Analysis in qualitative research
Chapter 1 - Introduction to qualitative research
● quantitative research: literature and previously selected theory are
used to deduce hypotheses.
○ deductive: theory is the starting point for formulating
hypotheses that will be tested in research
● qualitative: literature including theory is used mainly to understand
what is going on in the feld an to discover theoretical perspectives,
including proper concept to look at the social phenomenon of
interest.
○ inductive: a social phenomenon is explored in order to fnd
empirical patterns that can function as the beginning of a
theory.
○ assumption: individuals have an active role in the
construction of social reality and research methods that can
capture this process of social construction are required.
■ constructivism: the ontological stance says social
entities are not pre-given but human beings attach
meaning to their social reality and as a result human
action should be considered meaningful.
■ Interpretivism: epistemological stance that says how
people construct reality while interpreting the acts of
others and the world around them and grafting their
own behavior on these interpretations.
Such a framework for thinking about research design, measurement,
analysis and personal involvement that is shared by members of a
speciality area is called a paradigm. Pradagims refect issues related to
the nature of social reality and to the nature of knowledge. The nature of
social reality, referred to as ontology, attempts to answer the question
whether the social world is regarded as something external to social
actors or as something that people are in the process of fashioning. The
nature of knowledge, referred to as epistemology, is concerned with
whether there is one single route to truth or that diverse methods are
needed to grasp the meaning of social experience.
Diversity in qualitative research
Generally agree upon the assumptions attached to constructivism and
interpretivism, but there are many nuances, traditions and specifcs
which cause the qualitative research practice to be very diverse.
Other researchers are interested in understanding how people give
,meaning to their lives by interpreting their thoughts, experiences,
actions and expressions: Ethnography, phenomenology, biographical
research, grounded theory, narrative analysis, case-studies and
participatory research. Their analysis are geared towards the
interpretation of human experiences and behaviour. LAnguage, for them,
is an important vehicle to express meaning.
This book is mostly dedicated to the grounded theory approach. Pioneers
are: Glaser and Strauss. It is polemic:
1. it is a polemic on social science research which, in those times, was
dominated by hypothesis testing and, was devoid of any connection
to everyday reality according to Slases and Strauss
2. They felt ethnographic research was too preoccupied with
description instead of explanation of social phenomena, and wanted
to provide researchers with an alternative research strategy.
With their methodology they made an important contribution to the
systematic approach to qualitative research in general, and, more
specifcally, to the systematic approach of qualitative analysis.
Glaser and Strauss ofered a methodology in which the data became
centre-stage in reaching a theoretical description of phenomenon and
explaining it. The data are systematically generated and analysed step-
by-step in order to develop a theory. In the beginning the research has
mainly an explorative nature, but as the research progresses, data
generation becomes more aimed at verifying results found earlier on the
research process. Then comparative cases are sought to expand, confrm
or deepend the assertions. This is referred to as theoretical sampling,
since the choice for new cases depends on the theoretical needs of the
researcher. The resulting theory will match the situations that are
investigated, as it is directly derived from and supported by, and
therefore grounded in, the collected data.
The data are analysed with a technique called “coding”, in which relevant
parts of the data are indicated and labelled.
Defining an elineating qualitative research in this oooe
The purpose of qualitative research is to describe and understand social
phenomena in terms of the meaning people bring to them. The research
questions are studies through fexible methods enabling contact with the
people involved to an extent that is necessary to grasp what is going on
in the feld. The methods produce rich, descriptive data that need to be
interpreted through the identifcation and coding of themes and
categories leading to fndings that can contribute to theoretical
, knowledge and practical use.
Three key elements:
I. Looking for meaning
A. Starting point is to discover the meaning that people award
to their social world and to understand the meaning of their
social behavior. In order to fnd out about the participants
point of view, qualitative social scientist have to collect data
that capture this view, and when analyzing the data they will
have to be sensitive to extract only that what is relevant.
NExt to meaning giving processes, there are also socially
hardened ways of thinking, feeling and acting. So the broader
contexts need to be considered: “If people defne a situation
as real, it is real in its consequences”.
II. Using fexible research methods enabling contact
A. Field work requires a constant redefnition of what is
problematic and needs a logic and process of inquiry that is
fexible and open-ended.
III. Providing qualitative fndings.
A. When researchers guide readers through a diferent cultural
world, they have to provide the readers with a description of
daily life. Not just a description, but a detailed account of
what the setting looks like, what keeps people busy and what
they take for granted.
Chapter 2 - research design
Planning a research project
A proposal needs to demonstrate what the research entails. This means
that it has to provide answers to the following questions:
- What is being researched?
- Why is this subject examined?
- How will it be done?
- Where will the study take place?
An essential part of your analytical plan in the research proposal is to
indicate to reviewers that data collection and data analysis alternate in
qualitative research. In the design you need to indicate how you plan for
the interchange of data collection and data analysis and in how many
cycles you plan to fnish.
