Qualitative Research: Data Collection, Analysis, and Management
Qualitative Research: Data Collection, Analysis, and Management
Qualitative Research: Data Collection, Analysis, and Management
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RESEARCH PRIMER
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This is not an easy task, as it involves asking people to talk about excerpt presented in Appendix 1, which is taken from a research
things that may be very personal to them. Sometimes the interview conducted by one of the authors (J.S.). We refer to this
experiences being explored are fresh in the participants mind, excerpt throughout the remainder of this paper to illustrate how
whereas on other occasions reliving past experiences may be data can be managed, analyzed, and presented.
difficult. However the data are being collected, a primary respon-
sibility of the researcher is to safeguard participants and Interpretation of Data
their data. Mechanisms for such safeguarding must be clearly Interpretation of the data will depend on the theoretical
articulated to participants and must be approved by a relevant standpoint taken by researchers. For example, the title of the
research ethics review board before the research begins. research report by Thurston and others,7 Discordant indigenous
Researchers and practitioners new to qualitative research should and provider frames explain challenges in improving access to
seek advice from an experienced qualitative researcher before arthritis care: a qualitative study using constructivist grounded
embarking on their project. theory, indicates at least 2 theoretical standpoints. The first is
the culture of the indigenous population of Canada and the
DATA COLLECTION place of this population in society, and the second is the social
constructivist theory used in the constructivist grounded theory
Whatever philosophical standpoint the researcher is taking
method. With regard to the first standpoint, it can be surmised
and whatever the data collection method (e.g., focus group,
that, to have decided to conduct the research, the researchers
one-to-one interviews), the process will involve the generation
must have felt that there was anecdotal evidence of differences
of large amounts of data. In addition to the variety of study
in access to arthritis care for patients from indigenous and non-
methodologies available, there are also different ways of making
indigenous backgrounds. With regard to the second standpoint,
a record of what is said and done during an interview or focus it can be surmised that the researchers used social constructivist
group, such as taking handwritten notes or video-recording. If theory because it assumes that behaviour is socially constructed;
the researcher is audio- or video-recording data collection, then in other words, people do things because of the expectations of
the recordings must be transcribed verbatim before data analysis those in their personal world or in the wider society in which
can begin. As a rough guide, it can take an experienced they live. (Please see the Further Reading section for resources
researcher/transcriber 8 hours to transcribe one 45-minute providing more information about social constructivist theory
audio-recorded interview, a process than will generate 2030 and reflexivity.) Thus, these 2 standpoints (and there may have
pages of written dialogue. been others relevant to the research of Thurston and others7) will
Many researchers will also maintain a folder of field notes have affected the way in which these researchers interpreted the
to complement audio-taped interviews. Field notes allow the experiences of the indigenous population participants and those
researcher to maintain and comment upon impressions, environ- providing their care. Another standpoint is feminist standpoint
mental contexts, behaviours, and nonverbal cues that may not theory which, among other things, focuses on marginalized
be adequately captured through the audio-recording; they are groups in society. Such theories are helpful to researchers, as they
typically handwritten in a small notebook at the same time the enable us to think about things from a different perspective.
interview takes place. Field notes can provide important context Being aware of the standpoints you are taking in your own
to the interpretation of audio-taped data and can help remind research is one of the foundations of qualitative work. Without
the researcher of situational factors that may be important during such awareness, it is easy to slip into interpreting other peoples
data analysis. Such notes need not be formal, but they should be narratives from your own viewpoint, rather than that of the
maintained and secured in a similar manner to audio tapes and participants.
transcripts, as they contain sensitive information and are relevant To analyze the example in Appendix 1, we will adopt a
to the research. For more information about collecting qualitative phenomenological approach because we want to understand how
data, please see the Further Reading section at the end of this the participant experienced the illness and we want to try to see
paper. the experience from that persons perspective. It is important for
the researcher to reflect upon and articulate his or her starting
DATA ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT point for such analysis; for example, in the example, the coder
could reflect upon her own experience as a female of a majority
If, as suggested earlier, doing qualitative research is about ethnocultural group who has lived within middle class and upper
putting oneself in another persons shoes and seeing the world middle class settings. This personal history therefore forms the
from that persons perspective, the most important part of data filter through which the data will be examined. This filter does
analysis and management is to be true to the participants. It is not diminish the quality or significance of the analysis, since
their voices that the researcher is trying to hear, so that they can every researcher has his or her own filters; however, by explicitly
be interpreted and reported on for others to read and learn from. stating and acknowledging what these filters are, the researcher
To illustrate this point, consider the anonymized transcript makes it easer for readers to contextualize the work.
