Qualitative Data Analysis Assignment
Running head: QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 1
Qualitative Data Analysis:
A Phenomenological Approach to Doctoral Persistence
Liberty University
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 2
Abstract
This prospectus focuses on doctoral persistence and the lived experience of students in doctoral
programs. The researcher begins by introducing the topic of doctoral persistence. Doctoral
persistence has been a much studied topic, but it was determined that gaps existed in current
research. The researcher states the purpose of this study, its delimitations, and the problem being
researched throughout this paper. The lived experience of doctoral persistence in students
enrolled in a doctoral program was selected as the emphasis. Next, phenomenology was chosen
and defined as the proper research design to complete the study. Researcher roles and validation
strategies were defined in association to naming the research methodology. Then, the researcher
transitions to the data collection methods and explains how emergent themes were derived from
journals of 14 doctoral classmates, letters to prospective doctoral students, and two interviews of
doctoral recipients. Those theme were compared and contrasted to one another, and previous
research, to make interpretations and explain the lived experience of doctoral persistence for
students enrolled in a doctoral program. These interpretation are made to improve and
encourage the doctoral persistence of future doctoral students.
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 3
Qualitative Data Analysis
Qualitative research is an immersive process that encourages the researcher to engage and
understand the studied participants. Doctoral degrees are the pinnacle of academia, but doctoral
persistence remains a concerning issue for students and academic institutions. This paper will
emphasize phenomenological research focusing on doctoral persistence.
Introduction
Issues with student retention have spanned decades; however, the majority of studies
have focused primarily on undergraduate students (Falconer & Adragna, 2017). Doctoral
students are lauded for their academic background, and past research suggests the many rewards
of doctoral research; however, many doctoral students struggle with challenges presented by
their doctoral program (Vekkaila, Pyhältö, & Lonka, 2013). Many students are working full-
time and struggling to complete their programs. The topic of doctoral persistence has emerged
as an important issue for those students.
Issues in Doctoral Persistence
Enrollment in doctoral studies has been on the rise over the last two decades;
unfortunately, unsustainable doctoral persistence is preventing many doctoral students from
completing their programs (Litalien & Guay, 2015). Attrition rates at doctoral programs remain
disconcertingly high, ranging from 40 to 70 percent dependent of program emphasis, with many
online programs even higher (Rockinson-Szapkiw, Spaulding, & Spaulding, 2016). These high
attrition rates are discouraging for aspiring doctoral students and detrimental to universities.
Doctoral dropouts are crushing for both students and universities due to the financial and time
sacrifices committed by each during the program. Doctoral students help push the research and
creativity in their respective fields. Programs and universities will need to encourage doctoral
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 4
persistence and retain these students to continue seeing improvement in a rapidly changing
environment (Di Pierro, 2007).
Over 43 percent of doctoral students admitted having thoughts of quitting their program
in a survey of 669 students from different departments (Pyhältö, Toom, Stubb, & Lonka, 2012).
This shows wavering persistence in students and reflects the high attrition rates of many
programs. Studies often suggest factors encouraging doctoral persistence are the most common
factors leading to attrition if they are not present. Student motivation, external motivation from
family, peers, or advisors, student-faculty relationships, and program design were found to
commonly attribute to doctoral persistence in students (Spaulding & Rockinson-Szapkiw, 2012).
However, some deficiencies exist in these studies and some variables are not taken into account.
Many studies recite time management as a recurring theme, but not enough studies speak to the
lived experiences of students when enrolled in a program.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this phenomenological study will be to describe the lived experience of
doctoral persistence for doctoral students enrolled in a doctoral program at Liberty University.
At this stage in the research, the lived experience of doctoral persistence will generally be
defined as processes, procedures, and issues endured by doctoral students while completing their
doctoral program.
Delimitations. The study was constrained to an eight week qualitative studies class at
Liberty University. The data analysis points occurred throughout the semester from different
classmates and various assignments. Primary research is limited to two interviews done by the
researcher and a letter to a prospective doctoral student.
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 5
Research question. What is the lived experience of doctoral persistence for a student
who is enrolled in a doctoral program?
Phenomenological Design to Doctoral Persistence
Phenomenological research is a qualitative research method that attempts to describe the
common experience a group of individuals share resulting from some type of phenomenon
(Creswell & Poth). Phenomenology seeks to explain what a human is experiencing. Another
simple definition defines it as a way of illuminating the meaning of experiences or understanding
the appearance of things in a person’s life (Smith, 2016). Researchers will record data from
individual accounts and describe what was experienced and how the individual experienced it.
