometry,
pattern, proportion, repetition, rhythm, scale, and symmetrical and asymmetrical balance.

You can also consider ways the artist conveys feelings through form and space, for example,
dynamism, harmony and tension, illusion, light and shade, modeling, perspective, and positive and
negative space.

Note: It is important to distinguish between description and analysis. Description merely describes or
explains something, whereas analysis examines and evaluates relationships, and makes
comparisons. You need to identify and describe the visual examples, but when you start discussing
the composition and the feelings it conveys you’ll begin to analyse them.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT ANALYSIS METHOD?

In light of all of the qualitative analysis methods we’ve covered so far, you’re probably asking
yourself the question, “How do I choose the right one?”

Much like all the other methodological decisions you’ll need to make, selecting the right qualitative
analysis method largely depends on your research aims, objectives and questions. In other words,
the best tool for the job depends on what you’re trying to build. For example:

Perhaps your research aims to analyse the use of words and what they reveal about the intention of
the storyteller and the cultural context of the time.

Perhaps your research aims to develop an understanding of the unique personal experiences of
people that have experienced a certain event, or

Perhaps your research aims to develop insight regarding the influence of a certain culture on its
members.

As you can probably see, each of these research aims are distinctly different, and therefore different
analysis methods would be suitable for each one. For example, narrative analysis would likely be a
good option for the first aim, while grounded theory wouldn’t be as relevant.

It’s also important to remember that each method has its own set of strengths, weaknesses and
general limitations. No single analysis method is perfect. So, depending on the nature of your
research, it may make sense to adopt more than one method (this is called triangulation). Keep in
mind though that this will of course be quite time-consuming.

As we’ve seen, all of the qualitative analysis methods we’ve discussed make use of coding and
theme-generating techniques, but the intent and approach of each analysis method differ quite
substantially. So, it’s very important to come into your research with a clear intention before you
decide which analysis method (or methods) to use.

Start by reviewing your research aims, objectives and research questions to assess what exactly
you’re trying to find out – then select a qualitative analysis method that fits. Never pick a method
just because you like it or have experience using it – your analysis method (or methods) must align
with your broader research aims and objectives.