Coding and Analysis Strategies

Coding and Analysis Strategies

Johnny Saldaña
The Oxford Handbook of Qualitative Research (1 ed.)
Edited by Patricia Leavy

Print Publication Date: Jul 2014

Subject: Psychology, Psychological Methods and Measurement
Online Publication Date: Aug 2014 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199811755.013.001

Abstract and Keywords

This chapter provides an overview of selected qualitative data analytic strategies with a
particular focus on codes and coding. Preparatory strategies for a qualitative research
study and data management are first outlined. Six coding methods are then profiled using
comparable interview data: process coding, in vivo coding, descriptive coding, values cod­
ing, dramaturgical coding, and versus coding. Strategies for constructing themes and as­
sertions from the data follow. Analytic memo writing is woven throughout the preceding
as a method for generating additional analytic insight. Next, display and arts-based
strategies are provided, followed by recommended qualitative data analytic software pro­
grams and a discussion on verifying the researcher’s analytic findings.

Keywords: analysis, analytic memo, analytic strategies, assertions, codes, coding, data analysis, interpretation,
qualitative data analysis, qualitative research

Coding and Analysis Strategies

Anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1983) charmingly mused, “Life is just a bowl of
strategies” (p. 25). Strategy, as I use it here, refers to a carefully considered plan or
method to achieve a particular goal. The goal in this case is to develop a write-up of your
analytic work with the qualitative data you have been given and collected as part of a
study. The plans and methods you might employ to achieve that goal are what this article
profiles.

Some may perceive strategy as an inappropriate if not colonizing word, suggesting formu­
laic or regimented approaches to inquiry. I assure you that that is not my intent. My use
of strategy is actually dramaturgical in nature: strategies are actions that characters in
plays take to overcome obstacles to achieve their objectives. Actors portraying these
characters rely on action verbs to generate belief within themselves and to motivate them
as they interpret the lines and move appropriately on stage. So what I offer is a qualita­
tive researcher’s array of actions from which to draw to overcome the obstacles to think­

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

ing to achieve an analysis of your data. But unlike the pre-scripted text of a play in which
the obstacles, strategies, and outcomes have been predetermined by the playwright, your
work must be improvisational—acting, reacting, and interacting with data on a moment-
by-moment basis to determine what obstacles stand in your way, and thus what strategies
you should take to reach your goals.

Another intriguing quote to keep in mind comes from research methodologist Robert E.
Stake (1995) who posits, “Good research is not about good methods as much as it is about
good thinking” (p. 19). In other words, strategies can take you only so far. You can have a
box full of tools, but if you do not know how to use them well or use them creatively, the
collection seems rather purposeless. One of the best ways we learn is by doing. So pick
up one or more of these strategies (in the form of verbs) and take analytic action with
your data. Also keep in mind that these are discussed in the order in (p. 582) which they
may typically occur, although humans think cyclically, iteratively, and reverberatively, and
each particular research project has its own unique contexts and needs. So be prepared
for your mind to jump purposefully and/or idiosyncratically from one strategy to another
throughout the study.

QDA (Qualitative Data Analysis) Strategy: To

Foresee
To foresee in QDA is to reflect beforehand on what forms of data you will most likely need
and collect, which thus informs what types of data analytic strategies you anticipate us­
ing.

Analysis, in a way, begins even before you collect data. As you design your research study
in your mind and on a word processor page, one strategy is to consider what types of da­
ta you may need to help inform and answer your central and related research questions.
Interview transcripts, participant observation field notes, documents, artifacts, pho­
tographs, video recordings, and so on are not only forms of data but foundations for how
you may plan to analyze them. A participant interview, for example, suggests that you will
transcribe all or relevant portions of the recording, and use both the transcription and the
recording itself as sources for data analysis. Any analytic memos (discussed later) or jour­
nal entries you make about your impressions of the interview also become data to ana­
lyze. Even the computing software you plan to employ will be relevant to data analysis as
it may help or hinder your efforts.

As your research design formulates, compose one to two paragraphs that outline how
your QDA may proceed. This will necessitate that you have some background knowledge
of the vast array of methods available to you. Thus surveying the literature is vital
preparatory work.

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

QDA Strategy: To Survey

To survey in QDA is to look for and consider the applicability of the QDA literature in your
field that may provide useful guidance for your forthcoming data analytic work.

General sources in QDA will provide a good starting point for acquainting you with the
data analytic strategies available for the variety of genres in qualitative inquiry (e.g.,
ethnography, phenomenology, case study, arts-based research, mixed methods). One of
the most accessible is Graham R. Gibbs’ (2007) Analysing Qualitative Data, and one of the
most richly detailed is Frederick J. Wertz et al.'s (2011) Five Ways of Doing Qualitative
Analysis. The author’s core texts for this article came from The Coding Manual for Quali­
tative Researchers (Saldaña, 2009, 2013) and Fundamentals of Qualitative Research (Sal­
daña, 2011).

If your study’s methodology or approach is grounded theory, for example, then a survey of
methods works by such authors as Barney G. Glaser, Anselm L. Strauss, Juliet Corbin and,
in particular, the prolific Kathy Charmaz (2006) may be expected. But there has been a re­
cent outpouring of additional book publications in grounded theory by Birks & Mills
(2011), Bryant & Charmaz (2007), Stern & Porr (2011), plus the legacy of thousands of ar­
ticles and chapters across many disciplines that have addressed grounded theory in their
studies.

Particular fields such as education, psychology, social work, health care, and others also
have their own QDA methods literature in the form of texts and journals, plus internation­
al conferences and workshops for members of the profession. Most important is to have
had some university coursework and/or mentorship in qualitative research to suitably
prepare you for the intricacies of QDA. Also acknowledge that the emergent nature of
qualitative inquiry may require you to adopt different analytic strategies from what you
originally planned.

QDA Strategy: To Collect

To collect in QDA is to receive the data given to you by participants and those data you
actively gather to inform your study.

QDA is concurrent with data collection and management. As interviews are transcribed,
field notes are fleshed out, and documents are filed, the researcher uses the opportunity
to carefully read the corpus and make preliminary notations directly on the data docu­
ments by highlighting, bolding, italicizing, or noting in some way any particularly inter­
esting or salient portions. As these data are initially reviewed, the researcher also com­
poses supplemental analytic memos that include first impressions, reminders for follow-
up, preliminary connections, and other thinking matters about the phenomena at work.

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

Some of the most common fieldwork tools you might use to collect data are notepads,
pens and pencils, file folders for documents, a laptop or desktop with word processing
software (Microsoft Word and Excel are most useful) and internet access, a digital cam­
era, and a voice recorder. Some fieldworkers may even employ a digital video camera to
record social action, as long as participant permissions have been secured. But every­
thing originates from the researcher himself or herself. Your senses are immersed in the
cultural milieu you study, taking (p. 583) in and holding on to relevant details or “signifi­
cant trivia,” as I call them. You become a human camera, zooming out to capture the
broad landscape of your field site one day, then zooming in on a particularly interesting
individual or phenomenon the next. Your analysis is only as good as the data you collect.

Fieldwork can be an overwhelming experience because so many details of social life are
happening in front of you. Take a holistic approach to your entree, but as you become
more familiar with the setting and participants, actively focus on things that relate to
your research topic and questions. Of course, keep yourself open to the intriguing, sur­
prising, and disturbing (Sunstein & Chiseri-Strater, 2012, p. 115), for these facets enrich
your study by making you aware of the unexpected.

QDA Strategy: To Feel

To feel in QDA is to gain deep emotional insight into the social worlds you study and what
it means to be human.

Virtually everything we do has an accompanying emotion(s), and feelings are both reac­
tions and stimuli for action. Others’ emotions clue you to their motives, attitudes, values,
beliefs, worldviews, identities, and other subjective perceptions and interpretations. Ac­
knowledge that emotional detachment is not possible in field research. Attunement to the
emotional experiences of your participants plus sympathetic and empathetic responses to
the actions around you are necessary in qualitative endeavors. Your own emotional re­
sponses during fieldwork are also data because they document the tacit and visceral. It is
important during such analytic reflection to assess why your emotional reactions were as
they were. But it is equally important not to let emotions alone steer the course of your
study. A proper balance must be found between feelings and facts.

QDA Strategy: To Organize

To organize in QDA is to maintain an orderly repository of data for easy access and analy­
sis.

Even in the smallest of qualitative studies, a large amount of data will be collected across
time. Prepare both a hard drive and hard copy folders for digital data and paperwork, and
back up all materials for security from loss. I recommend that each data “chunk” (e.g.,
one interview transcript, one document, one day’s worth of field notes) get its own file,

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

with subfolders specifying the data forms and research study logistics (e.g., interviews,
field notes, documents, Institutional Review Board correspondence, calendar).

For small-scale qualitative studies, I have found it quite useful to maintain one large mas­
ter file with all participant and field site data copied and combined with the literature re­
view and accompanying researcher analytic memos. This master file is used to cut and
paste related passages together, deleting what seems unnecessary as the study proceeds,
and eventually transforming the document into the final report itself. Cosmetic devices
such as font style, font size, rich text (italicizing, bolding, underlining, etc.), and color can
help you distinguish between different data forms and highlight significant passages. For
example, descriptive, narrative passages of field notes are logged in regular font. “Quo­
tations, things spoken by participants, are logged in bold font.” Observer’s com­
ments, such as the researcher’s subjective impressions or analytic jottings, are set in ital­
ics.

QDA Strategy: To Jot

To jot in QDA is to write occasional, brief notes about your thinking or reminders for fol­
low up.

A jot is a phrase or brief sentence that will literally fit on a standard size “sticky note.” As
data are brought and documented together, take some initial time to review their con­
tents and to jot some notes about preliminary patterns, participant quotes that seem
quite vivid, anomalies in the data, and so forth.