Common examples of phenomenological experiences are insomnia, anger, or grief (Creswell &
Poth, 2016).
Phenomenology contains several common features. Each study will emphasize a
phenomenon; this phenomenology seeks to explain the experience of doctoral students who work
full-time while completing their doctoral degree. Studies often include three to fifteen
participants with a shared experience (Creswell & Poth, 2016). This study will include a class of
14 participants and two interviewed participants. After researchers determine that a
phenomenological approach is best for a research problem, researchers will identify
philosophical assumptions and collect data from the participant through several interviews; then,
they will pinpoint significant statements to develop a description to help report the phenomenon
(Creswell & Poth, 2016). These significant statement are highlighted as emergent themes near
the end of the study and sourced from the data collection procedures. When the researcher
finishes the study, he/she hopes to add to or help understand the conscious experiences of the
interviewed participants (Smith, 2016).
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 6
Using Phenomenology
Instead of focusing on individual biographies, phenomenology separates itself from other
qualitative research designs by focusing on a person’s perception of an object or phenomenon
(Wilson, 2015). It may be used best by individuals sharing experiences involving emotions, a
specific behavior, thoughts, sensations, or memories (Walters, 2017). Phenomenological
research methods better fit unstructured research questions that have little research or evidence
(Goes, 2013). Phenomenology should be used when the researcher wants to develop useful
information for future individuals experiencing a certain phenomenon (Wilson, 2015).
Role of the Researcher
The researcher was responsible for conducting a study focused on doctoral persistence
and building his knowledge of it and qualitative study methods with each progressing week in
the course. Data collection began with a literature review of doctoral persistence to define it and
the problems facing it. Letters were written to prospective doctoral students to highlight lessons
learned through the researcher’s Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) program at
Liberty University. Letters from other students in the course were reviewed to collect additional
data. Finally, interviews were conducted with two Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) recipients to
understand their lived experiences while completing their doctoral degree.
The researcher must account for personal biases in the study. Prior to this doctoral
program, the researcher had not been employed full-time while completing an undergraduate or
graduate degree. He is currently enrolled as a second semester doctoral student at Liberty
University. Therefore, a bias exists for the topic of doctoral persistence and its importance as a
study. Time management is a strongly held value of the researcher, so biases may exist for time
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 7
management as a reason for doctoral persistence or a common component in the lived experience
of doctoral students.
Data Collection Procedures
Data collection was broken down by the procedure. Discussion board journals, letters to
prospective students, and interviews were categorized and reviewed for themes. Codes from
each category were found. Then, those codes and themes were expanded upon by the researcher
based on the gained knowledge of doctoral persistence and qualitative studies from the course.
Next, the themes and codes were compared to one another to find similarities and discrepancies.
Finally, those themes were compared to the emergent themes of the literature review conducted
at the beginning of the course.
Validation Strategies
The researcher will employ validation strategies from the researcher’s lens and reader’s
lens to ensure the validity and reliability of the study. Researchers can provide validity to their
research by triangulating themes and codes of studies done by other researchers (Creswell &
Poth, 2018). Researcher biases were clarified already in the role of the researcher section which
will help explain the interpretations made throughout the study. Per the reader’s or reviewer’s
lens, the researcher will have an expert of the phenomenon review the research process. This
will challenge the researcher by asking hard questions about his methods and interpretations
(Creswell & Poth, 2018).
Anticipated Ethical Issues
Doctoral programs are known for their trials, which can result in an abundance of ethical
issues that materialize through struggling doctoral persistence and components of the research
process. It can be easy to compromise values to remain persistent in a program. Christians face
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 8
an added challenge to persist through the position God placed them in and be an example to
others. Researchers should not reveal information their participants do not want revealed.
Additionally, they must articulate their stories and responses to interview questions accurately.
Research will address these issues by applying a Christian worldview. Christians should
keep their composure when they encounter a perplexing situation and resist faltering (Keller &
Alsdorf, 2012). God declares in Jeremiah 29:11 that He has a plan for His followers, plans that
provide hope and future and are not intended to harm. This should motivate students struggling
with their persistence to endure their current program. Proverbs 12:26 tells that righteous
Christians are to guide their neighbors and not lead them astray. Christians have a moral
responsibility to be good examples in all that they do.
Emergent Theme Analysis
Several themes emerged from the data collection procedures in the study. Themes, such
as motivating factors and work load balance, were shared among the data sources. However,
some themes that emerged were not shared with the emergent themes of the literature review at
the beginning of the course. Themes from class discussion boards or journals, letters to
prospective students, and doctoral persistence interviews offered valuable information to make
interpretations and answer the research question.
