Deck 15: Analysing Qualitative Data

Question 1

The final stage in the four stages approach to data analysis is theorisation. In this stage, the researcher looks back at the theoretical framework outlined in the literature review chapter or section of the study. The researcher examines the literature review to see if and how the findings of their study fit with or contradict the findings of the studies and the theorists as they have presented them in their literature review. The researcher, in writing the data analysis stage of the research, demonstrates how their findings fit with, or contradict, the findings of other (published) research project. The researcher shows how, in the writing of the data analysis section or chapter of the research project, the research s/he is carrying out fits with the research published in the field or area. This is the process of theorisation. This is the way in which the researcher knits their research into the body of knowledge. This is the way in which the researcher makes a contribution to the body of knowledge.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Content analysis has application only in quantitative data analysis.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The essential role of the researcher in interpreting the experiences of others in the qualitative research process calls for the role of the researcher in this process and the perspective of the researcher, to be made explicit. This is done by the researcher through a reflexive process. Through this reflexive process the researcher writes themselves into the research process, and makes explicit their role in the research.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

There is an emphasis in qualitative research in signalling throughout the research process and the writing up of the research an acknowledgement of and a respect for the basic humanity of research participants and the circumstances of their lives.

Question 5

The fundamental aim of qualitative research is to uncover the subjective meanings participants make of the phenomenon under investigation. Within qualitative research, there is an acknowledgement of the role that the researcher plays in creating meaning, through their essential selection, description and interpretation of the data they gather for the research project.

Question 6

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

Question 7

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.

Question 8

In the first stage of data analysis, we describe what is there in the data, what is evident in the data.

Question 9

Qualitative research is situated within a positivist paradigm.

Question 10

One of the main functions of qualitative data analysis is to develop as thick and rich and as complete an account of the phenomenon under investigation as possible.

Question 11

In the second stage, the interpretive stage, we try to interpret what is in the data. In interpreting the data, the researcher tries to uncover the meaning of the data, and tries to articulate that meaning. The question the researcher asks themselves is this - 'if this is what is in the data, what does that mean?'

Question 12

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

Question 13

The key to selecting or developing an appropriate approach to qualitative data analysis, is to select or develop an approach which best suits the research project, an approach which best fits the research project.

Question 14

Content analysis has application in both quantitative data analysis and qualitative data analysis. Content analysis means, simply, analysing the content of some phenomenon, a photograph, a cartoon, a drawing, a newspaper, a magazine, a film, or an interview or focus group transcript.

Question 15

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

Question 16

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

Question 17

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.

Question 18

Qualitative research is situated within a constructivist or interpretivist paradigm.

Question 19

In the four frameworks approach to the research process the fourth and final framework is the analytical framework.

Question 20

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

Question 21

Within qualitative research,

A)The researcher is present and visible.
B)The researcher is written out.
C)The researcher is invisible.
D)The researcher is not present.

Question 22

Language in qualitative research:

A)Is in some respects a technicist instrumentalist language.
B)Softer in a sense than the language of quantitative research and quantitative data analysis.
C)Tends to include words like instrument, subject, experiment, and test.
D)Uses words like instrument rather than method, and research subjects rather than research participants, and words like experiment or test rather than words like explore, describe, detail, construct.

Question 23

Within qualitative research:

A)There is no acknowledgement of the role that the researcher plays in creating meaning, through their essential selection, description and interpretation of the data they gather for the research project.
B)There is an acknowledgement of the role that the researcher plays in creating meaning, through their essential selection, description and interpretation of the data they gather for the research project:
C)The researcher has no role in making meaning. Meaning is apart from the researcher.
D)The researcher has little role in making meaning.

Question 24

In qualitative research, the codes used by the researcher are words or concepts which the researcher identifies in the data as relevant or even key or critical to the study.

Question 25

The analytical framework is the:

A)First framework in the four frameworks approach to the research project.
B)Second framework in the four frameworks approach to the research project.
C)Third framework in the four frameworks approach to the research project.
D)Fourth framework in the four frameworks approach to the research project.

Question 26

Through the reflexive process:

A)The researcher outlines the project's research methodology.
B)The researcher outlines the project's research methodology.
C)The researcher details the analytical framework.
D)The researcher writes themselves into the research process, and makes explicit their role in the research.

Question 27

Qualitative data analysis begins with a close reading of the data. In order to accomplish a close reading of the data, the researcher will read through the data over and over again. The researcher in the first place must become familiar with the data and then through the process of becoming familiar with the data, eventually they become immersed in the data. This close reading of the data brings the researcher deep into the nuances of the data. The researcher must know what is in the data and they must clearly understand the data before they can begin to describe and analyse the data.

Question 28

The four stages of data analysis are:

A)Conceptual, theoretical, methodological, analytical.
B)Description, interpretation, conclusions and theorisation.
C)Literature, methodology, data gathering, data analysis.
D)Test, re-test, post-test, re-test.

Question 29

The fundamental aim of qualitative research:

A)Is to test hypotheses.
B)Is to carry out experiments.
C)Is to uncover the subjective meanings participants make of the phenomenon under investigation
D)Is to engage in statistical analyses.

Question 30

In qualitative data analysis the researcher:

A)Is objective.
B)Stands apart from the data.
C)Is objective and apart from the data.
D)Becomes subjectively immersed in the data

Question 31

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.

