Reasoning & Interpreting Data Janet Salmons, PhD

Multiple forms of reasoning may be needed to find meaning in data Reflexive researchers use: Deductive coding: looking for evidence of key concepts identified the research design. Inductive coding: looking for concepts, themes and patterns that emerge from the data. Abductive reasoning: moving from codes to clusters or categories, to explanations. Findings

Deductive Reasoning Deduction involves reasoning from the general to the particular. Researchers can identify premises, categories, principles from the research problem statement, research questions, interview questions, theoretical framework or seminal literature that become codes used to screen and categorize the data.

Inductive Reasoning Inductive reasoning allows us to make order from chaos, to see the whole from the fragments. Inductive reasoning draws from observed cases more general statements or general claims about most cases of the same kind (Johnsson, Eriksson, Helgesson, & Hansson, 2014). Researchers identify codes from the data. Themes and trends data are drawn from the data and interpreted by the researcher.

Abductive Reasoning Abductive reasoning is a form of logical inference that goes from observation to an explanation that accounts for the observation, and seeks to explain relevant evidence (Locke, 2010; Schwandt, 2007). Abduction refers to the process of moving from the everyday descriptions and meanings given by people, to categories and concepts that create the basis of an understanding or an explanation to the phenomenon described.

References Bernard, H. R., & Ryan, G. (2009). Analyzing qualitative data. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. Johnsson, L., Eriksson, S., Helgesson, G., & Hansson, M. G. (2014). Making researchers moral: Why trustworthiness requires more than ethics guidelines and review. Research Ethics, 10(1), 29-46. doi: 10.1177/1747016113504778 Locke, K. (2010). Abduction. In A. J. Mills, G. Durepos & E. Wiebe (Eds.), Encyclopedia of case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. Schwandt, T. A. (Ed.). (2007). The SAGE dictionary of qualitative inquiry: SAGE Publications, Inc.