Journal Themes
BUSI 715 at Liberty University required students to complete six discussion board
forums or journals over the course of eight weeks. Each discussion board focused on different
aspects of qualitative studies and the students’ knowledge of doctoral persistence. The journals
began in week one with class introductions and student experiences with doctoral persistence;
they concluded in week eight with each student’s proposal for their applied doctoral research
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 9
project (ADRP). Doctoral persistence, doctoral motivation, and time management were the
emergent themes.
Doctoral persistence. Most students participating in the journals had little experience
with doctoral persistence, and many were only in their second semester. It is reasonable to
discern some had not heard of the term doctoral persistence. One student admitted, “I was not
familiar with the term doctoral persistence at the time, but when I began the DBA program last
fall, I experienced the difficulties associated with it.” Although students may have been
unfamiliar with doctoral persistence, they were familiar with its concepts and complexities.
Students admitted to struggling with doctoral persistence, and a third year student said, “Initially,
I was incredibly overwhelmed and did not know if this was something I should be doing.” These
students were just beginning to learn about doctoral persistence and experience its struggles.
Doctoral motivation. The course required students to develop a research question
centered on doctoral persistence accompanied by five interview questions. The majority of the
fourteen students opened their interviews with a question about doctoral motivation. Doctoral
motivation is explained as the student’s inspiration for pursuing a doctoral degree. Students
selected current or finished doctoral students for their hypothetical interview, and some even
geared their questions toward doctoral faculty. Students assumed there was a connection
between initial motivation to pursue a doctoral degree and persistence in the program.
Time management. Although students were less familiar with doctoral persistence at
the beginning of the course, they highlighted the importance of time management. In the early
phases of the course, students defined time management as the ability to prioritize activities and
allot time to the most pertinent ones. One student confirmed its importance by stating, “Priority
management is the most important aspect and has helped me during the program.” Another
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 10
student supported that sentiment by indicating, “Planning time to study, read, write and research
is critical.”
Letters to Prospective Students
Fourteen students wrote letters to prospective doctoral students at Liberty University as
part of their required assignments for BUSI 715. The letters detailed the challenges faced by
students in their doctoral program, and they advised the prospective student on best practices for
doctoral persistence. Each student came from a different background or expertise, but they had
all experienced at least one semester of doctoral studies. Letters were reviewed for common
themes, and time management, stable support systems, and motivating factors emerged as the
most important dynamics for doctoral persistence.
Time management. Doctoral programs require an immense time commitment. Time
management was defined by several students as the time allocated to each important factor in
their lives, such as family, friends, school, and jobs. Many students developed a system that
enabled them to comfortably complete their weekly studies and dedicate time to other important
things in their life. One student highlighted the importance of time management, “Time
management has proven vital to program success. It will consume a lot of time, and you will
sacrifice a lot of things.” Students warned of the potential pitfalls of mismanaging time in the
program; one cautioned, “Unless you are at a point in your life where you are willing, and able,
to put aside 30 to 40 hours per week on your DBA program for the next three to four years, then
you might be setting yourself up to fail.”
Stable support systems. Each student echoed the importance of having a strong support
system. Stable support systems can be explained as family, peers, or institutional factors that
encourage doctoral persistence in students. An abundance of examples were presented by
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 11
students. When experiencing challenges, many students leaned on their faith in God. Other
students leaned on support from family and friends. “Having a great support system is essential
when working on your doctoral program. It is important that your family and friends are
supportive and helpful during the time you are working on your degree,” said one student.
Liberty’s academic environment was applauded by many students because of supportive faculty
and fellow students. Another student stated in his prospective letter, “The professors genuinely
care about the students and are always willing to help if you are in need; additionally, I have
never been in an environment where fellow students are so encouraging toward their peers’
success.”
Motivating factors. Students repeatedly mentioned the importance of referencing their
motivating factors. Those motivating factors are defined as the reason(s) a student enrolled in
their doctoral program. That motivation could come intrinsically, as a goal or career
advancement, or extrinsically, as a work requirement. The prospective letter of a student
reinforced, “Whether a DBA is just a goal or for career advancement, remember why you sought
the program, and use that to get you through the tough times.” However, issues can persist if
those motivating factors are not personally driven. One student explained, “I have found in some
research that starting a doctoral program based on the pressure from others may eventually
hinder your persistence in the program.”
