Coding and Analysis
NEXT SESSION: READ WELLER AND
ROMNEY IN READING PACKET
Learning Objectives
–describe progress in group projects
–note steps in developing a semi-structured
interview
–describe guidelines for computer coding of
interview text
–describe the steps in performing analysis
Lectures
Increasingly less important as you learn from
doing the work and I have less to 'teach' you
Learning from other students who are doing
their projects becomes an important component
Exercises in class expose you to ideas and
concepts
Interviewing
HAND IN Exercise talk about
–Open ended questions you used?
–Probes
–What worked well?
–What didn't work so well?
–Non-verbal aspects?
–Field notes ("scrap," expanded, TA comments)
--your group project and what you have learned
Qualitative Research
Question to address or interest in something
Preliminary steps often to form hypothesis
–(formative research)
Further study
Collection of DATA (field work)
–Observation, interviews, other work depending on what you
discover
DATA analysis
–Coding (putting identifiers on what you found)
–Looking for themes (main ideas)
–Putting it all together (what you learned)
Report
ANALYSIS
THEMES
Terminology
terminology in qualitative research is not
consistent, so describe what you do, and when
you use terms, give their meanings
ethnography, field methods, qualitative research,
participant observation, case study, naturalistic
methods, responsive evaluation, needs
assessment are used interchangeably by many
Complexity of qualitative inquiry
can have multi-site, multi-method studies
we look at many methods, separately, letting you
try to integrate them in your exercises
Semi-structured interview
from a series of interviews, will know most of
the questions that need to be answered, but can’t
predict the answer
–Blood donors--spontaneous, privacy, altruism
–University Police--security, emotionless
–Big Time study hall--desire for a noisy environment
Semi-structured interview
prepare a list of short questions as
prompts
try and let the interview be
conversational, rather than
questionnaire format
Semi-structured interview
–questions should address only one aspect of a topic,
otherwise you may confuse yourself and the
informant
–explore the domain of the topic and list in sensible
order, everything you want to know, then construct
question stems to cover the domain
•DON'T GET STUCK IN TERM: domain
Semi-structured interview
–pretest with a colleague, record the session and ask
the colleague to think out loud so that any confusion
is recorded, and the nature of the confusion is clear
–revise, then pretest with a participant
–revise
many questions can be leading,
what is your general opinion of the US health
care system
what about the professionals, the doctors and
nurses with whom you interacted, tell me about
them
many questions can be leading,
asking about what types of topics were on the
informational sheet handed out
“you mentioned earlier about the nurses not
talking to you unless you asked them a question.
Did you ask any specific questions?”
“what kind of accent does he have?”
Homeless youth in SF
•Part Obs: June-Sept. 1997,
Castro District, San
Francisco key informant,
Phase I informant interviews
(#9) , preliminary analysis
•Phase II Semi-structured
interviews (#11)
– wanted more females &
<18, newly on street went
to Haight-Ashbury
•additional participant
observation
Interviews lasted 2-3 hours,
with 1 to 1.5 hours tape recorded
Student projects:
–EXAMPLES of semi-structured questions you
might consider?
Codes (abbreviation or symbol
applied to a segment of words, or
paragraph in order to classify it)
Types of codes
numeric, Outline of Cultural Materials (OCM)
memnonic,
Words,
Function of codes:
organization
retrieval
assembly
reduction
usefulness
Cultural theme
Morris Opler (1945) defined it as: "a postulate
or position, declared or implied, and usually
controlling behavior or stimulating activity,
which is tacitly approved or openly promoted in
society"
Function of codes:
Choose and flag themes so you can clump
relevant strips from different reports
–Spradley reading on themes is very good (reading
package)
Identify field encounter
Identify informant characteristics
Coding and ANALYSIS
A very good device for analysis
Also could just search text for words
–bamboo in Nepal
Codes can relate to:
terminology/definitions
methods/data collection
–ways of asking questions
–non-verbal responses
STUDENT EXAMPLES
Observed behavior
Student examples of codes
what was expected but not observed
–Newar nose piercing
Process of coding EITHER
Create a small list of codes prior to
fieldwork
•forces you to tie research questions or
conceptual interests directly to data
•be ready to redefine or discard codes when
they look inapplicable, overbuilt, empirically illfitting, or overly abstract
OR: wait for field notes to suggest more
emic/empiric labels
–code expanded field notes as you go, or right
after
Keeping Track of Data
–serial number for each note, then date,
place, name of informant (use encrypting
codes for places & informant names & keep
code book of names & locations physically
separately from field notes)
–dates: 980126, 020423, 050419
WHERE TO PUT THE CODE?
