Qualitative Research Methods (Part 2):
Strategies for Interview Data Analysis
Mignon R. Moore, PhD
Co-Director, Methods and Analysis
Core, UCLA RCMAR
Problematic Use of Qualitative Data
in Research Papers
One of the first questions asked in the focus group and in-depth
interviews concerns the respondents’ perceptions of the major issues
seniors who are lesbian and gay face as they age. Poor health and
the lack of mobility because of health-related issues emerged as
important problems, and were reported by 90% of respondents:
“I had a stroke. I was jacked up from my left eye all the way
down to my toe. I mean totally paralyzed on one side. I still
have you know left arm you know challenges” (Respondent
030)
004)
“I haven’t had any bad issues except arthritis” (Respondent
“I am HIV positive and I need my medicine” (Respondent 020)
Qualitative Analysis of Interview Data
In addition to the stigma of substance misuse, the majority of
SLH residents in this study were members of other
demographic and cultural groups that are often negatively
stereotyped, such as racial⁄ethnic minorities, sexual
minorities, and people with mental illness. An
Iraq⁄Afghanistan veteran said that the initial opposition to his
home was motivated by ‘that stereotype of crazies running
around the neighbourhood, hardened criminals, drug
addicts, sleeping-on-the-lawn type of thing’. The comments
of several participants suggested that belonging to multiple
stigmatised groups was a salient aspect of their identities
and their everyday lives.
Qualitative Analysis of Interview Data
Responding to another participant’s questions about the
etiology of bipolar disorder, a 31-year-old participant in the
gay men’s group said, ‘You’re born with that ... Just like
you’re born with addiction, you’re born gay, you’re born
black, you’re born white, you know?’ At the intersection of
several stigmatised identities – specifically, the triple stigma
of being a substance misuser, an African American, and a
gay man – a 23-year-old YPDD group participant described
an incident of enacted stigma in his neighbourhood:
Heslin KC, Singzon T, Aimiuwu O, Sheridan D, Hamilton A. (2012). From
personal tragedy to personal challenge: responses to stigma among
sober living home residents and operators. Sociology of Health &
Illness 34 (3): 379-395.
Research Question
 What are the major physical and mental health issues
affecting African-American gay seniors as they age, and
how can community institutions better service them
 Given the importance of marital partners and children as
sources of social support for heterosexual seniors, how do
gay elders, who cannot legally form marital unions and
who are less likely to have children, find and maintain
social support systems as they age.
Data: “In the Shadow of
Sexuality” RCMAR NIH Diversity
Supplement Study
Qualitative Portion of NIH Diversity Supplement Study
 Two Focus Group Interviews (N=12, N=5)
 48 In-Person, Individual Interviews digitally recorded,
transcribed
Selected Categories from Codebook
 Category B: Sex,
Sexuality and Gender
Identity
 Category N: Drug
Use/Addiction
 Category J: HIV/AIDS
 Category P: Social
Support
 Category K: Knowledge
about Health Issues
 Category Q: Family of
Origin
 Category L: Major
Physical Health Episode
 Category R: Aging
Concerns
 Category M: Mental
Health
 Category T: Retirement
Category L Major Health Episode:
Subcategories
 L1. Characteristics
 L2. Duration
 L3. Access to Care
 L4. Health Care Provider
 L5. Medical Insurance
 L6. Alternative Medicines
and Treatments
 L7. Emotional Response
to Health Episode
 L8. Social Support for
Health Episode
 L9. Experiences in
Treatment/Recovery
 L10. Regularity of
Medical Exams
Category L: Major Health Episode
 L1. Characteristics
 L3. Access to Care
Date
Hospital
Severity
Doctor
Symptoms
Medicine
Home Visitation
Use of Emergency Rm
Category L: Major Health Episode
 L8. Social Support for
Health Episode
Partner
Family
Mental Health
(Depression/
Loneliness/Anxiety)
Friends
Physical Rehabilitation
Others
Change in Economic
Sharing Information/
Disclosing
Condition
Quality of Support
Received
Support
 L9. Experiences in
Treatment/Recovery
Sufficient/Insufficient
Received
Status
Social Isolation
Visitation
Bonnie Harrison (b. 1941, retired
educator)
I have a diagnosis of hypothyroidism, which makes you
extremely, extremely tired. I: Okay.
R: And it creates bone pain, so I developed this terrible
osteoporosis as a result of the calcium overflow. And so,
now I am suffering with this back pain and now the pain
is in my hips and I was at the doctor’s last week. I have
arthritis in my hips now and so there is a new regimen
that is being put together for that. I am getting
acupuncture massage and different forms of physical
therapy and she wants me to be on these pills for a
month, but I don’t take them the way they are
prescribed because I told her the problem that I had
with the other medicines. They were narcotics and…
Continued
I: You didn’t want to get addicted.
R: [She made a “no” sound] So, she said, “She just
wants me to take it for a month. Take one pill every
twelve hours.” I take one a day if I have to with a
Tylenol and other than that if I am home, I will just lay
down or sit down. I just will not become addicted to
those meds. So, I have, you know, social support in a
sense, I have group that I run. The women are very
supportive and loving. There are men that I know that
are supportive and loving. My partner had a diagnosis
of liver cancer. They think it’s cancer and they are
treating it as though it is cancer. They will not know
until they biopsy it...