Doctoral Persistence Interviews
Data was collected for the phenomenological study by interviewing two experts on
doctoral persistence. The interviews are focused on doctoral persistence and the factors that
motivated the interviewed participants to apply for their program and encouraged them to persist
throughout it. The first interview was held with an Assistant Professor that attained his Ph.D. in
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 12
Education in 2016. The researcher was a student of the interviewee in both his undergraduate
and graduate studies. The second interview was conducted with a retired Ph.D. and former
educator that works regularly with the interviewer in his current profession. Both interviews
were conducted in Charleston, WV over the phone. The researcher hoped the resulting answers
would shed light on the lived experience of students while completing a doctoral program. Each
question was designed to build on the previous one to help develop an understanding of each
participant and compile the necessary data to answer to the research question. The five interview
questions posed to the participants were
1. What is/was your occupation?
2. What inspired you to pursue a doctoral degree?
3. How did you balance work load and doctoral classwork?
4. How often did you work on program assignments?
5. How did your job affect your doctoral studies?
The two participants shared common experiences throughout their doctoral programs.
Several themes emerged from the interviews. Although, the two had differing views and
experiences regarding some of those themes; motivating factors, advisor involvement, and work
load balance resonated throughout the interviews.
Motivating factors. Both participants had strong motivating factors that drove them to
the completion of their programs. Participant one was motivated extrinsically to complete the
program and become Assistant Professor at his university. When asked how his job affected his
doctoral studies, he responded, “I had to complete my doctoral studies to keep my job. I was
literally told, “You don’t finish, and you don’t keep your job.” That’s a pretty good motivator
too.” Participant two referred to her strong intrinsic motivation to enroll and complete her Ph.D.
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 13
program. She said, “It’s something I always wanted to do; that was just the piece that sort of got
me in the end. It drove me to that goal, and I never looked back. I loved every minute of it.”
The motivating factors emerged as the most important factors in doctoral persistence from the
two interviews.
Advisor involvement. The two participants endured drastically different experiences
with their advisor. However, both indicated the involvement of their advisors played a crucial
role. Participant one struggled between his course work and dissertation phase; he affirmed
nobody cared whether he succeeded or failed. Although participant one idolized his advisor, he
admitted, “She didn’t care; she had a thousand other things going on.” Conversely, participant
two had a very positive relationship with her advisor, citing him as one of the greatest
encouraging factors to her doctoral persistence. Her advisor reinforced her by telling her, “I
have no doubt you’re going to finish.” The two interview participants may have had different
relationships with their advisors, but each underscored an advisor’s role to persistence in a
doctoral program.
Work load balance. Each interviewed participant mentioned the importance of
balancing class work and the work load for their full-time job because of the challenge a doctoral
program presents. Participant one said, “It was very hard…because you can quit at any point.
You can get demoralized.” Participant two echoed the difficulty by repeatedly mentioning her
challenging courses. Each were forced to carefully consider how they allotted their time to work
and school. Participant one’s work schedule as a professor was developed around his class
schedule. Interviewee two scheduled class work in a way that would not overwhelm her. She
explained, “I always made sure I took two classes per semester, and I tried to make sure one of
those were an online course so I wasn’t going to class as much.” Each interviewee underwent an
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 14
adjustment phase because they had established careers and families already. They were forced to
prioritize and put their classwork ahead of other important factors in their lives.
Collective Theme Comparison
Several emergent themes were reflected across all three data sources. Motivation and
time management, or work load balance, was an emergent theme in discussion boards, letters to
prospective students, and interviews. Doctoral work is hard and students can quit at any time
because many other things consume their time or they lose motivation. However, students that
were capable of finding a way to balance the workload between their classes and jobs found this
time management skill crucial to seeing the experience through to its completion. Also, support
systems or advisor relationship was a shared theme between two data sources. Certain
relationships were present during the doctoral experience of students and it positively influenced
their doctoral persistence.
The emergent themes found in this study reflect many of the emergent themes found in
previous doctoral persistence studies. Spaulding and Rockinson-Szapkiw (2012) found students’
professional or personal motivation, outside support of family members, friends, or academic
advisors, and program characteristics were the most attributing factors for doctoral persistence.
Carolyn Hart (2012) found online students shared many of the same characteristics with
instructor communication, support from family and friends, time management, personal
motivation, and the online community pointing to persistence. These sources echoed the
motivation, support system and time management themes found in this study. However, this
study offered more in-depth data on the motivating factors of students. The interviews better
explain the role a student’s profession has on their doctoral persistence.
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 15
Although many themes in the literature review paralleled that of the study, the research
question was posed because a gap was found in previous research. The findings of this study
will help current and future doctoral students deal with the challenges of a doctoral program.
