assignment

Qualitative Thematic Analysis (Coding to Theme Creation)

The word “data” is often used in qualitative discussions. In this case, ‘data’ (instead of numbers found in quantitative research) refers to narrative, pictures, videos and observations.

Qualitative analysis requires an examination and organization of the data in order to make sense of that data. The analysis of a qualitative study is time consuming, and although there are software programs that can help with the beginning of this process (such as picking out repeated words or phrases), nothing can surpass the ‘hands-on’ review of the data by an experienced researcher. Although there are multiple steps to a complete analysis, beginning with the basics will help you understand the initial steps of coding the data to theme creation. For this demonstration, using a simple letter (like the following), is a good place to start – as compared to having ten pages of interview information from ten sample participants.

The Letter

Dear Julie:

Thank you for your letter last week. I’ve been tied up trying to finish inventory, so didn’t e-mail you back. You know I will help as much as I can. It seems times just roars by.

Your have mentioned in your past three letters how badly you want to go to graduate school, but are still not sure about what area to choose. I have thought a lot about this. You should know I started out thinking I wanted to be a teacher, but ended up managing a big store. Guess it’s still all about people!

But here are some ideas: I would like you to go to the university counseling center and take some career surveys that may help you pick an area of study. You can also talk to a counselor or two, asking about how they got there and what is important to know. You could also talk to someone in the local university about programs in counseling. Sis, I guess these will take a lot of time.

I don’t want to ignore your question about money. The Pell Grant will pay for half of the costs, so I guess I can provide another $300 per month – leaving you $300 a month short. We will work on this.

Lastly, I want you to know I love you and want you to succeed. I say, go for the degree you want, and I will be with you all the way! Love, Craig

Basic steps to the qualitative analysis of the letter

1. Read (or review) the data a number of times to become familiar with the ideas.

2. Take notes as a way to identify important ideas, as well as questions the researcher might have.

3. There are two important ways to identify key ideas. One is to identify the benchmarks that provide a major reference point – like a mountain on a flat prairie. The benchmarks can provide additional or special meaning to other ideas related to that benchmark. The second is to identify the junctions – where a given set of ideas intersects with a different set of ideas. For example, when the person who is explaining about a terrible car accident, all of a sudden is talking about the noise and confusion of the people around him/her. The researcher takes notes about benchmarks and junctions to help make sense of (organize) the data.

4. Coding: The primary starting point in qualitative data analysis.

Before we think about coding, we must pay attention to a critical rule. One of the researcher’s favorite assets is the research question. This critical question “fences off “or separates the researcher’s work from an unfocused position to a focused position. As researchers we must lean on the research question and the ‘purpose of the study’ to direct our design and goals.

In the letter from Craig to sister Julie, Craig’s focus is to determine how and what to do to help his sister find the most realistic career choice. This is not the research question, but for this example, it does direct the study.

a) After reading the letter five times I have identified three sets of codes. These three different sets I can call ‘categories.’ The researcher will list and label the codes:

Code F F is for family

Code F1 You know I will help

Code F2 I love you

Code F3 Want you to succeed

Code F4 Be with you all the way

(IMPORTANT): You will ask: “How much do I code? How detailed? “

Response: After multiple readings and note taking and examining the purpose, the questions can be answered.

b) Code I I is for ideas

Code I1 Three different ideas given to do personal research

c) Code M M is for money

Code M1 Preliminary budget overview

We can identify a category for the (F) codes, simply because there are four items. At this point we can engage in the process called “coding to theme creation.” The researcher’s challenge is to find creative ways to write the themes. If we gave these codes to different qualitative researchers it is possible to come up with different themes. In this case, we would do a re-examination of our codes and theme creation. For our letter example, this likely would not happen.

A theme is a brief summary-like statement about a code (where there is one item) or a number of highly related codes, like the Family category in the letter. A good example of a theme is when your father often reminds you to “pick up your room.”

This is just a very brief and beginning overview of what we mean by thematic analysis – or the process used to categorize qualitative data. In a nutshell, the researcher will be looking to identify, label and categorize the data. He/she will look for junctions and links to subsequently decipher emerging themes and meaning.

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