Question 32

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

A)Is to work with an approach with which you are familiar.
B)Is to work with an approach with which you would like to become familiar.
C)Is to work with an approach with which the research supervisor is familiar.
D)Is to select or develop an approach which best suits the research project, an approach which best fits the research project.

Question 33

If the methodology used in the research is phenomenology:

A)Then the data analysis process will be phenomenological.
B)Then the data analysis process will be a grounded theory approach to data analysis.
C)Then the data analysis process will be the analysis of discourses.
D)Then the data analysis process will be a semiotic approach to data analysis.

Question 34

Many of the data collection methods used in qualitative research:

A)Are designed to generate large quantitative data sets.
B)Are highly structured and designed to be objective.
C)Produce data that is language based, interview and focus group transcripts of the oral testimony of participants, written texts and documents.
D)Are designed to generate data that can be analysed using inferential statistics.

Question 35

Qualitative researchers:

A)Study one objective reality.
B)Carry out objective research.
C)Belief reality to be singular, objective and apart from consciousness.
D)Rather than objectively studying the 'real' world, acknowledge multiple realities.

Question 36

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.

Question 37

Reflexivity calls for an acknowledgement on the part of the researcher. :

A)Of the financial cost of the research.
B)Of the responses of participants to the research.
C)Of their role in the research project.
D)Of the ethical issues in the research.

Question 38

In qualitative data analysis:

A)Rather than analysing numbers, researchers analyse language and they use language to give expression to their analyses
B)Researchers engage in analysing descriptive statistics.
C)Researchers engage in analysing inferential statistics.
D)Researchers engage in analysing numeric data.

Question 39

In qualitative data analysis (as in quantitative data analysis), the researcher engages in coding the data.

Question 40

Qualitative research is situated within a:

A)Constructivist or interpretivist paradigm.
B)Positivist paradigm.
C)Feminist paradigm.
D)Grounded theory paradigm.

Question 41

If the methodology used in the research is discourse analysis:

A)Then the data analysis process will be phenomenological.
B)Then the data analysis process will be a grounded theory approach to data analysis.
C)Then the data analysis process will be the analysis of discourses.
D)Then the data analysis process will be a semiotic approach to data analysis.

Question 42

In narrative analysis the researcher is focused on:

A)Narratives in the data and on identifying and interpreting the different narratives in the data.
B)Themes in the data and on identifying and interpreting the different themes in the data.
C)Discourses in the data and on identifying and interpreting the different discourses in the data.
D)Identifying signs in the data, and on describing and interpreting the way in which signs are used in the data, and the meanings of the signs in the data.

Question 43

When the process of analysis is not so clearly indicated:

A)The researcher uses a data analysis process with which they are familiar.
B)The researcher uses a data analysis process with which they would like to become familiar.
C)The researcher uses a data analysis process with which the research supervisor is familiar.
D)The researcher develops an approach to analysis that best fits the research project.

Question 44

In discourse analysis the researcher is focused on:

A)Narratives in the data and on identifying and interpreting the different narratives in the data.
B)Themes in the data and on identifying and interpreting the different themes in the data.
C)Discourses in the data and on identifying and interpreting the different discourses in the data.
D)Identifying signs in the data, and on describing and interpreting the way in which signs are used in the data, and the meanings of the signs in the data.

Question 45

In mixed methods research:

A)Different data gathering methods are used in the research project.
B)Both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics are used.
C)The data gathering methods used are mixed.
D)Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used in the research project

Question 46

If the methodology used in the research is grounded theory:

A)Then the data analysis process will be phenomenological.
B)Then the data analysis process will be a grounded theory approach to data analysis.
C)Then the data analysis process will be the analysis of discourses.
D)Then the data analysis process will be a semiotic approach to data analysis.

Question 47

In thematic analysis the researcher is focused on:

A)Narratives in the data and on identifying and interpreting the different narratives in the data.
B)Themes in the data and on identifying and interpreting the different themes in the data.
C)Discourses in the data and on identifying and interpreting the different discourses in the data.
D)Identifying signs in the data, and on describing and interpreting the way in which signs are used in the data, and the meanings of the signs in the data.

Question 48

If the methodology used in the research is narrative analysis:

A)Then the data analysis process will be phenomenological.
B)Then the data analysis process will be a grounded theory approach to data analysis.
C)Then the data analysis process will be the analysis of discourses.
D)Then the data analysis process will be the analysis of narratives.

Question 49

In semiotics the researcher is focused on:

A)Narratives in the data and on identifying and interpreting the different narratives in the data.
B)Themes in the data and on identifying and interpreting the different themes in the data.
C)Discourses in the data and on identifying and interpreting the different discourses in the data.
D)Identifying signs in the data, and on describing and interpreting the way in which signs are used in the data, and the meanings of the signs in the data.

Question 50

Atlas ti and NVivo are both:

A)Computer software packages designed for the analysis of qualitative data.
B)Computer software packages designed for the analysis of quantitative data.
C)Computer software packages designed for statistical analysis.
D)Computer software packages designed for use in project management.

Question 51

Define reflexivity.

Question 52

Give some examples of how language is used differently in quantitative and qualitative research.

Question 53

What is meant by the term 'thick description'?