Qualitative analysis involves looking at the reading behavior. The teacher looks for behavior evidence of cue use and evidence of the use of strategies such as crosschecking information and searching for cues. She examines each incorrect attempt and self-correction and hypothesizes about the cues or information sources the child might have been using. In Clay's analysis, cues refer to the sources of information. There are three major categories:
Meaning- The teacher thinks about whether the child's attempt makes sense up to the point of error. She might think about the story background, information, from the picture, and meaning in the sentence in deciding whether the child was probably using meaning as a source.
Structure-Structure refers to the way language works. Some refer to this information source as syntax because unconscious knowledge of the rules of the grammar of the language the reader speaks allows him to eliminate alternatives.
Using this implicates knowledge, the reader checks whether the sentence "sounds right."
Visual information- Visual information includes the way the letters and words look.
Readers use their knowledge of visual features of words and letters and connect these features to their knowledge of the way words and letters sound when spoken.
If the letters in the child's attempt are visually similar to the letters in the word in the text (for example, if it begins with the same letter or has a similar cluster of letters), it is likely that the reader has used visual information.
Readers use all these information sources in an integrated way while reading for meaning.
For each incorrect attempt and self-corrected error, the letters M S V are indicated in the Error column and the SC column, as appropriate. If the child probably used meaning, M is circled; if structure (syntax), S is circled; if visual information, V is circled. A complete running record includes these analyses of each error and self-correction.
The value of this activity is to look for patterns in the child's responses. You should not spend a great deal of time trying to figure out each miscue, searching for the
"right" analysis. The idea is to reflect on the child's behavior, make your best hypothesis, and then look at data through the whole reading and over time.

What you are really looking for is an indication of the kinds of strategies the child is using. An important thing to remember about errors is that they are partially correct. They indicate strategic action and provide a window through which the teacher can observe whether the child is activity relating one source of information while reading. The teacher can observe whether the child is actively relating one source of information to another, a behavior that Clay (1991a) calls cross checking, because the child is checking one clue against another. At the top of the form, the teacher notes cues used, cues neglected, and evidence of cross-checking behavior.
She summarizes how the child used cues and the pattern of behaviors that is evident.
Once cues are analyzed, the teacher might think about questions like these:
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Does the reader use cues in relation to each other?
Does the reader check information sources against one another?
Does the reader use several sources of cues in an integrated way or rely on only one kind of information?
Does the reader repeat what has been read as if to confirm his reading thus far?
Does the reader reread to search for more information from the sentence or text?
Does the reader make meaningful attempts before appealing to the teacher for help?
Does the reader request help after making an attempt or several attempts?
Does the reader notice when cues do not match?
Does the reader stop at unknown words without actively searching?
Does the reader appeal to the teacher in a dependent way or appeal when appropriate (that is, when the reader has done what he can)?
Does the reader read with phrasing and fluency?
Does the reader make comments or responses in ways that indicate comprehension of the story?
These kinds of behavior (the list above is not exhaustive) provide a description of the child's reading processing system. They will reveal whether the child is using internal strategies, which include:
Self-monitoring. These strategies allow the reader to confirm whether he is reading the story accurately. Readers who are reading accurately are consistently using meaning, structure, and visual information for confirm their reading. This is not a conscious process, but the internal system tells them whether the reading makes sense, sounds right, and looks right.

Searching. Searching is an active process in which the reader looks for information that will assist problem solving in some way. Readers search for and use all kinds of information sources, including meaning, visual information, and their knowledge of syntax of language.
Self-correcting. This is the reader's ability to notice mismatches, search for further accomplishes a precise fit with the information already known.
Fountas and Pinnell, 1996