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Returning to Appendix 1 and reading from lines 8-11, a of the researchers interpretations. Thus, when the findings are
code for this section might be diagnosis of mental health organized for presentation, each theme can become the heading
condition, but this would just be a description of what the of a section in the report or presentation. Underneath each theme
participant is talking about at that point. If we read a little more will be the codes, examples from the transcripts, and the
deeply, we can ask ourselves how the participant might have researchers own interpretation of what the themes mean.
come to feel that the doctor assumed he or she was aware of the Implications for real life (e.g., the treatment of people with
diagnosis or indeed that they had only just been told the chronic mental health problems) should also be given.
diagnosis. There are a number of pauses in the narrative that
might suggest the participant is finding it difficult to recall that DATA SYNTHESIS
experience. Later in the text, the participant says nobody asked
me any questions about my life (line 19). This could be coded In this final section of this paper, we describe some ways of
simply as health care professionals consultation skills, but drawing together or synthesizing research findings to represent,
that would not reflect how the participant must have felt never as faithfully as possible, the meaning that participants ascribe to
to be asked anything about his or her personal life, about the their life experiences. This synthesis is the aim of the final stage
participant as a human being. At the end of this excerpt, the of qualitative research. For most readers, the synthesis of data
participant just trails off, recalling that no-one showed any presented by the researcher is of crucial significancethis is
interest, which makes for very moving reading. For practitioners usually where the story of the participants can be distilled,
in pharmacy, it might also be pertinent to explore the partici- summarized, and told in a manner that is both respectful to those
pants experience of akathisia and why this was left untreated participants and meaningful to readers. There are a number
for 20 years. of ways in which researchers can synthesize and present their
One of the questions that arises about qualitative research findings, but any conclusions drawn by the researchers must be
relates to the reliability of the interpretation and representation supported by direct quotations from the participants. In this way,
of the participants narratives. There are no statistical tests that it is made clear to the reader that the themes under discussion
can be used to check reliability and validity as there are in quan- have emerged from the participants interviews and not the mind
titative research. However, work by Lincoln and Guba11 suggests of the researcher. The work of Latif and others12 gives an example
that there are other ways to establish confidence in the truth of of how qualitative research findings might be presented.
the findings (p. 218). They call this confidence trustworthiness
and suggest that there are 4 criteria of trustworthiness: credibility Planning and Writing the Report
(confidence in the truth of the findings), transferability As has been suggested above, if researchers code and theme
(showing that the findings have applicability in other contexts), their material appropriately, they will naturally find the headings
dependability (showing that the findings are consistent and could for sections of their report. Qualitative researchers tend to report
be repeated), and confirmability (the extent to which the findings findings rather than results, as the latter term typically implies
of a study are shaped by the respondents and not researcher bias, that the data have come from a quantitative source. The final
motivation, or interest). presentation of the research will usually be in the form of a report
One way of establishing the credibility of the coding is to or a paper and so should follow accepted academic guidelines.
ask another researcher to code the same transcript and then to In particular, the article should begin with an introduction,
discuss any similarities and differences in the 2 resulting sets of including a literature review and rationale for the research. There
codes. This simple act can result in revisions to the codes and can should be a section on the chosen methodology and a brief
help to clarify and confirm the research findings. discussion about why qualitative methodology was most appro-
priate for the study question and why one particular methodol-
Theming ogy (e.g., interpretative phenomenological analysis rather than
Theming refers to the drawing together of codes from one grounded theory) was selected to guide the research. The method
or more transcripts to present the findings of qualitative research itself should then be described, including ethics approval, choice
in a coherent and meaningful way. For example, there may be of participants, mode of recruitment, and method of data
examples across participants narratives of the way in which they collection (e.g., semistructured interviews or focus groups),
were treated in hospital, such as not being listened to or lack followed by the research findings, which will be the main body
of interest in personal experiences (see Appendix 1). These may of the report or paper. The findings should be written as if a story
be drawn together as a theme running through the narratives that is being told; as such, it is not necessary to have a lengthy discus-
could be named the patients experience of hospital care. The sion section at the end. This is because much of the discussion
importance of going through this process is that at its conclusion, will take place around the participants quotes, such that all that
it will be possible to present the data from the interviews using is needed to close the report or paper is a summary, limitations
quotations from the individual transcripts to illustrate the source of the research, and the implications that the research has for
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