As you work on a project, keep something to write with or to voice record with you at all
times to capture your fleeting thoughts. You will most likely find yourself thinking about
your research when you're not working exclusively on the project, and a “mental jot” may
occur to you as you ruminate on logistical or analytic matters. Get the thought document­
ed in some way for later retrieval and elaboration as an analytic memo.

QDA Strategy: To Prioritize

To prioritize in QDA is to determine which data are most significant in your corpus and
which tasks are most necessary.

During fieldwork, massive amounts of data in various forms may be collected, and your
mind can get easily overwhelmed from the magnitude of the quantity, its richness, and its
management. Decisions will need to be made about the most pertinent of them because
they help answer your research questions or emerge as salient pieces of evidence. As a
sweeping generalization, approximately one half to two thirds of what you collect may be­
come unnecessary as you proceed toward the more formal stages of QDA.

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

To prioritize in QDA is to also determine what matters most in your assembly of codes,
categories, (p. 584) themes, assertions, and concepts. Return back to your research pur­
pose and questions to keep you framed for what the focus should be.

QDA Strategy: To Analyze

To analyze in QDA is to observe and discern patterns within data and to construct mean­
ings that seem to capture their essences and essentials.

Just as there are a variety of genres, elements, and styles of qualitative research, so too
are there a variety of methods available for QDA. Analytic choices are most often based
on what methods will harmonize with your genre selection and conceptual framework,
what will generate the most sufficient answers to your research questions, and what will
best represent and present the project’s findings.

Analysis can range from the factual to the conceptual to the interpretive. Analysis can al­
so range from a straightforward descriptive account to an emergently constructed
grounded theory to an evocatively composed short story. A qualitative research project’s
outcomes may range from rigorously achieved, insightful answers to open-ended, evoca­
tive questions; from rich descriptive detail to a bullet-pointed list of themes; and from
third-person, objective reportage to first-person, emotion-laden poetry. Just as there are
multiple destinations in qualitative research, there are multiple pathways and journeys
along the way.

Analysis is accelerated as you take cognitive ownership of your data. By reading and
rereading the corpus, you gain intimate familiarity with its contents and begin to notice
significant details as well as make new insights about their meanings. Patterns, cate­
gories, and their interrelationships become more evident the more you know the sub­
tleties of the database.

Since qualitative research’s design, fieldwork, and data collection are most often provi­
sional, emergent, and evolutionary processes, you reflect on and analyze the data as you
gather them and proceed through the project. If preplanned methods are not working,
you change them to secure the data you need. There is generally a post-fieldwork period
when continued reflection and more systematic data analysis occur, concurrent with or
followed by additional data collection, if needed, and the more formal write-up of the
study, which is in itself an analytic act. Through field note writing, interview transcribing,
analytic memo writing, and other documentation processes, you gain cognitive ownership
of your data; and the intuitive, tacit, synthesizing capabilities of your brain begin sensing
patterns, making connections, and seeing the bigger picture. The purpose and outcome of
data analysis is to reveal to others through fresh insights what we have observed and dis­
covered about the human condition. And fortunately, there are heuristics for reorganizing
and reflecting on your qualitative data to help you achieve that goal.

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

QDA Strategy: To Pattern

To pattern in QDA is to detect similarities within and regularities among the data you
have collected.

The natural world is filled with patterns because we, as humans, have constructed them
as such. Stars in the night sky are not just a random assembly; our ancestors pieced them
together to form constellations like the Big Dipper. A collection of flowers growing wild in
a field has a pattern, as does an individual flower’s patterns of leaves and petals. Look at
the physical objects humans have created and notice how pattern oriented we are in our
construction, organization, and decoration. Look around you in your environment and no­
tice how many patterns are evident on your clothing, in a room, and on most objects
themselves. Even our sometimes mundane daily and long-term human actions are repro­
duced patterns in the form of roles, relationships, rules, routines, and rituals.

This human propensity for pattern making follows us into QDA. From the vast array of in­
terview transcripts, field notes, documents, and other forms of data, there is this instinc­
tive, hardwired need to bring order to the collection—not just to reorganize it but to look
for and construct patterns out of it. The discernment of patterns is one of the first steps in
the data analytic process, and the methods described next are recommended ways to con­
struct them.

QDA Strategy: To Code

To code in QDA is to assign a truncated, symbolic meaning to each datum for purposes of
qualitative analysis.

Coding is a heuristic—a method of discovery—to the meanings of individual sections of

data. These codes function as a way of patterning, classifying, and later reorganizing
them into emergent categories for further analysis. Different types of codes exist for dif­
ferent types of research genres and qualitative data analytic approaches, but this article
will focus on only a few selected methods. First, a definition of a code:

A code in qualitative data analysis is most often a word or short phrase that sym­
bolically assigns a summative, salient, essence-capturing, and/or evocative at­
tribute for a portion of language-based or visual data. The data can consist of in­
terview transcripts, participant observation fieldnotes, journals, documents, litera­
ture, artifacts, photographs, (p. 585) video, websites, e-mail correspondence, and
so on. The portion of data to be coded can... range in magnitude from a single
word to a full sentence to an entire page of text to a stream of moving images....
Just as a title represents and captures a book or film or poem’s primary content
and essence, so does a code represent and capture a datum’s primary content and
essence.

[Saldaña, 2009, p. 3]

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

One helpful pre-coding task is to divide long selections of field note or interview tran­
script data into shorter stanzas. Stanza division “chunks” the corpus into more manage­
able paragraph-like units for coding assignments and analysis. The transcript sample that
follows illustrates one possible way of inserting line breaks in-between self-standing pas­
sages of interview text for easier readability.

Process Coding

As a first coding example, the following interview excerpt about an employed, single, low­
er-middle-class adult male’s spending habits during the difficult economic times in the
U.S. during 2008–2012 is coded in the right-hand margin in capital letters. The super­
script numbers match the datum unit with its corresponding code. This particular method
is called process coding, which uses gerunds (“-ing” words) exclusively to represent ac­
tion suggested by the data. Processes can consist of observable human actions (e.g.,
BUYING BARGAINS), mental processes (e.g., THINKING TWICE), and more conceptual
ideas (e.g., APPRECIATING WHAT YOU’VE GOT). Notice that the interviewer’s (I) por­
tions are not coded, just the participant’s (P). A code is applied each time the subtopic of
the interview shifts—even within a stanza—and the same codes can (and should) be used
more than once if the subtopics are similar. The central research question driving this
qualitative study is, “In what ways are middle-class Americans influenced and affected by
the current [2008–2012] economic recession?”

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

1
BUYING BAR­
P: 1 When I go to the grocery store, I
GAINS
can’t believe how much the price of
meat has skyrocketed. The other day
I was at the meat section, and there
was a horde of people clustered
around the chicken. It was because
the store was offering two-for-one.
Buy one package of chicken, get the
second one free. Now that was a bar­
gain. And I got some.

I: What other consumer habits of

yours have been changed by the
economy?

2
P: Sometimes it’s the little things.2
QUESTIONING
Like, at work, do I really want to pay
A PURCHASE
$1.50 for one bottle of Diet Coke from 3
THINKING
a vending machine? I can practically
TWICE
get a two-liter bottle for that same 4
STOCKING
price at the grocery store. So I3 think
UP
twice before I put my dollar and coins
in a machine. 4 I've been going to all-
you-can-eat places a lot lately, be­
cause it's both cheap and filling. I go
to Peter Piper’s or Sweet Tomatoes or
Golden Corral or some cheap Chinese
buffet and I stock up on lunch so I
can skip dinner. Or I skip lunch so I
can stock up on dinner. With Sweet
Tomatoes I get those coupons for a
few bucks off for lunch, so that really
helps.

I: What about purchases of non-food

items? How have your spending
habits changed these days?

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

5
REFUSING
P: 5 I still have my bad habits I refuse
SACRIFICE
to give up: books and cigarettes, it’s 6
THINKING
always gonna be that.6 I look at
TWICE
clothes some, but when I see (p. 586) 7
the prices I think I don’t really need
PRIORITIZING
them, what I’ve got is fine.7 I've got 8
FINDING
my cats to take care of, so they get 9
LIVING
priority with special foods, meds,
CHEAPLY
vets.8 I don’t go to movies anymore. I 10
NOTICING
rent DVDs from Netflix or Redbox or
CHANGES
watch movies ALTERNATIVES online 11
STAYING IN­
—so much cheaper than paying over
FORMED
ten or twelve bucks for a movie tick­
et.9 In a way, I’ve always lived kind of
cheap. I’m not a big spender, really,
so I haven’t changed my habits all
that much, but10 I do notice I’m not
putting as much into savings as I
used to, so that's a sign that I’m
spending more because the price of
stuff has gone up.11 I heard that
peanut butter’s gonna go up because
of some bad crop, so that’s another
ding in my wallet.

I: You said you have cats to take care

of.

P: Yeah, three of them.

I: What about their expenses?

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

12
P: 12 Man, they are so high mainte­
MAINTAINING
nance. All three are on some of type
HEALTH
of meds of one kind or another. One’s 13
diabetic so he has to have insulin
MAINTAINING
shots twice a day, another’s got some
HEALTH
kind of thyroid condition so he gets 14
PICKING UP
ear gel twice a day, and the third one
THE TAB
gets his ear gel for urinary infections
on an as-needed basis. Two of them
need special food, there’s lots of trips
to the vet’s for check-ups.13 I just had
to have dental work recently, almost
$1,000 to fix up my teeth because I
hadn't been taking care of them as
good as I should have. And that was
just round one, there's two more pro­
cedures I have to go through, and
that’ll be another couple of thousand.
14
And my dental insurance is just
worthless on this so I have to pick up
the tab myself.

I: Sounds like it's just one thing after

another.

15
P: Yeah, yeah, and it all adds up.15 I’m
APPRECIATING
surprised I've made it this far. I’m not
WHAT YOU’VE
as bad off as others are, so I thank
GOT
God for that. But, man— scary times.