Penciled in margin for you now, but in large
projects, computers handled this in various ways
–COLOR HIGHLIGHTER
Log book of codes is essential
–Re-assign
–Others to use who code the data
–May have two people independently code the
expanded field notes
Coding Field Notes
–Hard work, do it right after the activity
–CODING IS REALLY ANALYSIS, (Bernard),
once you have coded, you will have done
much of the analysis
Guidelines for coding for computer
code more abstract concepts than descriptive
info (after collect data)
limit to <50 codes
make codes stand out (bold, brackets, special
symbols, *, #, { [ )
Icons signifying relationship, like folder in Mac
or Windows, Trash Can, Hourglass
Macros
HIDDEN TEXT (especially if have two people
independently code) or track changes
Glossary to the codes for ease of reading
Alphabetize (eating habits)
–TAm morning
–Tev evening
–TNt middle of night
–TPm afternoon
place a thematic glossary as well, helps you
organize your codes
–Body posture suggesting reaction to 'soap'
–Terminology used to refer to tan types
Data Analysis
search for patterns in data & for the ideas that
help to explain the existence of these patterns
a great deal of analysis happens when you think
of how to present your data, that will be covered
in session 13 (computers), 14 (presenting) and
more in session 16 and 17 (latter with Helene
Starks)
Analysis
Begins before you start the qualitative research,
continues throughout the effort, unlike many
quantitative studies
develop ideas and test them against your observations,
modify ideas as you gather more material and reflect
on it
Analysis
outlining program (MORE) for the Macintosh,
most valuable software for me
Inspiration Software, Inc.
–http://www.inspiration.com/home.cfm
– sales@inspiration.com
– 800-877-4292 or (503)297-3004
Analysis
be very self critical, ask colleagues, informants,
to review
balance between seeking emic perspective,
documenting folk analyses, but remain skeptical,
don’t be afraid to develop and state preliminary
ideas
Analysis
Question whether or not to be too grounded in
the literature, and influenced by it, so consider
keeping your reading at arms length
Qualitative Data Analysis Process:
Generic Style
•Review Notes ---------> Coding IS
COMPREHENSION
•Coding ---------> Search and Extraction IS
SYNTHESIZING
•Search and Extraction ---------> Pattern
Identification IS THEORIZING (Sorting phase
of analysis)
•Pattern Identification ---------> Summarization
IS GENERALIZING
Summary
Semi-structured interviews can help understand
cultural elements once you have done some
observation and interview work
Coding is the first step in analysis
Levels of Analysis
defining & describing items,
making empirical statements about objects &
phenomena
meaning & meaning interactions,
tracing interconnections with items & patterns
patterns, grouping items & making linkages
Levels of Analysis
Grand vs mid-range theory
(domain analysis)
ask questions of data at different levels
•emic-etic
•macro-micro
CONTAC T SUMMARY FORM
Contact type:
Visit
Phone
___________________
___________________
(with whom)
Site:
Contact date:
Today' s date:
Written by:
________________
________________
________________
________________
1.
What were the main issues or themes that struck you in this contact?
2.
Summarizre the information you got (or failed to get) on each of the target questions you
had for this contact?
Question
Information
3.
Anthing else that struck you as salient, interesting, illuminating or important in this contact?
4.
What new (or remaining) target questions do you have in considering the next contact with
this site?
Type of contact:
CONTACT SUMMARY FORM WITH CODED THEMES
Mtg. _______________ ___________________ _____________
place
date
Phone ______________ ___________________ _____________
with whom, by whom place
date
SITE ______________
Coder ______________
Date coded __________
Inf. Int. _____________ ___________________ _____________
with whom, by whom place
date
1. Pick out the most salient points in the contact. Number in order on this sheet and note page number on which point appears.
