1. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Chapter 8: Analyzing and Interpreting Qualitative Data Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research Edition 5 John W. Creswell

2. 8-2 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved By the end of this chapter, you should be able to: Identify the six steps in the process of analyzing and interpreting qualitative data Describe how to prepare and organize the data for analysis Describe how to explore and code the data Use codes to build description and themes Construct a representation and reporting of qualitative findings Make an interpretation of the qualitative findings Advance validation for the accuracy of your findings

3. 8-3 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Six Steps in Analyzing Qualitative Data Preparing and organizing the data for analysis Exploring the data through coding Using codes to develop description and themes Representing the findings through narratives and visuals Making an interpretation of the meaning of the findings Using strategies to validate the accuracy of the findings

4. 8-4 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved The Process of Data Analysis Codes the text for description to be used in the research report Codes the text for themes to be used in the research report The researcher codes the data (locates text segments and assigns a code to label them) The researcher prepares data for analysis (transcribes fieldnotes) The researcher collects data (a text file, such as fieldnotes, transcriptions, optically scanned material) The researcher reads through data (obtains general sense of material) Simultaneous Iteractive

5. 8-5 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Preparing and Organizing the Data Develop a matrix or table of sources that can be used to organize the material Organize material by type (all interviews, all documents, etc) Keep duplicate copies of materials Transcribe data Prepare data for hand or computer analysis (and select computer program)

6. 8-6 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Use of Qualitative Computer Programs Do NOT analyze data for you Store data, such as transcripts Organizes data Provides features to assign codes Facilitates searching through your data

7. 8-7 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Exploring the Data Obtain a general sense of the data by performing a preliminary exploratory analysis Read through fieldnotes and interviews several times to get a sense of the interview and the observation Write memos in the margins of interviews, fieldnotes, or images of your initial reflections on the data

8. 8-8 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Coding the Data Read through all transcripts Start with one document Ask, “What is this person saying?” Identify text segments Assign code word One, two, or three words that describe what is being said When possible use a participant’s actual words (in vivo code) Terms from the literature can be used Practice lean coding (e.g., 10-15 codes for 20 pg transcript)

9. 8-9 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Coding the Data (cont’d) Reduce redundancy Take out codes that are duplicate ideas Reduce to a manageable list (usually 25–30) Collapse codes into themes The major ideas that emerge from the data The ideas the participants most frequently discuss, are unique or surprising, have the most evidence to support them, or those you might expect to find when studying the phenomenon Identify 5–7 themes

10. 8-10 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved A Visual Model of the Coding Process in Qualitative Research Codes reduced to 5–7 themes Initially read through data Divide text into segments of information Label segments of information with codes Reduce overlap and redundancy of codes Collapse codes into themes Many pages of text Many segments of text 30–40 codes Codes reduced to 20-25

11. 8-11 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Using Codes to Build Description Describe People Places Events Describe in detail to build a portrait

12. 8-12 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved The Incident and Response The incident occurred on the campus of a large public university in a Midwestern city. A decade ago, this city had been designated an “all-American city,” but more recently, its normally tranquil environment has been disturbed by an increasing number of assaults and homicides. Some of these violent incidents have involved students at the university. The incident that provoked this study occurred on a Monday in October. A forty- three-year-old graduate student, enrolled in a senior-level actuarial science class, arrived a few minutes before class, armed with a vintage Korean War military semiautomatic rifle loaded with a thirty-round clip of thirty caliber ammunition. He carried another thirty-round clip in his pocket. Twenty of the thirty-four students in the class had already gathered for class, and most of them were quietly reading the student newspaper. The instructor was en route to class. The gunman pointed the rifle at the students, swept it across the room, and pulled the trigger. The gun jammed. Trying to unlock the rifle, he hit the butt of it on the instructor’s desk and quickly tried firing it again. Again it did not fire. By this time, most students realized what was happening and dropped to the floor, overturned their desks, and tried to hide behind them. After about twenty seconds, one of the students shoved a desk into the gunman, and students ran past him out into the hall and out of the building. The gunman hastily departed the room and went out of the building to his parked car, which he had left Description builds from broad to narrow Building a Descriptive Passage Situate the reader in the place Provide details Detail to create a sense of “being there” Use of action verbs and vivid modifiers and adjectives Type of Description

13. 8-13 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Using Codes to Identify Themes Ordinary themes Unexpected themes Hard-to-classify themes Major and minor themes

14. 8-14 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Safety The violence in the city that involved university students and the subsequent gun incident that occurred in a campus classroom shocked the typically tranquil campus. A counselor aptly summed up the feelings of many: “When the students walked out of that classroom, their world had become very chaotic; it had become very random, something had happened that robbed them of their sense of safety.” Concern for safety became a central reaction for many informants. When the chief student affairs officer described the administration’s reaction to the incident, he listed the safety of students in the classroom as his primary goal, followed by the needs of the news media for details about the case, helping all students with psychological stress, and providing public information on safety. As he talked about the safety issue and the presence of guns on campus, he mentioned that a policy was under consideration for the storage of guns used by students for hunting. Within 4 hours after the incident, a press conference was called during which the press was briefed not only on the details of the incident, but also on the need to ensure the safety of the campus. Soon thereafter the university administration initiated an informational campaign on campus safety. A letter, describing the incident, was sent to the university board members. (One board member asked, “How could such an incident happen at this university?”) Developing Themes in Narrative Passage Title for theme based on words of participant Evidence for themes based on multiple perspectives of participants Within themes are subthemes

15. 8-15 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Layering and Interrelating Themes Layering organizes themes minor  major  broader themes Interrelating themes involves interconnecting themes into Chronology Sequence of events Theoretical or conceptual models

16. 8-16 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Representing the Findings Comparison table: A table used to compare groups on one theme Hierarchical tree: A diagram that visually represents themes and their interconnections Figures/diagrams: A visual depiction that shows the connections between themes Drawings: Maps of the physical layout of the site Demographic table: A table of demographics on individual participants or research site

17. 8-17 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Reporting the Findings Multiple perspectives and contrary evidence Metaphors and analogies Report quotes from interviews Write in detail Tensions and contradictions Include a dialogue to support themes

18. 8-18 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Interpreting the Findings Summarize the findings Include personal reflections about the meaning of the data Compare findings with the literature, perhaps including personal views Address limitations of the study Make suggestions for future research

19. 8-19 Creswell, Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research, 5 th Ed. © (2015, 2012, 2008) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved Validating the Accuracy of the Findings Triangulation: Using corroborating evidence Member checking: Asking members to check the accuracy of the account External audit: Hiring the services of an individual outside the study to review the study