Different researchers analyzing this same piece of data may develop completely
(p. 586)

different codes, depending on their lenses and filters. The previous codes are only one
person’s interpretation of what is happening in the data, not the definitive list. The
process codes have transformed the raw data units into new representations for analysis.
A listing of them applied to this interview transcript, in the order they appear, reads:

BUYING BARGAINS
QUESTIONING A PURCHASE
(p. 587) THINKING TWICE

STOCKING UP

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

REFUSING SACRIFICE
THINKING TWICE
PRIORITIZING
FINDING ALTERNATIVES
LIVING CHEAPLY
NOTICING CHANGES
STAYING INFORMED
MAINTAINING HEALTH
MAINTAINING HEALTH
PICKING UP THE TAB
APPRECIATING WHAT YOU’VE GOT

Coding the data is the first step in this particular approach to QDA, and categorization is
just one of the next possible steps.

QDA Strategy: To Categorize

To categorize in QDA is to cluster similar or comparable codes into groups for pattern
construction and further analysis.

Humans categorize things in innumerable ways. Think of an average apartment or

house’s layout. The rooms of a dwelling have been constructed or categorized by their
builders and occupants according to function. A kitchen is designated as an area to store
and prepare food and the cooking and dining materials such as pots, pans, and utensils. A
bedroom is designated for sleeping, a closet for clothing storage, a bathroom for bodily
functions and hygiene, and so on. Each room is like a category in which related and rele­
vant patterns of human action occur. Of course, there are exceptions now and then, such
as eating breakfast in bed rather than in a dining area or living in a small studio apart­
ment in which most possessions are contained within one large room (but nonetheless are
most often organized and clustered into subcategories according to function and optimal
use of space).

The point here is that the patterns of social action we designate into particular categories
during QDA are not perfectly bounded. Category construction is our best attempt to clus­
ter the most seemingly alike things into the most seemingly appropriate groups. Catego­
rizing is reorganizing and reordering the vast array of data from a study because it is
from these smaller, larger, and meaning-rich units that we can better grasp the particular
features of each one and the categories’ possible interrelationships with one another.

One analytic strategy with a list of codes is to classify them into similar clusters. Obvious­
ly, the same codes share the same category, but it is also possible that a single code can
merit its own group if you feel it is unique enough. After the codes have been classified, a
category label is applied to each grouping. Sometimes a code can also double as a catego­
ry name if you feel it best summarizes the totality of the cluster. Like coding, categorizing
is an interpretive act, for there can be different ways of separating and collecting codes

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

that seem to belong together. The cut-and-paste functions of a word processor are most
useful for exploring which codes share something in common.

Below is my categorization of the fifteen codes generated from the interview transcript
presented earlier. Like the gerunds for process codes, the categories have also been la­
beled as “-ing” words to connote action. And there was no particular reason why fifteen
codes resulted in three categories—there could have been less or even more, but this is
how the array came together after my reflections on which codes seemed to belong to­
gether. The category labels are ways of answering “why” they belong together. For at-a-
glance differentiation, I place codes in CAPITAL LETTERS and categories in upper and
lower case Bold Font:

Category 1: Thinking Strategically

CODES:
STAYING INFORMED
NOTICING CHANGES
QUESTIONING A PURCHASE
THINKING TWICE
THINKING TWICE

Category 2: Spending Strategically

CODES:
PICKING UP THE TAB
BUYING BARGAINS
STOCKING UP

Category 3: Living Strategically

CODES:
MAINTAINING HEALTH
MAINTAINING HEALTH
REFUSING SACRIFICE
PRIORITIZING
FINDING ALTERNATIVES
LIVING CHEAPLY
APPRECIATING WHAT YOU'VE GOT

Notice that the three category labels share a common word: “strategically.” Where did
this word come from? It came from analytic reflection (p. 588) on the original data, the
codes, and the process of categorizing the codes and generating their category labels. It
was the analyst’s choice based on the interpretation of what primary action was happen­
ing. Your categories generated from your coded data do not need to share a common
word or phrase, but I find that this technique, when appropriate, helps build a sense of
unity to the initial analytic scheme.

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

The three categories—Thinking Strategically, Spending Strategically, and Living

Strategically—are then reflected upon for how they might interact and interplay. This is
where the next major facet of data analysis, analytic memos, enters the scheme. But a
necessary section on the basic principles of interrelationship and analytic reasoning must
precede that discussion.

QDA Strategy: To Interrelate

To interrelate in QDA is to propose connections within, between, and among the con­
stituent elements of analyzed data.

One task of QDA is to explore the ways our patterns and categories interact and interplay.
I use these terms to suggest the qualitative equivalent of statistical correlation, but inter­
action and interplay are much more than a simple relationship. They imply interrelation­
ship. Interaction refers to reverberative connections—for example, how one or more cate­
gories might influence and affect the others, how categories operate concurrently, or
whether there is some kind of “domino” effect to them. Interplay refers to the structural
and processual nature of categories—for example, whether some type of sequential order,
hierarchy, or taxonomy exists; whether any overlaps occur; whether there is superordi­
nate and subordinate arrangement; and what types of organizational frameworks or net­
works might exist among them. The positivist construct of “cause and effect” becomes in­
fluences and affects in QDA.

There can even be patterns of patterns and categories of categories if your mind thinks
conceptually and abstractly enough. Our minds can intricately connect multiple phenome­
na but only if the data and their analyses support the constructions. We can speculate
about interaction and interplay all we want, but it is only through a more systematic in­
vestigation of the data—in other words, good thinking—that we can plausibly establish
any possible interrelationships.

QDA Strategy: To Reason

To reason in QDA is to think in ways that lead to causal probabilities, summative findings,
and evaluative conclusions.

Unlike quantitative research, with its statistical formulas and established hypothesis-test­
ing protocols, qualitative research has no standardized methods of data analysis. Rest as­
sured, there are recommended guidelines from the field’s scholars and a legacy of analyt­
ic strategies from which to draw. But the primary heuristics (or methods of discovery) you
apply during a study are deductive, inductive, abductive, and retroductive reasoning. De­
duction is what we generally draw and conclude from established facts and evidence. In­
duction is what we experientially explore and infer to be transferable from the particular
to the general, based on an examination of the evidence and an accumulation of knowl­
edge. Abduction is surmising from the evidence that which is most likely, those explanato­

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

ry hunches based on clues. “Whereas deductive inferences are certain (so long as their
premises are true) and inductive inferences are probable, abductive inferences are mere­
ly plausible” (Shank, 2008, p. 1). Retroduction is historic reconstruction, working back­
wards to figure out how the current conditions came to exist.

It is not always necessary to know the names of these four ways of reasoning as you pro­
ceed through analysis. In fact, you will more than likely reverberate quickly from one to
another depending on the task at hand. But what is important to remember about reason­
ing is:

• to base your conclusions primarily on the participants’ experiences, not just your
own
• not to take the obvious for granted, as sometimes the expected won't always happen.
Your hunches can be quite right and, at other times, quite wrong
• to examine the evidence carefully and make reasonable inferences
• to logically yet imaginatively think about what is going on and how it all comes to­
gether.

Futurists and inventors propose three questions when they think about creating new vi­
sions for the world: What is possible (induction)? What is plausible (abduction)? What is
preferable (deduction)? These same three questions might be posed as you proceed
through QDA and particularly through analytic memo writing, which is retroductive re­
flection on your analytic work thus far. (p. 589)

QDA Strategy: To Memo

To memo in QDA is to reflect in writing on the nuances, inferences, meanings, and trans­
fer of coded and categorized data plus your analytic processes.

Like field note writing, perspectives vary among practitioners as to the methods for docu­
menting the researcher’s analytic insights and subjective experiences. Some advise that
such reflections should be included in field notes as relevant to the data. Others advise
that a separate researcher’s journal should be maintained for recording these impres­
sions. And still others advise that these thoughts be documented as separate analytic
memos. I prescribe the latter as a method because it is generated by and directly con­
nected to the data themselves.

An analytic memo is a “think piece” of reflexive free writing, a narrative that sets in
words your interpretations of the data. Coding and categorizing are heuristics to detect
some of the possible patterns and interrelationships at work within the corpus, and an an­
alytic memo further articulates your deductive, inductive, abductive, and retroductive
thinking processes on what things may mean. Though the metaphor is a bit flawed and
limiting, think of codes and their consequent categories as separate jigsaw puzzle pieces,
and their integration into an analytic memo as the trial assembly of the complete picture.

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

What follows is an example of an analytic memo based on the earlier process coded and
categorized interview transcript. It is not intended as the final write-up for a publication
but as an open-ended reflection on the phenomena and processes suggested by the data
and their analysis thus far. As the study proceeds, however, initial and substantive analyt­
ic memos can be revisited and revised for eventual integration into the final report. Note
how the memo is dated and given a title for future and further categorization, how partic­
ipant quotes are occasionally included for evidentiary support, and how the category
names are bolded and the codes kept in capital letters to show how they integrate or
weave into the thinking:

March 18, 2012

EMERGENT CATEGORIES: A STRATEGIC AMALGAM

There’s a popular saying now: “Smart is the new rich.” This participant is Think­
ing Strategically about his spending through such tactics as THINKING TWICE
and QUESTIONING A PURCHASE before he decides to invest in a product.
There’s a heightened awareness of both immediate trends and forthcoming eco­
nomic bad news that positively affects his Spending Strategically. However, he
seems unaware that there are even more ways of LIVING CHEAPLY by FINDING
ALTERNATIVES. He dines at all-you-can-eat restaurants as a way of STOCKING
UP on meals, but doesn’t state that he could bring lunch from home to work, pos­
sibly saving even more money. One of his “bad habits” is cigarettes, which he re­
fuses to give up; but he doesn’t seem to realize that by quitting smoking he could
save even more money, not to mention possible health care costs. He balks at the
idea of paying $1.50 for a soft drink, but doesn’t mind paying $6.00–$7.00 for a
pack of cigarettes. Penny-wise and pound-foolish. Addictions skew priorities. Liv­
ing Strategically, for this participant during “scary times,” appears to be a com­
bination of PRIORITIZING those things which cannot be helped, such as pet care
and personal dental care; REFUSING SACRIFICE for maintaining personal crea­
ture-comforts; and FINDING ALTERNATIVES to high costs and excessive spend­
ing. Living Strategically is an amalgam of thinking and action-oriented strate­
gies.

