The Logics & Logistics of Qualitative Research A Framework for Exploring Concepts, Dimensions, and Relationships in Qualitative Data using NVivo Research Software The Logics and Logistics of Qualitative Research: A Framework for Exploring Concepts, Dimensions, and Relationships in Qualitative Data using NVivo Research Software by Mandy J. Swygart-Hobaugh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The Logics & Logistics of Qualitative Research A Framework for Exploring Concepts, Dimensions, and Relationships in Qualitative Data using NVivo Research Software Dr. Ralph LaRossa Dr. Mandy Swygart-Hobaugh Professor Emeritus of Sociology Librarian Associate Professor and Team Leader for Research Data Services

See handout for readings/resources mentioned during presentation. Discussion of: “The Logics” involved in building theoretically-rich qualitative analyses – Dr. Ralph LaRossa.  “The Logistics” of using specific features of NVivo qualitative research software to facilitate these analyses – Dr. Mandy Swygart-Hobaugh.    Q&A/Discussion See handout for readings/resources mentioned during presentation.

LaRossa on “The Logics” NOTE: Dr. LaRossa’s slides are not included in this web-posted version – please refer to the following articles for the content relevant to his portion of the presentation: LaRossa, R. (2012). Writing and reviewing manuscripts in the multidimensional world of qualitative research. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(4), 643-659. LaRossa, R. (2012). Thinking about the nature and scope of qualitative research. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(4), 678-687. LaRossa, R. (2005). Grounded theory methods and qualitative family research. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(4), 837-857. See also the Selected Readings/Resources on the last slide.

Swygart-Hobaugh on “The Logistics” Hands-On NVivo Workshops: Dates/Registration on “NVivo Help & Workshops” tab of NVivo online help guide @ http://research.library.gsu.edu/nvivo

The Story “I want to bring us to that awesome point where you have collected . . . tons of data and then you have to do something with them. You face the terrible moment when you want to leave this mortal coil because you are wondering what all of this awful buzzing confusion called ‘the data’ can possibly mean . . . What is the story? . . . .” Davis, F. J. (1974). Stories and sociology. Urban Life and Culture 3, 310-316.

NOTE: Dr. Swygart-Hobaugh artificially manipulated the analyses contained in this presentation to have ideal examples to illustrate NVivo’s features. The data is available via ICPSR if others wish to use the resources for actual analyses, but the data will likely not bear out the results presented in these slides.

Coding using NVivo Nodes LaRossa, R. 2012. Writing and reviewing manuscripts in the multidimensional world of qualitative research. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(4), 643-659. [Figure on p.650]

Indicators Concepts

# of text segments coded (Indicators) # of Sources coded # of text segments coded (Indicators) Nodes = Concepts Coding Stripes Highlighted text = Coding References = Indicators

Run Word Frequency and/or Text Search Queries to tease out possible Indicator-Concept connections for coding LaRossa, R. 2012. Writing and reviewing manuscripts in the multidimensional world of qualitative research. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(4), 643-659. [Figure on p.650]

Double-click word

Click here to see full source

What interpretations might we draw from “boy/boys” being the 2nd most frequent word grouping, appearing 2586 times, and “girl/girls” not even making the top 25, appearing 797 times? Is there something about the discussion of “boys” that alludes to an Indicator-Concept connection we could code for? What story can we tell?

Double-click to see mentions of words in full context of Source

Read mentions of “help/assist/aid” etc Read mentions of “help/assist/aid” etc. and determine if they are Indicators of a new Concept(s) to code for

Read mentions of “help/assist/aid” etc Read mentions of “help/assist/aid” etc. and determine if they are Indicators of a new Concept(s) to code for

Create Hierarchical Coding Structure (aka Parent/Child Nodes) of Variables/Dimensions LaRossa, R. 2012. Writing and reviewing manuscripts in the multidimensional world of qualitative research. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(4), 643-659. [Figure on p.650]

Dimensions/Variables Concept Dimensions/Variables

Create Classifications for your Data Sources with their Varying Attributes LaRossa, R. 2012. Writing and reviewing manuscripts in the multidimensional world of qualitative research. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(4), 643-659. [Figure on p.650]

Classification Sheet with Attributes Attributes ≈ Characteristics that vary among the units of analysis (e.g. letter writers) ≈ Variables Use for analytical comparisons AND exploring possible Variable-Relationship formations

Run Matrix Coding Queries LaRossa, R. 2012. Writing and reviewing manuscripts in the multidimensional world of qualitative research. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(4), 643-659. [Figure on p.650]

Is there a relationship between the letter writer’s gender and whether they are taking or assigning blame for the child’s issues?