Aspiring students can assess these lived experiences to determine if they are ready to pursue a
doctoral degree. Because this study was constrained to an eight week period within the
constructs of a BUSI 715 class, researchers could launch a larger study into the lived experiences
of doctoral students.
Conclusion
This phenomenological study observed the lived experience of doctoral persistence for
students that were enrolled in or had finished a doctoral program. Data was pulled from the
coursework of current doctoral students focused on qualitative studies and doctoral persistence.
Additional data was derived from an interview of two Ph.D. recipients on the topic of doctoral
persistence. After an analysis of the emergent themes, the researcher can conclude that students
enrolled in a doctoral program are forced to make life changes to properly manage time
constraints, rely on a support system, and have a steadfast motivating factor to persist in their
doctoral program. These themes were present throughout the doctoral experience of the two
interviewed doctoral recipients, and they were confirmed through the coursework and early
experiences of the DBA class. Further research should be done to assess the lived experiences of
a larger group of doctoral students who are enrolled in or have completed a program. However,
the defined experiences of these studied students will offer perspective into the struggle of
balancing the responsibilities of doctoral class work and daily responsibilities.
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 16
References
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among
five approaches (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Di Pierro, M. (2007). Excellence in doctoral education: Defining best practices. College Student
Journal, 41(2), 368-369. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%7CA163679006&sid=googleScholar
&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=fulltext&issn=01463934&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1&is
AnonymousEntry=true
Falconer, A., & Adragna, S. (2017). Personality types and persistence in doctoral students: A
mixed-methods study. Psychology and Behavioral Science International Journal, 2(5), 1-
9. doi:10.19080/pbsij.2017.02.555598
Goes, J. (2013, July 18). When and when not to use phenomenology. Retrieved from
http://www.dissertationrecipes.com/when-and-when-not-to-use-phenomenology/
Hart, C. (2012). Factors associated with student persistence in an online program of study: A
review of the literature. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 11(1), 19-42. Retrieved
from http://www.ncolr.org/jiol/issues/pdf/11.1.2.pdf
Keller, T., & Alsdorf, K. L. (2012). Every good endeavor: connecting your work to Gods work.
New York: Penguin Books.
Litalien, D., & Guay, F. (2015). Dropout intentions in PhD studies: A comprehensive model
based on interpersonal relationships and motivational resources. Contemporary
Educational Psychology, 41, 218-231. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2015.03.004
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 17
Pyhältö, K., Toom, A., Stubb, J., & Lonka, K. (2012). Challenges of becoming a scholar: A
study of doctoral students problems and well-being. ISRN Education, 2012, 1-12.
doi:10.5402/2012/934941
Rockinson-Szapkiw, A. J., Spaulding, L. S., & Spaulding, M. T. (2016). Identifying significant
integration and institutional factors that predict online doctoral persistence. The Internet
and Higher Education, 31, 101-112. Retrieved from
http://rx9vh3hy4r.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-
2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-
8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ff
mt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Identifying significant
integration and institutional factors that predict online doctoral persistence&rft.jtitle=The
Internet and Higher Education&rft.au=Rockinson-Szapkiw%2C Amanda
J&rft.au=Spaulding%2C Lucinda S&rft.au=Spaulding%2C Maria T&rft.date=2016-10-
01&rft.issn=1096-7516&rft.eissn=1873-
5525&rft.volume=31&rft.spage=101&rft.epage=112&rft_id=info:doi/10.1016%2Fj.ihed
uc.2016.07.003&rft.externalDBID=n%2Fa&rft.externalDocID=10_1016_j_iheduc_2016
_07_003¶mdict=en-US
Smith, D. W. (2013). Phenomenology. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, (7). Retrieved from
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/phenomenology/.
Spaulding, L., & Rockinson-Szapkiw, A. J. (2012). Hearing their voices: Factors doctoral
candidates attribute to their persistence. International Journal of Doctoral Studies , 7,
199-219. Retrieved from http://ijds.org/Volume7/IJDSv7p199-219Spaulding334.pdf
QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS 18
Vekkaila, J., Pyhältö, K., & Lonka, K. (2013). Experiences of disengagement – A study of
doctoral students in the behavioral sciences. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 8,
61-81. doi:10.28945/1870
Walters, J. (2017). Phenomenological research guidelines. Retrieved from
https://www.capilanou.ca/psychology/student-resources/research-
guidelines/Phenomenological-Research-Guidelines/
Wilson, A. (2015). A guide to phenomenological research. Nursing Standard, 29(34), 34.
Retrieved from https://search-proquest-
com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1785221618?pq-origsite=summon&accountid=12085.