There are several recommended topics for analytic memo writing throughout the qualita­
tive study. Memos are opportunities to reflect on and write about:

• how you personally relate to the participants and/or the phenomenon

• your study’s research questions
• your code choices and their operational definitions
• the emergent patterns, categories, themes, assertions, and concepts
• the possible networks (links, connections, overlaps, flows) among the codes, pat­
terns, categories, themes, assertions, and concepts
• an emergent or related existent theory

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

• any problems with the study

• any personal or ethical dilemmas with the study
• future directions for the study
• the analytic memos generated thus far [labeled “metamemos”]
• the final report for the study [adapted from Saldaña, 2013, p. 49]

Since writing is analysis, analytic memos expand on the inferential meanings of the trun­
cated codes and categories as a transitional stage into a more coherent narrative with
hopefully rich social insight.

(p. 590) QDA Strategy: To Code—A Different Way

The first example of coding illustrated process coding, a way of exploring general social
action among humans. But sometimes a researcher works with an individual case study
whose language is unique, or with someone the researcher wishes to honor by maintain­
ing the authenticity of his or her speech in the analysis. These reasons suggest that a
more participant-centered form of coding may be more appropriate.

In Vivo Coding

A second frequently applied method of coding is called in vivo coding. The root meaning
of “in vivo” is “in that which is alive” and refers to a code based on the actual language
used by the participant (Strauss, 1987). What words or phrases in the data record you se­
lect as codes are those that seem to stand out as significant or summative of what is be­
ing said.

Using the same transcript of the male participant living in difficult economic times, in vi­
vo codes are listed in the right-hand column. I recommend that in vivo codes be placed in
quotation marks as a way of designating that the code is extracted directly from the data
record. Note that instead of fifteen codes generated from process coding, the total num­
ber of in vivo codes is thirty. This is not to suggest that there should be specific numbers
or ranges of codes used for particular methods. In vivo codes, though, tend to be applied
more frequently to data. Again, the interviewer’s questions and prompts are not coded,
just the participant's responses:

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

1
P: When I go to the grocery store, I
“SKYROCK­
can’t believe how much the price of
ETED”
meat has1 skyrocketed. The other day I 2
“HORDE”
was at the meat section, and there was 3
“TWO-FOR-
a2 horde of people clustered around the
ONE”
chicken. It was because the store was 4
“FREE”
offering3 two-for-one. Buy one package 5
“BARGAIN”
of chicken, get the second one4 free.
Now that was a5 bargain. And I got
some.

6
“THE LIT­
I: What other consumer habits of yours
TLE THINGS”
have been changed by the economy? 7
“THINK
P: Sometimes it’s6 the little things.
TWICE”
Like, at work, do I really want to pay 8
“ALL-YOU-
$1.50 for one bottle of Diet Coke from
CAN-EAT”
a vending machine? I can practically 9
“CHEAP
get a two-liter bottle for that same
AND FIL­
price at the grocery store. So I7 think
LING”
twice before I put my dollar and coins 10
“CHEAP”
in a machine.I've been going to8 all- 11
“STOCK
you-can-eat places a lot lately, because
UP”
it's both9 cheap and filling. I go to Pe­ 12
“SKIP”
ter Piper’s or Sweet Tomatoes or Gold­ 13
en Corral or some10 cheap Chinese buf­
“COUPONS”
fet and I11 stock up on lunch so I can
skip dinner. Or I12 skip lunch so I can
stock up on dinner. With Sweet Toma­
toes I get those 13 coupons for a few
bucks off for lunch, so that really helps.

I: What about purchases of non-food

items? How have your spending habits
changed these days?

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

14
“BAD
P: I still have my14 bad habits I refuse
HABITS”
to give up: books and cigarettes, it’s al­ 15
“DON'T
ways gonna be that. I look at clothes
REALLY
some, but when I see the prices I think
NEED”
I15 don't really need them, what I’ve 16
got is fine. I've got my cats to (p. 591)
“PRIORITY”
take care of, so they get16 priority with 17
special foods, meds, vets.I don't go to
“CHEAPER”
movies anymore. I rent DVDs from Net­ 18
“LIVED
flix or Redbox or watch movies online—
KIND OF
so much17 cheaper than paying over
CHEAP”
ten or twelve bucks for a movie 19
“NOT A
ticket.In a way, I’ve always18 lived kind
BIG SPEN­
of cheap. I’m19 not a big spender, real­
DER”
ly, so I20 haven't changed my habits all 20
“HAVEN’T
that much, but I do notice I’m21 not
CHANGED
putting as much into savings as I used
MY HABITS”
to, so that's a sign that I’m 22 spending 21
“NOT PUT­
more because the price of stuff has
TING AS
gone up. I heard that peanut butter’s
MUCH INTO
gonna go up because of some bad crop
SAVINGS”
so that’s23 another ding in my wallet. 22

“SPENDING
MORE”
23
“ANOTHER
DING IN MY
WALLET”

I: You said you have cats to take care

of.

P: Yeah, three of them.

I: What about their expenses?

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

24
“HIGH
P: Man, they are so24 high mainte­
MAINTE­
nance. All three are on some of type of
NANCE”
meds of one kind or another. One's dia­ 25
“COUPLE
betic so he has to have insulin shots
OF
twice a day, another’s got some kind of
THOUSAND”
thyroid condition so he gets ear gel 26
twice a day, and the third one gets his
“INSURANCE
ear gel for urinary infections on an as-
IS JUST
needed basis. Two of them need special
WORTH­
food, there’s lots of trips to the vet’s for
LESS”
check-ups. I just had to have dental 27
“PICK UP
work recently, almost $1,000 to fix up
THE TAB”
my teeth because I hadn’t been taking
care of them as good as I should have.
And that was just round one, there’s
two more procedures I have to go
through, and that'll be another25 cou­
ple of thousand. And my dental26
insurance is just worthless on this so I
have to27 pick up the tab myself.

I: Sounds like it’s just one thing after

another.

28
“IT ALL
P: Yeah, yeah, and28 it all adds up. I'm
ADDS UP”
surprised I've made it this far. I’m29 not 29
“NOT AS
as bad off as others are, so I thank God
BAD OFF”
for that. But, man— 30 scary times. 30
“SCARY
TIMES”

The thirty in vivo codes are then extracted from the transcript and listed in the order they
appear to prepare them for analytic action and reflection:

“SKYROCKETED”
“HORDE”
“TWO-FOR-ONE”
“FREE”
“BARGAIN”
“THE LITTLE THINGS”
“THINK TWICE”
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Coding and Analysis Strategies

“ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT”
(p. 592)

“CHEAP AND FILLING”

“CHEAP”
“STOCK UP”
“SKIP”
“COUPONS”
“BAD HABITS”
“DON'T REALLY NEED”
“PRIORITY”
“CHEAPER”
“LIVED KIND OF CHEAP”
“NOT A BIG SPENDER”
“HAVEN'T CHANGED MY HABITS”
“NOT PUTTING AS MUCH INTO SAVINGS”
“SPENDING MORE”
“ANOTHER DING IN MY WALLET”
“HIGH MAINTENANCE”
“COUPLE OF THOUSAND”
“INSURANCE IS JUST WORTHLESS”
“PICK UP THE TAB”
“IT ALL ADDS UP”
“NOT AS BAD OFF”
“SCARY TIMES”

Even though no systematic reorganization or categorization has been conducted with the
codes thus far, an analytic memo of first impressions can still be composed:

March 19, 2012

CODE CHOICES: THE EVERYDAY LANGUAGE OF ECONOMICS

After eyeballing the in vivo codes list, I noticed that variants of “CHEAP” appear
most often. I recall a running joke between me and a friend of mine when we were
shopping for sales. We’d say, “We're not ‘cheap,’ we're frugal.” There’s no formal
economic or business language is this transcript—no terms such as “recession” or
“downsizing”—just the everyday language of one person trying to cope during
“SCARY TIMES” with “ANOTHER DING IN MY WALLET.” The participant notes
that he’s always “LIVED KIND OF CHEAP” and is “NOT A BIG SPENDER” and,
due to his employment, “NOT AS BAD OFF” as others in the country. Yet even with
his middle class status, he’s still feeling the monetary pinch, dining at inexpensive
“ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT” restaurants and worried about the rising price of peanut but­
ter, observing that he’s “NOT PUTTING AS MUCH INTO SAVINGS” as he used to.
Of all the codes, “ANOTHER DING IN MY WALLET” stands out to me, particularly
because on the audio recording he sounded bitter and frustrated. It seems that
he’s so concerned about “THE LITTLE THINGS” because of high veterinary and

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

dental charges. The only way to cope with a “COUPLE OF THOUSAND” dollars
worth of medical expenses is to find ways of trimming the excess in everyday
facets of living: “IT ALL ADDS UP.”

Like process coding, in vivo codes could be clustered into similar categories, but another
simple data analytic strategy is also possible.

QDA Strategy: To Outline

To outline in QDA is to hierarchically, processually, and/or temporally assemble such
things as codes, categories, themes, assertions, and concepts into a coherent, text-based
display.

Traditional outlining formats and content provide not only templates for writing a report
but templates for analytic organization. This principle can be found in several CAQDAS
(Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software) programs through their use of
such functions as “hierarchies,” “trees,” and “nodes,” for example. Basic outlining is sim­
ply a way of arranging primary, secondary, and sub-secondary items into a patterned dis­
play. For example, an organized listing of things in a home might consist of:

I. Kitchen
A. Large appliances
1. Refrigerator
2. Stove-top oven
3. Microwave oven

B. Small appliances
1. Toaster
2. Coffee maker
3. Can opener

II. Dining room

A. Furniture
1. Table
2. Chairs

III. Etc.

In QDA, outlining may include descriptive nouns or topics but, depending on the study, it
may also involve processes or phenomena in extended passages, such as in vivo codes or
themes.