Literature review
A very important resource is literature. Reviewing literature means that
the researcher has taken notice of the accumulated knowledge gleaned
Chapter 1 - Introduction to qualitative research
● quantitative research: literature and previously selected theory are
used to deduce hypotheses.
○ deductive: theory is the starting point for formulating
hypotheses that will be tested in research
● qualitative: literature including theory is used mainly to understand
what is going on in the feld an to discover theoretical perspectives,
including proper concept to look at the social phenomenon of
interest.
○ inductive: a social phenomenon is explored in order to fnd
empirical patterns that can function as the beginning of a
theory.
○ assumption: individuals have an active role in the
construction of social reality and research methods that can
capture this process of social construction are required.
■ constructivism: the ontological stance says social
entities are not pre-given but human beings attach
meaning to their social reality and as a result human
action should be considered meaningful.
■ Interpretivism: epistemological stance that says how
people construct reality while interpreting the acts of
others and the world around them and grafting their
own behavior on these interpretations.
Such a framework for thinking about research design, measurement,
analysis and personal involvement that is shared by members of a
speciality area is called a paradigm. Pradagims refect issues related to
the nature of social reality and to the nature of knowledge. The nature of
social reality, referred to as ontology, attempts to answer the question
whether the social world is regarded as something external to social
actors or as something that people are in the process of fashioning. The
nature of knowledge, referred to as epistemology, is concerned with
whether there is one single route to truth or that diverse methods are
needed to grasp the meaning of social experience.
Diversity in qualitative research
Generally agree upon the assumptions attached to constructivism and
interpretivism, but there are many nuances, traditions and specifcs
which cause the qualitative research practice to be very diverse.
Other researchers are interested in understanding how people give
,meaning to their lives by interpreting their thoughts, experiences,
actions and expressions: Ethnography, phenomenology, biographical
research, grounded theory, narrative analysis, case-studies and
participatory research. Their analysis are geared towards the
interpretation of human experiences and behaviour. LAnguage, for them,
is an important vehicle to express meaning.
This book is mostly dedicated to the grounded theory approach. Pioneers
are: Glaser and Strauss. It is polemic:
1. it is a polemic on social science research which, in those times, was
dominated by hypothesis testing and, was devoid of any connection
to everyday reality according to Slases and Strauss
2. They felt ethnographic research was too preoccupied with
description instead of explanation of social phenomena, and wanted
to provide researchers with an alternative research strategy.
With their methodology they made an important contribution to the
systematic approach to qualitative research in general, and, more
specifcally, to the systematic approach of qualitative analysis.
Glaser and Strauss ofered a methodology in which the data became
centre-stage in reaching a theoretical description of phenomenon and
explaining it. The data are systematically generated and analysed step-
by-step in order to develop a theory. In the beginning the research has
mainly an explorative nature, but as the research progresses, data
generation becomes more aimed at verifying results found earlier on the
research process. Then comparative cases are sought to expand, confrm
or deepend the assertions. This is referred to as theoretical sampling,
since the choice for new cases depends on the theoretical needs of the
researcher. The resulting theory will match the situations that are
investigated, as it is directly derived from and supported by, and
therefore grounded in, the collected data.
The data are analysed with a technique called “coding”, in which relevant
parts of the data are indicated and labelled.
Defining an elineating qualitative research in this oooe
The purpose of qualitative research is to describe and understand social
phenomena in terms of the meaning people bring to them. The research
questions are studies through fexible methods enabling contact with the
people involved to an extent that is necessary to grasp what is going on
in the feld. The methods produce rich, descriptive data that need to be
interpreted through the identifcation and coding of themes and
categories leading to fndings that can contribute to theoretical
, knowledge and practical use.
Three key elements:
I. Looking for meaning
A. Starting point is to discover the meaning that people award
to their social world and to understand the meaning of their
social behavior. In order to fnd out about the participants
point of view, qualitative social scientist have to collect data
that capture this view, and when analyzing the data they will
have to be sensitive to extract only that what is relevant.
NExt to meaning giving processes, there are also socially
hardened ways of thinking, feeling and acting. So the broader
contexts need to be considered: “If people defne a situation
as real, it is real in its consequences”.
II. Using fexible research methods enabling contact
A. Field work requires a constant redefnition of what is
problematic and needs a logic and process of inquiry that is
fexible and open-ended.
III. Providing qualitative fndings.
A. When researchers guide readers through a diferent cultural
world, they have to provide the readers with a description of
daily life. Not just a description, but a detailed account of
what the setting looks like, what keeps people busy and what
they take for granted.
Chapter 2 - research design
Planning a research project
A proposal needs to demonstrate what the research entails. This means
that it has to provide answers to the following questions:
- What is being researched?
- Why is this subject examined?
- How will it be done?
- Where will the study take place?
An essential part of your analytical plan in the research proposal is to
indicate to reviewers that data collection and data analysis alternate in
qualitative research. In the design you need to indicate how you plan for
the interchange of data collection and data analysis and in how many
cycles you plan to fnish.
Literature review
A very important resource is literature. Reviewing literature means that
the researcher has taken notice of the accumulated knowledge gleaned