Number point in text of write-up. Attach theme or aspect to each point in CAPITALS. Invent themes where no existing ones
apply and asterisk those. Comment may also be included in double parentheses.
PAGE
SALIENT POINTS
THEMES/ASPECTS
DOCUMENT SUMMARY FORM
Name or description of document:
Event or contact, if any, with which document is associated:
Significance or importance of document:
Brief summary of contents:
IF DOCUMENT IS CENTRAL OR CRUCIAL TO A PARTICULAR CONTACT
(e.g. a meeting agenda, newspaper clipping discussed in an interview)
make a copy and include with write up. Otherwise put in document file.
Site:
Document:
Date received or picked up:
____________
____________
____________
Cycle of
data --->analysis/interpretation---> data
•monitor & report your own thought
processes as much as possible (keep info
on decision you make about coding &
extracting patterns), ie keep a log book
Cycle of
data --->analysis/interpretation---> data
•much of what you develop stems from
your own basic perspectives, what kind
of person you are, and your experience
in the research area
Body Ritual Among the Nacirema
• Analytic Foci
• Selecting indigenous (emic) or investigatorgenerated concepts & typologies (etic)
–often use both
Analytic Foci
••••••-
chronological
key events,
settings,
people
processes
issues
Analytic Foci: Chronological
•Series of events:
Analytic Foci: Key events
Analytic Foci: settings,
•places, sites, locations, then cross-setting
analysis
•how does behavior change in different sites,
why?
Analytic Foci: People
•people (within or across cases),
Analytic Foci: Processs
•control, recruitment, decision making,
socialization, communication, etc.
Analytic Foci: issues
Specialized approaches for
analyzing qualitative data
•TAXONOMIC
•CONTENT
Specialized approaches:
•COMPONENTIAL
analysis to distinguish items within a domain
Specialized Approaches
•EXPLANATORY & ETHNOMEDICAL
MODELS
•DECISION-MAKING
•EVENT STRUCTURE
Process of Data Analysis
• Review notes periodically, code, search &
extract chunks of material, look for patterns &
summarize
• Bernard’s “intra-ocular percussion test”
• Text management programs
Constant Validity Check
•find out why informants disagree about
important things
•check informants reports of behavior or of
environmental conditions against more objective
evidence
•be open to negative evidence, ie that doesn’t
support your theory
–may be an opportunity
Constant Validity Check
• seek out alternative explanations from
informants, colleagues, etc.
• try to fit extreme cases into your theory, & if
they don’t fit, don’t be too quick to throw them
out
• triangulation of qualitative data
• switch from emic to etic perspectives
INTERPRETATIONS
VALIDITY
•Open to negative or contradictory evidence
•Look for a range of interpretations
•Brain storm with others to get their
suggestions of interpretations, there can be
many
•Extreme cases (whether or not to discard)
Next Class
•FORMAL METHODS EXERCISE
NOTE TAKING / FIELD REPORTS
•Paraphrasing
•Quotes ( Hidden text)
•Non-verbal cues
•Decision on leaving material out: is this detail
relevant to the purpose of inquiry?
jottings (can be anywhere)
•what you write down at the time
•dairy
•personal
•log
•day to day activity
NOTE TAKING / FIELD REPORTS
•describe what happened & your interpretation
of what happened, with descriptions full enough
so another person can read it & make their own
interpretations
•OK to speculate but call it such, or you will
later be confused as to what you observed and
what was your interpretation
•Expanded field notes as distinct from interview
description in exercise
•Keep a journal of your work (Hugh Swift)
Backup and security
•how many back up their files regularly?
•how do they do it?
BACKUP strategies
Frequency
•daily for important stuff
•weekly for incremental back up
•monthly for global back up
•set programs to save automatically every 5
minutes
BACKUP strategies
•computer floppy disk, tape, external hard drive,
CD-RW
•Photocopy, photograph pages even
•off site - my fire experience
Carry valuable data with you, and
don’t check in luggage
•if you carry data with you in a new and
unaccustomed way, you are more likely to
misplace it