The complexity of what we learn in the field can be overwhelming, and outlining is a way
of organizing and ordering that complexity so that it does not become complicated. The
cut-and-paste and tab functions of a word processor page enable you to arrange and re­
arrange the salient items from your preliminary (p. 593) coded analytic work into a more

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

streamlined flow. By no means do I suggest that the intricate messiness of life can always
be organized into neatly formatted arrangements, but outlining is an analytic act that
stimulates deep reflection on both the interconnectedness and interrelationships of what
we study. As an example, here are the thirty in vivo codes generated from the initial tran­
script analysis, arranged in such a way as to construct five major categories:

I. “SCARY TIMES”
A. “SKYROCKETED”
B. “HORDE”

II. “PRIORITY”
A. “HIGH MAINTENANCE”
B. “THINK TWICE”
1. “DON’T REALLY NEED”
2. “SKIP”

III. “ANOTHER DING IN MY WALLET”

A. “PICK UP THE TAB”
1. “INSURANCE IS JUST WORTHLESS”

B. “SPENDING MORE”
1. “COUPLE OF THOUSAND”
2. “NOT PUTTING AS MUCH INTO SAVINGS”

C. “IT ALL ADDS UP”

IV. “THE LITTLE THINGS”

A. “BARGAIN”
1. “COUPONS”
2. “FREE”

B. “STOCK UP”
1. “TWO-FOR-ONE”
2. “ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT”

V. “LIVED KIND OF CHEAP”

A. “CHEAP”
1. “CHEAPER”
2. “CHEAP AND FILLING”

B. “HAVEN’T CHANGED MY HABITS”

1. “BAD HABITS”
2. “NOT A BIG SPENDER”

C. “NOT AS BAD OFF”

Now that the codes have been rearranged into an outline format, an analytic memo is
composed to expand on the rationale and constructed meanings in progress:

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

March 19, 2012

NETWORKS: EMERGENT CATEGORIES The five major categories I constructed

from the in vivo codes are: “SCARY TIMES,” “PRIORTY,” “ANOTHER DING IN MY
WALLET,” “THE LITTLE THINGS,” and “LIVED KIND OF CHEAP.” One of the
things that hit me today was that the reason he may be pinching pennies on small­
er purchases is that he cannot control the larger ones he has to deal with. Perhaps
the only way we can cope with or seem to have some sense of agency over major
expenses is to cut back on the smaller ones that we can control. $1,000 for a den­
tal bill? Skip lunch for a few days a week. Insulin medication to buy for a pet?
Don’t buy a soft drink from a vending machine. Using this reasoning, let me try to
interrelate and weave the categories together as they relate to this particular par­
ticipant: During these scary economic times, he prioritizes his spending because
there seems to be just one ding after another to his wallet. A general lifestyle of
living cheaply and keeping an eye out for how to save money on the little things
compensates for those major expenses beyond his control.

QDA Strategy: To Code—In Even More Ways

The process and in vivo coding examples thus far have demonstrated only two specific
methods of thirty-two documented approaches (Saldaña, 2013). Which one(s) you choose
for your analysis depends on such factors as your conceptual framework, the genre of
qualitative research for your project, the types of data you collect, and so on. The follow­
ing sections present a few other approaches available for coding qualitative data that you
may find useful as starting points.

Descriptive Coding

Descriptive codes are primarily nouns that simply summarize the topic of a datum. This
coding approach is particularly useful when you have different types of data gathered for
one study, such as interview transcripts, field notes, documents, and visual materials such
as photographs. Descriptive (p. 594) codes not only help categorize but also index the data
corpus’ basic contents for further analytic work. An example of an interview portion cod­
ed descriptively, taken from the participant living in tough economic times, follows to il­
lustrate how the same data can be coded in multiple ways:

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

1
MEAT
P: 1 When I go to the grocery store, I
PRICES
can’t believe how much the price of 2
GROCERY
meat has skyrocketed. 2 The other day I
STORE SALE
was at the meat section, and there was
a horde of people clustered around the
chicken. It was because the store was
offering two-for-one. Buy one package
of chicken, get the second one free.
Now that was a bargain. And I got
some.

I: What other consumer habits of yours

have been changed by the economy?

3
SOFT
3
P: Sometimes it’s the little things.
DRINK
Like, at work, do I really want to pay
PRICES
$1.50 for one bottle of Diet Coke from a 4
vending machine? I can practically get
CONSUMER
a two-liter bottle for that same price at
DECISION
the grocery store.4 So I think twice be­
MAKING
fore I put my dollar and coins in a ma­
chine.

For initial analysis, descriptive codes are clustered into similar categories to detect such
patterns as frequency (i.e., categories with the largest number of codes), interrelation­
ship (i.e., categories that seem to connect in some way), and initial work for grounded
theory development.

Values Coding

Values coding identifies the values, attitudes, and beliefs of a participant, as shared by
the individual and/or interpreted by the analyst. This coding method infers the “heart and
mind” of an individual or group’s worldview as to what is important, perceived as true,
maintained as opinion, and felt strongly. The three constructs are coded separately but
are part of a complex interconnected system.

Briefly, a value (V) is what we attribute as important, be it a person, thing, or idea. An at­
titude (A) is the evaluative way we think and feel about ourselves, others, things, or ideas.
A belief (B) is what we think and feel as true or necessary, formed from our “personal
knowledge, experiences, opinions, prejudices, morals, and other interpretive perceptions

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

of the social world” (Saldaña, 2009, pp. 89–90). Values coding explores intrapersonal, in­
terpersonal, and cultural constructs or ethos. It is an admittedly slippery task to code this
way, for it is sometimes difficult to discern what is a value, attitude, or belief because
they are intricately interrelated. But the depth you can potentially obtain is rich. An ex­
ample of values coding follows:

1
B: LIVING
P: 1 In a way, I’ve always lived kind of
CHEAPLY
cheap. 2 I’m not a big spender, really, so 2
V: FRUGAL
I haven’t changed my habits all that 3
B: LESS
much,3 but I do notice I’m not putting
SAVINGS
as much into savings as I used to,4 so 4
B:
that's a sign that I’m spending more be­
“SPENDING
cause the price of stuff has gone up.5 I
MORE”
heard that peanut butter’s gonna go up 5
B: RISING
because of some bad crop, 6 so that’s
PRICES
another ding in my wallet. 6
A:
ECONOMIC
BITTERNESS

For analysis, categorize the codes for each of the three different constructs together (i.e.,
all values in one group, attitudes in a second group, and beliefs in a third group). Analytic
memo writing about the patterns and possible interrelationships may reveal a more de­
tailed and intricate worldview of the participant.

(p. 595) Dramaturgical Coding

Dramaturgical coding perceives life as performance and its participants as characters in

a social drama. Codes are assigned to the data (i.e., a “play script”) that analyze the char­
acters in action, reaction, and interaction. Dramaturgical coding of participants examines
their objectives (OBJ) or wants, needs, and motives; the conflicts (CON) or obstacles they
face as they try to achieve their objectives; the tactics (TAC) or strategies they employ to
reach their objectives; their attitudes (ATT) toward others and their given circumstances;
the particular emotions (EMO) they experience throughout; and their subtexts (SUB) or
underlying and unspoken thoughts. The following is an example of dramaturgically coded
data:

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

1
OBJ:
P: 1 I’ve been going to all-you-can-eat
SAVING
places a lot lately, because it’s both
MEAL
cheap and filling. I go to Peter Piper’s or
MONEY
Sweet Tomatoes or Golden Corral or 2
TAC: SKIP­
some cheap Chinese buffet and2 stock up
PING
on lunch so I can skip dinner. Or I skip
MEALS
lunch so I can stock up on dinner.3 With 3
TAC:
Sweet Tomatoes I get those coupons for
COUPONS
a few bucks off for lunch, so that really
helps.

I: What about purchases of non-food

items? How have your spending habits
changed these days?

4
CON:
P: 4 I still have my bad habits5 I refuse to
“BAD
give up: books and cigarettes, it’s always
HABITS”
gonna be that.6 I look at clothes some, 5
SUB:
but when I see the prices I think I don’t
RESIS­
really need them, what I’ve got is fine.7
TANCE
I've got my cats to take care of, so they 6
ATT:
get priority with special foods, meds,
SELF-COM­
vets.
PROMISING
7
OBJ: PET
CARE

Not included in this particular interview excerpt are the emotions the participant may
have experienced or talked about. His later line, “that’s another ding in my wallet,” would
have been coded EMO: BITTER. A reader may not have inferred that specific emotion
from seeing the line in print. But the interviewer, present during the event and listening
carefully to the audio recording during transcription, noted that feeling in his tone of
voice.

For analysis, group similar codes together (e.g., all objectives in one group, all conflicts in
another group, all tactics in a third group), or string together chains of how participants
deal with their circumstances to overcome their obstacles through tactics (e.g., OBJ:
SAVING MEAL MONEY > TAC: SKIPPING MEALS). Explore how the individuals or
groups manage problem solving in their daily lives. Dramaturgical coding is particularly

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

useful as preliminary work for narrative inquiry story development or arts-based research
representations such as performance ethnography.

Versus Coding

Versus coding identifies the conflicts, struggles, and power issues observed in social ac­
tion, reaction, and interaction as an X VS. Y code, such as: MEN VS. WOMEN, CONSER­
VATIVES VS. LIBERALS, FAITH VS. LOGIC, and so on. Conflicts are rarely this dichoto­
mous. They are typically nuanced and much more complex. But humans tend to perceive
these struggles with an US VS. THEM mindset. The codes can range from the observable
to the conceptual and can be applied to data that show humans in tension with others,
themselves, or ideologies.

