QUALITATIVE RESEARCH:

DATA COLLECTION &

ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
Daren Sauza-Ngadima, PhD
EDRE 101
Learning Objectives:
1. Define collecting in QLR
2. Discuss how data are collected in QLR
3. Define content analysis
4. Identify the categorization in content analysis
5. Discuss the steps in content analysis
6. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of content
analysis
7. Define systematic analysis
8. Discuss how are deductive and inductive analysis done in
thematic analysis
9. Explain the 6 Phase process of thematic analysis
Collecting
- “Compiling or accumulating
objects (documents, artifacts,
archival records, videos, or social
media information) related to your
study topic” (Yin, 2016, p. 154).
Data Collection
- No treatment
- No manipulation of subjects
- On going
Data Analysis: Content Analysis
- “technique that enables researchers to
study human behavior in a direct way,
through an analysis of their communications”
(Fraenkel et al., 2015, p. 476)
Categorization in Content Analysis
1. The researcher determines the categories
before any analysis. ( based on previous
knowledge, theory, and/or experiences)
2. The researcher becomes very familiar with
the descriptive information collected and
allows the categories to emerge as the
analysis continues
Steps in Content Analysis
1. Determine the objectives
2. Define terms
3. Specify the unit of analysis
4. Locate relevant data
5. Develop rationale
6. Develop a sampling plan
7. Formulate coding categories
8. Check reliability and validity
9. Analyze the data
Steps in Content Analysis
Determine the objectives
1. To obtain descriptive information about a topic
2. To formulate themes that help to organize and make
sense out of large amounts of descriptive information
3. To check other research findings
4. To obtain information useful in dealing with
educational problems
5. To test hypotheses
Steps in Content Analysis
1. Determine the objectives
2. Define terms
3. Specify the unit of analysis
4. Locate relevant data
5. Develop rationale
6. Develop a sampling plan
7. Formulate coding categories
8. Check reliability and validity
9. Analyze the data
Steps in Content Analysis
Develop rationale
- Researcher needs a conceptual link to explain how the
data are related to the objectives
Steps in Content Analysis
1. Determine the objectives
2. Define terms
3. Specify the unit of analysis
4. Locate relevant data
5. Develop rationale
6. Develop a sampling plan
7. Formulate coding categories
8. Check reliability and validity
9. Analyze the data
Steps in Content Analysis
Formulate coding categories: Manifest vs Latent Content
Manifest Content – the obvious, surface content – the
words, pictures, images, and so on that are directly
accessible to the naked eye or ear
- No inferences as to underlying meaning are necessary
- E.g. to determine whether the course of study
encourages the development of critical thinking skills,
a researcher might simply count the number of times
the word thinking appears in the course objectives
listed in the course outline.
Steps in Content Analysis
Formulate coding categories: Manifest vs Latent Content
Latent Content – the meaning underlying what is said or
shown
- E.g. A researcher might read through the entire outline
or a sample of pages, particularly describing the
classroom activities and homework assignments to
which students will be exposed. The researcher would
then make an overall assessment as to the degree to
which the course is likely to develop critical thinking.
.
Steps in Content Analysis
Steps in Content Analysis
Manifest vs Latent Content
Advantage Disadvantage
Manifest Content Ease of coding and validity
reliability
Latent Content getting the underlying reliability
meaning of what is
written or shown
(validity)
Steps in Content Analysis
1. Determine the objectives
2. Define terms
3. Specify the unit of analysis
4. Locate relevant data
5. Develop rationale
6. Develop a sampling plan
7. Formulate coding categories
8. Check reliability and validity
9. Analyze the data
Steps in Content Analysis
1. Determine the objectives
2. Define terms
3. Specify the unit of analysis
4. Locate relevant data
5. Develop rationale
6. Develop a sampling plan
7. Formulate coding categories
8. Check reliability and validity
9. Analyze the data
Steps in Content Analysis
Analyze the data
- counting is an important characteristic of some
content analysis
-each time a unit in a pertinent category is found, it
is “counted”
- the end product of the coding process must be
numbers
- it is also important to record the base, or reference
point, for the counting
Steps in Content Analysis: Analyze the data
Steps in Content Analysis: Analyze the data
- Frequencies,
- Percentage, or
- the proportion of particular occurrence to total
occurrences
- To explore relationships- crossbreak table, or
- Chi-square analysis ( categorical data)
- Codes and themes- aids in organizing content and
arriving at a narrative description of findings
Advantages of Content Analysis
- it is unobtrusive - a researcher can observe without being observed
since the contents being analyzed are not influenced by the
researcher ' s presence
- It is extremely useful as a means of analyzing interview and
observational data
- Researchers can delve into records and documents to get some feel
for the social life of an earlier time
- The logistics are often relatively simple and economical- time and
resources
- Data are readily available and almost always can be returned to if
necessary or desired, permits replication of a study by other
researchers
Disadvantages of Content Analysis
- limited to recorded information
- Establishing validity
- Sometimes there is a temptation among
researchers to consider that the
interpretations gleaned from a particular
content analysis indicate the causes of the
phenomenon rather than being a reflection
of it
Thematic Analysis (Dawadi, 2020)
- To systematically organize and analyse complex data sets
- Search for themes that can capture the narratives available
in the account of data sets
- Involves the identification of themes through careful reading
and re-reading of the transcribed data (King, 2004; Rice & Ezzy, 1999)
- Theoretically flexible for identifying, describing, and
interpreting patterns (themes) within a data set in great
detail (Braun & Clarke, 2006)
- Constant- comparative method (Cavendish, 2011)
Thematic Analysis (Dawadi, 2020)
Deductive ( top-down) Inductive (bottom-up)
Explicitly research-driven allowing The data is coded without trying to
the researchers to analyze the data fit the themes into a pre-existing
in relation to their theoretical coding frame or the researchers’
interest in the issues being preconceptions about the
investigated (Braun & Clarke, 2006) research (Brown & Clarke, 2006)
Usually begins the analysis with Themes emerge through the data
the themes that are identified by itself without paying attention to
the researcher through a literature the themes included on other
review studies
Thematic Analysis: 6 Phase (Braun & Clarke, 2006 as cited in Dawadi, 2020)

1. Familiarisation with the Data

Thematic Analysis: 6 Phase (Braun & Clarke, 2006 as cited in Dawadi, 2020)

2. Generating Initial Codes

Thematic Analysis: 6 Phase (Braun & Clarke, 2006 as cited in Dawadi, 2020)

3. Search for Themes

Thematic Analysis: 6 Phase (Braun & Clarke, 2006 as cited in Dawadi, 2020)

4. Reviewing Themes
Thematic Analysis: 6 Phase (Braun & Clarke, 2006 as cited in Dawadi, 2020)

5. Defining and Naming Themes

Thematic Analysis: 6 Phase (Braun & Clarke, 2006 as cited in Dawadi, 2020)

6. Writing Report
- The report must convince the readers of the
merit and validity of the analysis.
- The examples and extracts were embedded
within the analytic narrative in such a way that
they could make an argument concerning the
research objectives, besides illustrating the
study being told.
REFERENCES:
Dawadi, S. (2020). Thematic analysis approach: A step-by-step guide for ELT
research practitioners. NELTA Journal, 25(1-2), 62-71).

Fraenkel, J. R., Wallen, N.E., & Hyun, H. H. (2015). How to design and evaluate
research in education. McGrawHill International Edition.