QBRDM #6

Analyze Qualitative Data

BUS-7380 Assignment # 6

Elton Norman

Dr. Vicki Lindsay

9 November 2019

Research Design and Data Collection

The research design that I am going to use for this assignment is the qualitative research design, as used in my assignment of week 5. Qualitative research designs may take various forms as I had illustrated, the first one being the grounded theory, which is used as a different approach for the developing theories, as arising from an established relationship after the process of data collection and analysis. This theory arises after a systematic gathering of data (Patten, 2017). The other form of qualitative data is case studies. This design analyses a set of issues within the limits of a given organization, situation, environment and so on. A case study may take the form of explanatory, exploratory or descriptive design.

Data collected

Data collection in grounded theory was based on observation notes by the participant through getting engaged in people's daily activities and the subjects in question. Data was also collected through interviewing the subjects. The use of texts and artifacts was as well used to gather data. In the case of study, data was collected was on the description of a situation by a subject, and answered the question of how and why. The explanation was based on a real-life event, and as well used the question who and what.

Organizing Data

Qualitative research comes up with a wide range of data that is derived from various sources like interviews, observation notes, questionnaires, and official documents. Due to a wide range of respondents as well as the participants well as a variety of researchers, it is important to classify and organize data to make its understanding easier (Creswell, 2013). The following five steps are the steps involved in organizing data.

1. Reviewing the whole set of data so to bring out themes or patterns, which are then assigned symbols or numbers to make it easier for the analysis.

2. Creating a table for the codes to ensure that there is consistency in the codes and that such codes are accessible from several researchers.

3. Classifying data into various groups according to various codes, make easier for the analysis and discussion. This may focus on themes that are independent as recorded in the data.

4. Organizing the data survey inform of a sub-topic or question to analyses data easily. This organization may take the form of question or subtopic

5. Coding the already transcribed data and labeling it to make data readily evident. In this case, it would be easy for a researcher to access information which has been analyzed, grouped and transcribed.

Coding and thematic development

In qualitative research, coding refers to the main method that is used in the development of themes or the patterns of meaning in data classification (Saldana, 2015). Thematic development is concerned with examining themes or general patterns within data analysis. In this case, coding defines the data being analyzations process identifies a passage within a text or any item of data like an image or a photograph, getting the concepts and looking for the relationship that exists between them. Coding is therefore seen as the process of linking data to an idea. In my case, concept and data-driven codes are being used to getting an idea from the research data. Thematic development, on the other hand, enroots on identification and interpretation of the pattern of meaning or themes used in the research work (Ryan, 2016). In my case, this was done through discourse analysis after the interviews and interpreting the observational notes. coding and thematic development make it easier to understand data.

Triangulation

This is the process of using a variety of data sources to make data comprehension easier. Triangulation also has found to test data validity through the convergence of given information from many sources. In this case, many methods are used to collect data to ensure data validity. Triangulation also increases a reader's knowledge as information is availed from different sources (Rothbauer, 2015). In my example, I have triangulated my qualitative study in data collection, where I used ground theory and the case study, to come up with more information on the research. This has helped widen the scope of research.

Using software applications

It is important to use software for qualitative analysis of data. This software system helps in processing discourse analysis, content analysis, text interpretation coding of information and interpreting information to enable a person to make informed decisions. In this case, I will use the SPSS software program for my qualitative research study.

References Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative Inquary & Research Design: Choosing Among the Five Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 78. Patten, M. &. (2017). Understanding Research Methods: An overview of the essentials. Routledge, 52. Rothbauer, P. (2015). Triangulation: Qualitative Research Methods. Sage Publications, 891. Ryan, G. a. (2016). Techniques to Identify Themes. Field Methods, 95. Saldana, J. (2015). The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers (3rd edition). SAGE Publications Ltd.