What follows are examples of versus codes applied to the case study participant’s descrip­
tions of his major medical expenses: (p. 596)

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

I: You said you have cats to take care

of.

P: Yeah, three of them.

I: What about their expenses?

1
PET CARE
P: 1 Man, they are so high mainte­
COSTS VS. HU­
nance. All three are on some of type
MAN LIVING
of meds of one kind or another. One's
EXPENSES
diabetic so he has to have insulin 2
HEALTH
shots twice a day, another’s got some
CARE COSTS
kind of thyroid condition so he gets
VS. PERSONAL
ear gel twice a day, and the third one
RESPONSIBILI­
gets his ear gel for urinary infections
TY
on an as-needed basis. Two of them 3
INSURANCE
need special food, there’s lots of trips
COMPANY VS.
to the vet’s for check-ups.2 I just had
CONSUMER
to have dental work recently, almost
COSTS
$1,000 to fix up my teeth because I
hadn’t been taking care of them as
good as I should have. And that was
just round one, there’s two more pro­
cedures I have to go through, and
that’ll be another couple of thousand.
3
And my dental insurance is just
worthless on this so I have to pick up
the tab myself.

As an initial analytic tactic, group the versus codes into one of three categories: the
Stakeholders, their Perceptions and/or Actions, and the Issues at stake. Examine how the
three interrelate and identify the central ideological conflict at work as an X vs. Y
category. Analytic memos and the final write-up can detail the nuances of the issues.

Remember that what has been profiled in this section is a broad brushstroke description
of just a few basic coding processes, several of which can be compatibly “mixed and
matched” within a single analysis (see Saldaña’s [2013] The Coding Manual for Qualita­
tive Researchers for a complete discussion). Certainly with additional data, more in-depth
analysis can occur, but coding is only one approach to extracting and constructing prelim­
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Coding and Analysis Strategies

inary meanings from the data corpus. What now follows are additional methods for quali­
tative analysis.

QDA Strategy: To Theme

To theme in QDA is to construct summative, phenomenological meanings from data
through extended passages of text.

Unlike codes, which are most often single words or short phrases that symbolically repre­
sent a datum, themes are extended phrases or sentences that summarize the manifest
(apparent) and latent (underlying) meanings of data (Auerbach & Silverstein, 2003; Boy­
atzis, 1998). Themes, intended to represent the essences and essentials of humans’ lived
experiences, can also be categorized or listed in superordinate and subordinate outline
formats as an analytic tactic.

Below is the interview transcript example used in the coding sections above. (Hopefully
you are not too fatigued at this point with the transcript, but it’s important to know how
inquiry with the same data set can be approached in several different ways.) During the
investigation of the ways middle-class Americans are influenced and affected by the cur­
rent (2008–2012) economic recession, the researcher noticed that participants’ stories ex­
hibited facets of what he labeled “economic intelligence” or EI (based on the formerly de­
veloped theories of Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences and Daniel Goleman’s emo­
tional intelligence). Notice how themeing interprets what is happening through the use of
two distinct phrases—ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE IS (i.e., manifest or apparent mean­
ings) and ECONOMIC INTELLIGENCE MEANS (i.e., latent or underlying meanings):
(p. 597)

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

1
EI IS
P: When I go to the grocery store, I
TAKING AD­
can’t believe how much the price of
VANTAGE OF
meat has skyrocketed. 1 The other day
UNEXPECT­
I was at the meat section, and there
ED OPPOR­
was a horde of people clustered
TUNITY
around the chicken. It was because the
store was offering two-for-one. Buy one
package of chicken, get the second one
free. Now that was a bargain. And I got
some.

I: What other consumer habits of yours

have been changed by the economy?

2
EI MEANS
2
P: Sometimes it’s the little things.
THINKING
Like, at work, do I really want to pay
BEFORE YOU
$1.50 for one bottle of Diet Coke from
ACT
a vending machine? I can practically 3
EI IS
get a two-liter bottle for that same
BUYING
price at the grocery store. So I think
CHEAP
twice before I put my dollar and coins 4
EI MEANS
in a machine.3 I’ve been going to all-
SACRIFICE
you-can-eat places a lot lately, because 5
EI IS
it’s both cheap and filling. I go to Peter
SAVING A
Piper’s or Sweet Tomatoes or Golden
FEW DOL­
Corral or some cheap Chinese buffet
LARS NOW
and4 I stock up on lunch so I can skip
AND THEN
dinner. Or I skip lunch so I can stock
up on dinner.5 With Sweet Tomatoes I
get those coupons for a few bucks off
for lunch, so that really helps.

I: What about purchases of non-food

items? How have your spending habits
changed these days?

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

6
EI MEANS
P: 6 I still have my bad habits I refuse
KNOWING
to give up: books and cigarettes, it’s al­
YOUR FLAWS
ways gonna be that.7 I look at clothes 7
EI MEANS
some, but when I see the prices I think
THINKING
I don’t really need them, what I’ve got
BEFORE YOU
is fine.8 I’ve got my cats to take care
ACT
of, so they get priority with special 8
EI IS SET­
foods, meds, vets.9 I don’t go to movies
TING
anymore. I rent DVDs from Netflix or
PRIORITIES
Redbox or watch movies online—so 9
EI IS
much cheaper than paying over ten or
FINDING
twelve bucks for a movie ticket.10 In a
CHEAPER
way, I’ve always lived kind of cheap.
FORMS OF
I’m not a big spender, really, so I
ENTERTAIN­
haven’t changed my habits all that
MENT
much, but11 I do notice I’m not putting 10
EI MEANS
as much into savings as I used to, so
LIVING AN
that's a sign that I’m spending more
INEX­
because the price of stuff has gone up.
PENSIVE
I heard that peanut butter’s gonna go
LIFESTYLE
up because of some bad crop, so that’s 11
EI IS
another ding in my wallet.
NOTICING
PERSONAL
AND NATION­
AL
ECONOMIC
TRENDS

I: You said you have cats to take care

of.

P: Yeah, three of them.

(p. 598)

I: What about their expenses?

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

12
EI MEANS
P: 12 Man, they are so high mainte­
YOU CANNOT
nance. All three are on some of type of
CONTROL
meds of one kind or another. One’s dia­
EVERYTHING
betic so he has to have insulin shots 13
EI IS
twice a day, another’s got some kind of
TAKING CARE
thyroid condition so he gets ear gel
OF ONE’S
twice a day, and the third one gets his
OWN HEALTH
ear gel for urinary infections on an as-
needed basis. Two of them need spe­
cial food, there’s lots of trips to the
vet’s for check-ups. 13 I just had to
have dental work recently, almost
$1,000 to fix up my teeth because I
hadn’t been taking care of them as
good as I should have. And that was
just round one, there’s two more pro­
cedures I have to go through, and
that'll be another couple of thousand.
And my dental insurance is just worth­
less on this so I have to pick up the tab
myself.

I: Sounds like it's just one thing after

another.

14
EI MEANS
P: Yeah, yeah, and it all adds up.14 I'm
KNOWING
surprised I’ve made it this far. I’m not
YOUR LUCK
as bad off as others are, so I thank God
for that. But, man— scary times.

Unlike the fifteen process codes and thirty in vivo codes in the previous examples, there
are now fourteen themes to work with. In the order they appear, they are:

EI IS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITY

EI MEANS THINKING BEFORE YOU ACT
EI IS BUYING CHEAP
EI MEANS SACRIFICE
EI IS SAVING A FEW DOLLARS NOW AND THEN
EI MEANS KNOWING YOUR FLAWS
EI MEANS THINKING BEFORE YOU ACT

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

EI IS SETTING PRIORITIES
EI IS FINDING CHEAPER FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT
EI MEANS LIVING AN INEXPENSIVE LIFESTYLE
EI IS NOTICING PERSONAL AND NATIONAL ECONOMIC TRENDS
EI MEANS YOU CANNOT CONTROL EVERYTHING
EI IS TAKING CARE OF ONE’S OWN HEALTH
EI MEANS KNOWING YOUR LUCK

There are several ways to categorize the themes as preparation for analytic memo writ­
ing. The first is to arrange them in outline format with superordinate and subordinate lev­
els, based on how the themes seem to take organizational shape and structure. Simply
cutting and pasting the themes in multiple arrangements on a word processor page even­
tually develops a sense of order to them. For example:

I . EI MEANS LIVING AN INEXPENSIVE LIFESTYLE

A. EI IS SETTING PRIORITIES
B. EI MEANS THINKING BEFORE YOU ACT
C. EI IS BUYING CHEAP
D. EI IS FINDING CHEAPER FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT
E. EI IS SAVING A FEW DOLLARS NOW AND THEN
F. EI IS TAKING CARE OF ONE’S OWN HEALTH
G. EI IS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITY

II . EI MEANS YOU CANNOT CONTROL EVERYTHING (p. 599)

A. EI MEANS SACRIFICE
B. EI MEANS KNOWING YOUR FLAWS
C. EI MEANS KNOWING YOUR LUCK
D. EI IS NOTICING PERSONAL AND NATIONAL ECONOMIC TRENDS
E. EI MEANS THINKING BEFORE YOU ACT

A second approach is to categorize the themes into similar clusters and to develop differ­
ent category labels or theoretical constructs. A theoretical construct is an abstraction
that transforms the central phenomenon’s themes into broader applications but can still
use “is” and “means” as prompts to capture the bigger picture at work:

Theoretical Construct 1: EI Means Knowing the Unfortunate Present

Supporting Themes:
EI MEANS YOU CANNOT CONTROL EVERYTHING
EI IS SETTING PRIORITIES
EI MEANS KNOWING YOUR FLAWS
EI MEANS SACRIFICE