# of Coding References (i.e. coded text segments)

Double-click cell to see coded text segments

Right-click to “Export Node Matrix” to Excel for more calculations

INTERPRETATION: When looking at a Matrix Coding comparison by #/% coded text segments, it appears that the women are much more likely to blame themselves for the child’s issues than are the men AND that the men are much more likely to blame others than are the women.

BUT need to take into account that we’ve coded multiple text segments in a given individual source at “blaming self” and/or “blame taking”…

Right-click to change Cell Content display –change from # of Coding References (text segments) to # of Sources Coded

Right-click to change Cell Content display –change from # of Coding References (text segments) to # of Sources Coded

INTERPRETATION: If we take into account that we’ve coded multiple text segments for our Concept in a given individual source and instead display our Matrix Coding cell content at the “Sources coded” level, we see that women were still much more likely to blame themselves than others, and that men were still much more likely to blame others than themselves.

What story can we tell about this Variable-Relationship? INTERPRETATION: If we take into account that we’ve coded multiple text segments for our Concept in a given individual source and instead display our Matrix Coding cell content at the “Sources coded” level, we see that women were still much more likely to blame themselves than others, and that men were still much more likely to blame others than themselves. What story can we tell about this Variable-Relationship?

Run Coding Queries and code for Relationships LaRossa, R. 2012. Writing and reviewing manuscripts in the multidimensional world of qualitative research. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(4), 643-659. [Figure on p.650]

Is there a relationship between letter writers’ faulting themselves and feeling ashamed?

Coded at All selected nodes = text segments coded entirely or overlapping at multiple nodes (e.g. coded at both “faulting oneself” and “feeling ashamed”)

INTERPRETATION: Faulting oneself influences whether someone is feeling ashamed – i.e., there’s a Relationship. Read the text excerpts and draw your own conclusion as to whether a relationship exists between the two concepts or not.

Code the text segments of this Relationship as a Relationship Node: “Faulting oneself influences feeling ashamed.”

Visualize your Relationship by creating an interactive Project Map. NEW QUESTION: Is the gender of the letter writer a moderating influence on this relationship?

Chart Relationship Coding by Attribute Value of Gender

Of the 9 letters with 13 coded text segments that demonstrated a relationship between faulting oneself and feeling ashamed, all were written by women and none by men… What story can we tell re: gender as a moderating influence on this Relationship?

In conclusion, we’ve presented: “The Logics” involved in building theoretically-rich qualitative analyses.   “The Logistics” of using specific features of NVivo qualitative research software to facilitate these analyses.    Q&A/Discussion Thank you for attending!

Selected Readings/Resources: Abend, G., Petre, C., & Sauder, M. (2013). Styles of causal thought: An empirical investigation. American Journal of Sociology, 119(3), 602-654. GSU access: http://bit.ly/1vGENJ9 Davis, F. (1974). Stories and sociology. Urban Life and Culture 3(3), 310-316. GSU access: http://gilfind.gsu.edu/vufind/Record/294191 LaRossa, R. (2012). Writing and reviewing manuscripts in the multidimensional world of qualitative research. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(4), 643-659. GSU access: http://bit.ly/16NcbZ6 LaRossa, R. (2012). Thinking about the nature and scope of qualitative research. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(4), 678-687. GSU access: http://bit.ly/17UlSW1 LaRossa, R. (2005). Grounded theory methods and qualitative family research. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(4), 837-857. GSU access: http://bit.ly/1C16y12 LaRossa, R., & Sinha, C. (2006). Constructing the transition to parenthood. Sociological Inquiry, 76(4), 433-457. GSU access: http://bit.ly/1C56LTB LaRossa, R., & LaRossa, M.M. (1981). Transition to parenthood: How infants change families. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. GSU access: http://gilfind.gsu.edu/vufind/Record/510159 Roy, K., Zvonkovic, A., Goldberg, A., Sharp, E., & LaRossa, R. (2015). Sampling richness and qualitative integrity: Challenges for research with families. Journal of Marriage & Family, 77(1), 243-260. GSU access: http://bit.ly/1KnVLEP NVivo online help guide: http://research.library.gsu.edu/nvivo