Exam 15: Analysing Qualitative Data

In qualitative data analysis there are different approaches to the process of analysis, depending on the needs of the study and depending on the design of the study.

The analytical framework is contained in the data analysis chapter of the thesis, or in the data analysis section of the report of the research. Data are analysed in the research project in relation to the research statement/question, the overall aim and the objectives of the research project. The focus of data analysis is on the research statement/question and the overall aim and objectives of the research. This ensures that the research project maintains focus, and it ensures that the researcher accomplishes what s/he set out to accomplish in undertaking the research as formally stated in the research aim and objectives.

Within qualitative research,

In engaging in qualitative data analysis the researcher is above all concerned with the key concepts, the words or key phrases in the data. It is important to remember that concepts are the building blocks of theory. It is from the work of connecting concepts together that theories are developed, extended or changed.

When the process of analysis is not so clearly indicated:

In narrative analysis the researcher is focused on:

The fundamental aim of qualitative research:

In qualitative research, it is participants' subjective experiences and expressions of reality that the qualitative researcher tries to describe and understand in their work.

Qualitative researchers:

Content analysis has application only in quantitative data analysis.

In qualitative research the researcher is completely written out of the analysis.

In the four frameworks approach to the research process the third framework is the analytical framework.

The four stages to data analysis, as explained in the previous chapter, are description, interpretation, conclusions and theorisation.

The third stage is the conclusions stage. In this stage the researcher draws minor conclusions from the data, as the process of data analysis unfolds. The question the researcher asks themselves in this stage is this - 'if this is what the data says, and these are the possible meanings of that, what are the implications of that?' The researcher tries to tease out the implications of the data. The data may have different implications for different parties to the research, e.g. the participants in the research, the broader population of the study, the discipline, if there is a discipline, the area of business, if the research is situated within a particular area of business, and so on. The researcher tries to tease out the implications of the data for all of those parties.

The analytical framework is the:

Qualitative research is situated within a positivist paradigm.

The key to selecting or developing an appropriate approach to qualitative data analysis:

If the methodology used in the research is grounded theory:

Qualitative research is situated within a:

What is meant by the term 'thick description'?