Theoretical Construct 2: EI is Cultivating a Small Fortune

Supporting Themes:
EI MEANS LIVING AN INEXPENSIVE LIFESTYLE

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

EI MEANS THINKING BEFORE YOU ACT

EI IS BUYING CHEAP
EI IS FINDING CHEAPER FORMS OF ENTERTAINMENT
EI IS SAVING A FEW DOLLARS NOW AND THEN

Theoretical Construct 3: EI Means a Fortunate Future

Supporting Themes:
EI IS NOTICING PERSONAL AND NATIONAL ECONOMIC TRENDS
EI MEANS THINKING BEFORE YOU ACT
EI IS TAKING ADVANTAGE OF UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITY
EI IS TAKING CARE OF ONE’S OWN HEALTH
EI MEANS KNOWING YOUR LUCK

What follows is an analytic memo generated from the cut-and-paste arrangement of

themes into an outline and into theoretical constructs:

March 19, 2012

EMERGENT THEMES: FORTUNE/FORTUNATELY/UNFORTUNATELY

I first reorganized the themes by listing them in two groups: “is” and “means.”
The “is” statements seemed to contain positive actions and constructive strategies
for economic intelligence. The “means” statements held primarily a sense of cau­
tion and restriction with a touch of negativity thrown in. The first outline with two
major themes, LIVING AN INEXPENSIVE LIFESTYLE and YOU CANNOT CON­
TROL EVERYTHING also had this same tone. This reminded me of the old
children’s picture book, Fortunately/Unfortunately, and the themes of “fortune” as
a motif for the three theoretical constructs came to mind. Knowing the Unfortu­
nate Present means knowing what’s (most) important and what’s (mostly) uncon­
trollable in one’s personal economic life. Cultivating a Small Fortune consists of
those small money-saving actions that, over time, become part of one's lifestyle. A
Fortunate Future consists of heightened awareness of trends and opportunities
at micro and macro levels, with the understanding that health matters can idiosyn­
cratically affect one’s fortune. These three constructs comprise this particular
individual’s EI—economic intelligence.

Again, keep in mind that the examples above for coding and themeing were from one
small interview transcript excerpt. The number of codes and their categorization would
obviously increase, given a longer interview and/or multiple interviews to analyze. But the
same basic principles apply: codes and themes relegated into patterned and categorized
forms are heuristics—stimuli for good thinking through the analytic memo-writing
process on how everything plausibly interrelates. Methodologists vary in the number of
recommended final categories that result from analysis, ranging anywhere from three to
seven, with traditional grounded theorists prescribing one central or core category from
coded work.

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

QDA Strategy: To Assert

To assert in QDA is to put forward statements that summarize particular fieldwork and
analytic observations that the researcher believes credibly represent and transcend the
experiences.

Educational anthropologist Frederick Erickson (1986) wrote a significant and influential

chapter on qualitative methods that outlined heuristics for assertion development. Asser­
tions are declarative statements of summative synthesis, supported by confirming evi­
dence from the data, and revised (p. 600) when disconfirming evidence or discrepant cas­
es require modification of the assertions. These summative statements are generated
from an interpretive review of the data corpus and then supported and illustrated
through narrative vignettes—reconstructed stories from field notes, interview transcripts,
or other data sources that provide a vivid profile as part of the evidentiary warrant.

Coding or themeing data can certainly precede assertion development as a way of gain­
ing intimate familiarity with the data, but Erickson’s methods are a more admittedly intu­
itive yet systematic heuristic for analysis. Erickson promotes analytic induction and explo­
ration of and inferences about the data, based on an examination of the evidence and an
accumulation of knowledge. The goal is not to look for “proof” to support the assertions
but plausibility of inference-laden observations about the local and particular social world
under investigation.

Assertion development is the writing of general statements, plus subordinate yet related
ones called subassertions, and a major statement called a key assertion that represents
the totality of the data. One also looks for key linkages between them, meaning that the
key assertion links to its related assertions, which then link to their respective subasser­
tions. Subassertions can include particulars about any discrepant related cases or specify
components of their parent assertions.

Excerpts from the interview transcript of our case study will be used to illustrate asser­
tion development at work. By now, you should be quite familiar with the contents, so I will
proceed directly to the analytic example. First, there is a series of thematically related
statements the participant makes:

• “Buy one package of chicken, get the second one free. Now that was a bargain. And I
got some.”
• “With Sweet Tomatoes I get those coupons for a few bucks off for lunch, so that real­
ly helps.”
• “I don’t go to movies anymore. I rent DVDs from Netflix or Redbox or watch movies
online—so much cheaper than paying over ten or twelve bucks for a movie ticket.”

Assertions can be categorized into low-level and high-level inferences. Low-level infer­
ences address and summarize “what is happening” within the particulars of the case or
field site—the “micro.” High-level inferences extend beyond the particulars to speculate

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

on “what it means” in the more general social scheme of things—the “meso” or “macro.”
A reasonable low-level assertion about the three statements above collectively might
read: The participant finds several small ways to save money during a difficult economic
period. A high-level inference that transcends the case to the macro level might read:
Selected businesses provide alternatives and opportunities to buy products and services
at reduced rates during a recession to maintain consumer spending.

Assertions are instantiated (i.e., supported) by concrete instances of action or participant

testimony, whose patterns lead to more general description outside the specific field site.
The author’s interpretive commentary can be interspersed throughout the report, but the
assertions should be supported with the evidentiary warrant. A few assertions and sub­
assertions based on the case interview transcript might read (and notice how high-level
assertions serve as the paragraphs’ topic sentences):

Selected businesses provide alternatives and opportunities to buy products and

services at reduced rates during a recession to maintain consumer spending.
Restaurants, for example, need to find ways during difficult economic periods
when potential customers may be opting to eat inexpensively at home rather than
spending more money by dining out. Special offers can motivate cash-strapped
clientele to patronize restaurants more frequently. An adult male dealing with
such major expenses as underinsured dental care offers: “With Sweet Tomatoes I
get those coupons for a few bucks off for lunch, so that really helps.” The film and
video industries also seem to be suffering from a double-whammy during the cur­
rent recession: less consumer spending on higher-priced entertainment, resulting
in a reduced rate of movie theatre attendance (currently 39 percent of the Ameri­
can population, according to CNN); coupled with a media technology and business
revolution that provides consumers less costly alternatives through video rentals
and internet viewing: “I don’t go to movies anymore. I rent DVDs from Netflix or
Redbox or watch movies online—so much cheaper than paying over ten or twelve
bucks for a movie ticket.”

“Particularizability”—the search for specific and unique dimensions of action at a site

and/or the specific and unique perspectives of an individual participant—is not intended
to filter out trivial excess but to magnify the salient characteristics of local meaning. Al­
though generalizable knowledge serves little purpose in qualitative inquiry since each
naturalistic setting will contain its own unique set of social and cultural conditions, there
will be some aspects of social action that are plausibly universal or “generic” across set­
tings and perhaps even across (p. 601) time. To work toward this, Erickson advocates that
the interpretive researcher look for “concrete universals” by studying actions at a partic­
ular site in detail, then comparing those to other sites that have also been studied in de­
tail. The exhibit or display of these generalizable features is to provide a synoptic
representation, or a view of the whole. What the researcher attempts to uncover is what
is both particular and general at the site of interest, preferably from the perspective of
the participants. It is from the detailed analysis of actions at a specific site that these uni­

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

versals can be concretely discerned, rather than abstractly constructed as in grounded

theory.

In sum, assertion development is a qualitative data analytic strategy that relies on the
researcher’s intense review of interview transcripts, field notes, documents, and other da­
ta to inductively formulate composite statements that credibly summarize and interpret
participant actions and meanings, and their possible representation of and transfer into
broader social contexts and issues.

QDA Strategy: To Display

To display in QDA is to visually present the processes and dynamics of human or concep­
tual action represented in the data.

Qualitative researchers use not only language but illustrations to both analyze and dis­
play the phenomena and processes at work in the data. Tables, charts, matrices, flow dia­
grams, and other models help both you and your readers cognitively and conceptually
grasp the essence and essentials of your findings. As you have seen thus far, even simple
outlining of codes, categories, and themes is one visual tactic for organizing the scope of
the data. Rich text, font, and format features such as italicizing, bolding, capitalizing, in­
denting, and bullet pointing provide simple emphasis to selected words and phrases with­
in the longer narrative.

“Think display” was a phrase coined by methodologists Miles and Huberman (1994) to en­
courage the researcher to think visually as data were collected and analyzed. The magni­
tude of text can be essentialized into graphics for “at-a-glance” review. Bins in various
shapes and lines of various thicknesses, along with arrows suggesting pathways and di­
rection, render the study as a portrait of action. Bins can include the names of codes, cat­
egories, concepts, processes, key participants, and/or groups.

As a simple example, Figure 28.1 illustrates the three categories’ interrelationship de­
rived from process coding. It displays what could be the apex of this interaction, LIVING
STRATEGICALLY, and its connections to THINKING STRATEGICALLY, which influences
and affects SPENDING STRATEGICALLY.

Figure 28.2 represents a slightly more complex (if not playful) model, based on the five
major in vivo codes/categories generated from analysis. The graphic is used as a way of
initially exploring the interrelationship and flow from one category to another. The use of
different font styles, font sizes, and line and arrow thicknesses are intended to suggest
the visual qualities of the participant’s language and his dilemmas—a way of heightening
in vivo coding even further.

Accompanying graphics are not always necessary for a qualitative report. They can be
very helpful for the researcher during the analytic stage as a heuristic for exploring how
major ideas interrelate, but illustrations are generally included in published work when
they will help supplement and clarify complex processes for readers. Photographs of the
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field setting or the participants (and only with their written permission) also provide evi­
dentiary reality to the write-up and help your readers get a sense of being there.

QDA Strategy: To Narrate

To narrate in QDA is to create an evocative literary representation and presentation of the
data in the form of creative nonfiction.

Figure 28.1 A simple illustration of category interre­

lationship.

Figure 28.2 An illustration with rich text and artistic

features.

