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Now that you understand how codes and categories lay the foundation for an insightful analysis of qualitative data, we will look at different methods of analyzing them. Some common methods include content analysis, thematic analysis, critical discourse analysis, narrative analysis, and qualitative comparative analysis.
In this section you will become familiar with each of those methods. To choose the most proper method for analyzing your data, you may want to first think about the types of phenomenon you are looking for. Here are some possibilities to consider:
- If you want to examine the presence, significance, and connection of words within text, you may want to consider content analysis as your approach. Content analysis aims to assess the meaning of your data by deriving themes that allow for more extensive analysis.
- If you want to evaluate thematic patterns and relationships in your data, you may think about using thematic analysis as your approach. This type of analysis derives themes from your codes that describe the patterns found in your data.
- If you want to assess how language contributes to power dynamics, consider choosing critical discourse analysis. Critical discourse analysis aims to assess how power is encoded in language and its influence on social structures and norms.
- If you want to examine your data through the stories that are shared in your research, you may want to think about narrative analysis as your approach. Narrative analysis looks at the context, structure, and function of the data you are assessing.
- If you want to evaluate your data using a mixed-methods approach, consider choosing qualitative comparative analysis.
Content Analysis
A researcher engaging in content analysis examines the relationship between the visible and hidden presence of concepts found in their data (Avineri, 2017; Busch et al., 2005). As you code words and phrases, you should assess the “content” of the data which refers to topics, issues, and concepts that make up your interview data. Next, you will derive themes from that content which will serve as more extensive interpretations (Avineri, 2017, 175). This process aims to gather the main concepts of your data and analyze the relationships between them. Content analysis comprises two frameworks:
1. Conceptual Analysis
Conceptual analysis focuses on identifying text that supports the presence of major concepts within your data (Avineri, 2017; Busch et al., 2005). This technique focuses on the explicit contents of your data, and aims to create direct connections between the content of your data and the major concepts you assess.
For Example:
A researcher is analyzing the following segment of an interview about a student’s experience with “great teachers”.
Conceptual Analysis
Based on the example, two major concepts are present: Teacher’s actions and Students. The respondent dedicates a majority of their answer towards positive action-oriented words in describing what teachers do and the importance of addressing student needs. These two concepts are central to this data excerpt.
2. Relational Analysis
Relational analysis takes into account what was done in conceptual analysis and goes a step further. This technique looks at how the concepts found in the data are related to other topics (Avineri, 2017). In other words, it examine the implicit context of your data and the relationship between the concepts discovered. When undertaking relational analysis, one thing to consider is that you are looking for significant relationships between concepts and are not focused on stand-alone concepts (Busch et al., 2005). This approach to content analysis will guide your attention to deriving meaning from the relationships between concepts found in your data.
For Example:
The researcher now wants to analyze the same segment, but from the approach of relational analysis.
Relational Analysis
In this example, one can begin to derive a linear connection between the respondent’s experience of what defines a great teacher through the lens of student success. The respondent links a teacher’s ability to create a supportive environment to positive student outcomes. This connection informs their definition of a “great teacher.”
Thematic Analysis
A researcher using thematic analysis examines the common and shared patterns found in the data, which supports the production of themes (Kiger & Varpio, 2020). Themes are recurrent patterns you develop that are derived from the interpretation of your codes. These themes represent a meaningful connection between your codes and the larger concepts in the data (Kiger & Varpio, 2020). Here are some steps to follow if you choose to use thematic analysis:
- Immerse yourself in the data
- Code your data
- Derive themes from your codes
- Review your themes and create subthemes
- Finalize and define the themes
- Report your findings
Thematic analysis emphasizes the cyclical nature of analyzing codes and deriving themes. Repeating and reviewing your themes can refine your analysis and help you report findings that align with your research question. Lastly, thematic analysis can be adapted to whichever qualitative research approach you use (Kiger & Varpio, 2020).
