Organizing, Coding, and Analyzing Qualitative Data Meghan Cope
The main goal of the article is making sense of data
Making Meaning I: Memos
A memo is usually a short note to oneself or research collaborators, to serve as a reminder
of a future task, or to draw connections between multiple referenced items. In ethnography,
researchers heavily rely on memos. Elements of memos:
- Memos are quick and informal
- Memoing constitutes a valuable interpretive practice
- Memos are reflexive, they can be used for a critical review and self-reflection.
You can use computer-aided qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) programs for
coding including making memos.
Making Meaning II: Concept Mapping
At its most basic level, concept mapping involves visualizing data and their relationships.
This could be performed through the process of categorizing. Ultimately, concept mapping
can be as informal or formal as is suitable for the goals of making sense of data.
Making Meaning Ill: Coding
The purposes of coding are:
- Data reduction
- Organisation → to act as finding aid.
- A substantive process of data exploration (either deductive or inductive), analysis,
and theory-building.
Types of Codes and Coding
- Content analysis, which is essentially a quantitative technique that focuses on
identifying terms, phrases, or actions. Frequently sampling is used in similar ways to
quantitative analysis of populations; perhaps only front-page newspaper stories are
included in the analysis, or a television program is sampled for five minutes out of
each hour.
- Descriptive codes (initial codes or first-round), reflect themes or patterns that are
obvious on the surface or are stated directly by research subjects. Some descriptive
codes can be thought of as category labels because they often answer who, what,
where, when, and how types of questions.
- In vivo codes, are descriptive codes that come directly from the statements of
subjects or are common phrases found in the texts. Mostly used for inductive or
exploratory.
- Analytic codes (interpretive codes or second-round), dig deeper into the
processes and into the context of phrases or actions. These can be established from
the beginning of the research or along the way.
The main goal of the article is making sense of data
Making Meaning I: Memos
A memo is usually a short note to oneself or research collaborators, to serve as a reminder
of a future task, or to draw connections between multiple referenced items. In ethnography,
researchers heavily rely on memos. Elements of memos:
- Memos are quick and informal
- Memoing constitutes a valuable interpretive practice
- Memos are reflexive, they can be used for a critical review and self-reflection.
You can use computer-aided qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) programs for
coding including making memos.
Making Meaning II: Concept Mapping
At its most basic level, concept mapping involves visualizing data and their relationships.
This could be performed through the process of categorizing. Ultimately, concept mapping
can be as informal or formal as is suitable for the goals of making sense of data.
Making Meaning Ill: Coding
The purposes of coding are:
- Data reduction
- Organisation → to act as finding aid.
- A substantive process of data exploration (either deductive or inductive), analysis,
and theory-building.
Types of Codes and Coding
- Content analysis, which is essentially a quantitative technique that focuses on
identifying terms, phrases, or actions. Frequently sampling is used in similar ways to
quantitative analysis of populations; perhaps only front-page newspaper stories are
included in the analysis, or a television program is sampled for five minutes out of
each hour.
- Descriptive codes (initial codes or first-round), reflect themes or patterns that are
obvious on the surface or are stated directly by research subjects. Some descriptive
codes can be thought of as category labels because they often answer who, what,
where, when, and how types of questions.
- In vivo codes, are descriptive codes that come directly from the statements of
subjects or are common phrases found in the texts. Mostly used for inductive or
exploratory.
- Analytic codes (interpretive codes or second-round), dig deeper into the
processes and into the context of phrases or actions. These can be established from
the beginning of the research or along the way.