All research reports are stories of one kind or another. But there is yet another approach
to QDA that intentionally documents the research experience as story, in its traditional lit­
erary sense. Narrative inquiry plots and story lines the participant’s experiences into
what might be initially perceived as a fictional short story or novel. But the story is care­
fully crafted and creatively written to provide readers with an almost omniscient perspec­
tive about the participants’ worldview. The transformation of the corpus from database to
creative nonfiction ranges from systematic transcript analysis to open ended literary com­
position. The narrative, though, should (p. 602) be solidly grounded in and emerge from
the data as a plausible rendering of social life.

The following is a narrative vignette based on interview transcript selections from the
participant living through tough economic times:

Jack stood in front of the soft drink vending machine at work and looked almost
worriedly at the selections. With both hands in his pants pockets, his fingers jin­
gled the few coins he had inside them as he contemplated whether he could afford

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the purchase. One dollar and fifty cents for a twenty-ounce bottle of Diet Coke.
One dollar and fifty cents. “I can practically get a two-liter bottle for that same
price at the grocery store,” he thought. Then Jack remembered the upcoming den­
tal surgery he needed—that would cost one thousand dollars—and the bottle of in­
sulin and syringes he needed to buy for his diabetic, “high maintenance” cat—
about one hundred and twenty dollars. He sighed, took his hands out of his pock­
ets, and walked away from the vending machine. He was skipping lunch that day
anyway so he could stock up on dinner later at the cheap-but-filling-all-you-can-eat
Chinese buffet. He could get his Diet Coke there.

Narrative inquiry representations, like literature, vary in tone, style, and point of view.
The common goal, however, is to create an evocative portrait of participants through the
aesthetic power of literary form. A story does not always have to have a moral explicitly
stated by its author. The reader reflects on personal meanings derived from the piece and
how the specific tale relates to one’s self and the social world.

QDA Strategy: To Poeticize

To poeticize in QDA is to create an evocative literary representation and presentation of
the data in the form of poetry.

One form for analyzing or documenting analytic findings is to strategically truncate inter­
view transcripts, field notes, and other pertinent data into poetic structures. Like coding,
poetic constructions capture the essence and essentials of data in a creative, evocative
way. The elegance of the format attests to the power of carefully chosen language to rep­
resent and convey complex human experience.

In vivo codes (codes based on the actual words used by participants themselves) can pro­
vide imagery, symbols, and metaphors for rich category, theme, concept, and assertion
development, plus evocative content for arts-based interpretations of the data. Poetic in­
quiry takes note of what words and phrases seem to stand out from the data corpus as
rich material for reinterpretation. Using some of the participant’s own language from the
interview transcript illustrated above, a poetic reconstruction or “found poetry” might
read:

Scary Times
Scary times...
spending more
(another ding in my wallet)
a couple of thousand
(another ding in my wallet)
insurance is just worthless
(another ding in my wallet)
pick up the tab
(another ding in my wallet)
not putting as much into savings

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(another ding in my wallet)

It all adds up.
Think twice:
don't really need
skip
Think twice, think cheap:
coupons
bargains
two-for-one
free
(p. 603) Think twice, think cheaper:

stock up
all-you-can-eat
(cheap—and filling)
It all adds up.

Anna Deavere Smith, a verbatim theatre performer, attests that people speak in forms of
“organic poetry” in everyday life. Thus in vivo codes can provide core material for poetic
representation and presentation of lived experiences, potentially transforming the routine
and mundane into the epic. Some researchers also find the genre of poetry to be the most
effective way to compose original work that reflects their own fieldwork experiences and
autoethnographic stories.

QDA Strategy: To Compute

To compute in QDA is to employ specialized software programs for qualitative data man­
agement and analysis.

CAQDAS is an acronym for Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software. There
are diverse opinions among practitioners in the field about the utility of such specialized
programs for qualitative data management and analysis. The software, unlike statistical
computation, does not actually analyze data for you at higher conceptual levels. CAQDAS
software packages serve primarily as a repository for your data (both textual and visual)
that enable you to code them, and they can perform such functions as calculate the num­
ber of times a particular word or phrase appears in the data corpus (a particularly useful
function for content analysis) and can display selected facets after coding, such as possi­
ble interrelationships. Certainly, basic word-processing software such as Microsoft Word,
Excel, and Access provide utilities that can store and, with some pre-formatting and
strategic entry, organize qualitative data to enable the researcher’s analytic review. The
following internet addresses are listed to help in exploriong these CAQDAS packages and
obtaining demonstration/trial software and tutorials:

• AnSWR: www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/software/answr
• ATLAS.ti: www.atlasti.com
• Coding Analysis Toolkit (CAT): cat.ucsur.pitt.edu/

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• Dedoose: www.dedoose.com
• HyperRESEARCH: www.researchware.com
• MAXQDA: www.maxqda.com
• NVivo: www.qsrinternational.com
• QDA Miner: www.provalisresearch.com
• Qualrus: www.qualrus.com
• Transana (for audio and video data materials): www.transana.org
• Weft QDA: www.pressure.to/qda/

Some qualitative researchers attest that the software is indispensable for qualitative data
management, especially for large-scale studies. Others feel that the learning curve of
CAQDAS is too lengthy to be of pragmatic value, especially for small-scale studies. From
my own experience, if you have an aptitude for picking up quickly on the scripts of soft­
ware programs, explore one or more of the packages listed. If you are a novice to qualita­
tive research, though, I recommend working manually or “by hand” for your first project
so you can focus exclusively on the data and not on the software.

QDA Strategy: To Verify

To verify in QDA is to administer an audit of “quality control” to your analysis.

After your data analysis and the development of key findings, you may be thinking to
yourself, “Did I get it right?” “Did I learn anything new?” Reliability and validity are terms
and constructs of the positivist quantitative paradigm that refer to the replicability and
accuracy of measures. But in the qualitative paradigm, other constructs are more appro­
priate.

Credibility and trustworthiness (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) are two factors to consider when
collecting and analyzing the data and presenting your findings. In our qualitative re­
search projects, we need to present a convincing story to our audiences that we “got it
right” methodologically. In other words, the amount of time we spent in the field, the
number of participants we interviewed, the analytic methods we used, the thinking
processes evident to reach our conclusions, and so on should be “just right” to persuade
the reader that we have conducted our jobs soundly. But remember that we can never
conclusively “prove” something; we can only, at best, convincingly suggest. Research is
an act of persuasion.

Credibility in a qualitative research report can be established through several ways. First,
citing the key writers of related works in your literature review is a must. Seasoned re­
searchers will sometimes assess whether a novice has “done her homework” by reviewing
the bibliography or references. You need not list everything that seminal writers have

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published about a topic, but their names should appear at least once as evidence that you
know the field’s key figures and their work. (p. 604)

Credibility can also be established by specifying the particular data analytic methods you
employed (e.g., “Interview transcripts were taken through two cycles of process coding,
resulting in five primary categories”), through corroboration of data analysis with the
participants themselves (e.g., “I asked my participants to read and respond to a draft of
this report for their confirmation of accuracy and recommendations for revision”) or
through your description of how data and findings were substantiated (e.g., “Data
sources included interview transcripts, participant observation field notes, and partici­
pant response journals to gather multiple perspectives about the phenomenon”).

Creativity scholar Sir Ken Robinson is attributed with offering this cautionary advice
about making a convincing argument: “Without data, you’re just another person with an
opinion.” Thus researchers can also support their findings with relevant, specific evi­
dence by quoting participants directly and/or including field note excerpts from the data
corpus. These serve both as illustrative examples for readers and to present more credi­
ble testimony of what happened in the field.

Trustworthiness, or providing credibility to the writing, is when we inform the reader of

our research processes. Some make the case by stating the duration of fieldwork (e.g.,
“Seventy-five clock hours were spent in the field”; “The study extended over a twenty-
month period”). Others put forth the amounts of data they gathered (e.g., “Twenty-seven
individuals were interviewed”; “My field notes totaled approximately 250 pages”). Some­
times trustworthiness is established when we are up front or confessional with the analyt­
ic or ethical dilemmas we encountered (e.g., “It was difficult to watch the participant’s
teaching effectiveness erode during fieldwork”; “Analysis was stalled until I recoded the
entire data corpus with a new perspective.”).

The bottom line is that credibility and trustworthiness are matters of researcher honesty
and integrity. Anyone can write that he worked ethically, rigorously, and reflexively, but
only the writer will ever know the truth. There is no shame if something goes wrong with
your research. In fact, it is more than likely the rule, not the exception. Work and write
transparently to achieve credibility and trustworthiness with your readers.

Conclusion
The length of this article does not enable me to expand on other qualitative data analytic
strategies, such as to conceptualize, abstract, theorize, and write. Yet there are even
more subtle thinking strategies to employ throughout the research enterprise, such as to
synthesize, problematize, persevere, imagine, and create. Each researcher has his or her
own ways of working, and deep reflection (another strategy) on your own methodology
and methods as a qualitative inquirer throughout fieldwork and writing provides you with
metacognitive awareness of data analytic processes and possibilities.

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Coding and Analysis Strategies

Data analysis is one of the most elusive processes in qualitative research, perhaps be­
cause it is a backstage, behind-the-scenes, in-your-head enterprise. It is not that there are
no models to follow. It is just that each project is contextual and case specific. The unique
data you collect from your unique research design must be approached with your unique
analytic signature. It truly is a learning-by-doing process, so accept that and leave your­
self open to discovery and insight as you carefully scrutinize the data corpus for patterns,
categories, themes, concepts, assertions, and possibly new theories through strategic
analysis.

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Bryant, A., & Charmaz, K. (Eds.). (2007). The Sage handbook of grounded theory. Lon­
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Stern, P. N., & Porr, C. J. (2011). Essentials of accessible grounded theory. Walnut Creek,
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Johnny Saldaña

Johnny Saldaña, School of Theatre and Film, Arizona State University

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