For Example:
If another researcher decides to conduct thematic analysis to the same segment as above, they may write down the following preliminary findings in their memo:
Thematic Analysis
Based on the codes we derived from the open coding process – Teaching Pace, Support Student Needs, Availability, Recognize & Educate, Professional Passion – one theme we can derive from this data is: Constructive Teacher Intervention. By assessing our codes and the concepts that emerge we can link this theme of Constructive Teacher Intervention to the definitions of a “great teacher.”
Critical Discourse Analysis
A researcher engaging in critical discourse analysis derives meaning from assessing the socio-political and power dynamics within the data (Avineri, 2017; Saldaña, 2013). Discourse can come in many forms including written text, spoken rhetoric, and multimedia. Critical discourse analysis acknowledges language as a tool of power and positions you to interpret how power is exercised within a text, also referred to as discourse (Fairclough, 1989). One thing to keep in mind about discourse is that it reflects power differences between people, and, as a result, discourse creates, reinforces, and distributes that power (Fairclough, 1989). The analysis will involve your examination of how power, or the lack of it, is encoded in language and how that influences social practices and structures (Fairclough, 1989). Consider the following steps as you begin the analysis process:
- Examine how this discourse was produced and interpreted
- Evaluate the social conditions that shape the production and interpretation of the discourse
- Analyze how the discourse is structured
- Reread the discourse and code
Once you have been able to go through this process, you can begin to highlight how the discourse unveils ideologies, power differentials, and social norms (Avineri, 2017; Fairclough, 1989).
For Example:
Let us examine the power dynamics at play within the same text used to illustrate the other types of analysis above.
Critical Discourse Analysis
A critical discourse analysis recognizes that the respondent’s answer is framed by historic teacher-student dynamics that are characterized by a top-down relationship where the student receives instruction from the teacher. The respondent’s answer reinforces the conventional definition of a teacher by describing their teacher as someone who instructs and educates students.
However, the respondent does offer an alternative experience of a teacher who “was genuinely interested” and offered targeted support that “met [student’s] learning needs”. From the respondent’s language, we see a positive response towards a form of teaching that disrupts the traditional power structure. Further, the fact that the respondent expresses their learning needs and expectations for a teacher is evidence that students feel entitled to participate in defining a great teacher rather than accept a definition given by a non-student authority.
Narrative Analysis
A researcher using narrative analysis examines participants’ experiences through stories (Saldaña, 2013). The aim of narrative analysis is to collect the narrative experiences of the participants and interpret these narratives based on the context, structure, as well as its function (Nigatu, 2009). One thing to consider as you dive deeper into this analysis is that each piece of data has a narrative element that you will have to examine.
For Example:
Let us examine the same text used to illustrate the other types of analysis above, but this time aiming to identify what shaped the respondent’s experiences.
Narrative Analysis
The respondent’s answer can be broken up into three separate portions. First, the respondent clearly states the quality that made the teacher stand out. Secondly, the respondent shared actions the teacher took to help their students overcome barriers. Lastly, the respondent focuses on the personal characteristics the teacher possessed which allowed them to be considered a great teacher. Overall, we can begin to grasp how a respondent’s perceptions of a teacher shapes whether they are considered a great teacher or not.
Narrative analysis often enables us to derive from multiple individual narratives a broader, common theme from which we can learn about their society and culture. This excerpt from sociologist Arlie Hochschild’s book Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right (2016) gives an example of how narrative analysis ties multiple personal anecdotes that the researcher collected together to form one powerful argument:
Hochschild, A. R. (2016). Strangers in their own land: Anger and mourning on the American right. New Press. Front cover.
This stalled American Dream hits many on the right at a particularly vulnerable season of life—in their fifties, sixties, and seventies. It is a time during which people often check their bucket list, take stock, and are some- times forced to give up certain dreams of youth. It’s a season of life in which a person says to him- or herself, ‘So this is it.’ As one man told me, ‘I thought one day I’d meet the girl of my dreams. I haven’t and now I don’t see her coming into my life.’ Another man had hoped to start his own swamp tour company but wasn’t able to get it off the ground. Yet another had hoped to travel to rodeo shows around the South, but got sick. Who could one blame for such disappointments? Oneself, of course. But that only increases your intense focus on your place in line.”
