Types of data analysis methods in qualitative research

Of course, the narrative approach has its weaknesses, just like all analysis methods. In other words, narrative analysis is about paying attention to the stories that people tell РІР‚вЂњ and more importantly, the way they tell them. Similarly, analysing the ways entrepreneurs talk about the struggles in their careers or cancer patients telling stories of hope could provide powerful insights into their mindsets and perspectives. For instance, the narrative of a prisoner trying to justify their crime could provide insight into their view of the world and the justice system. You could, for example, use narrative analysis to explore whether how something is being said is important. Since stories serve a functional purpose of helping us make sense of the world, we can gain insights into the ways that people deal with and make sense of reality by analysing their stories and the ways theyРІР‚в„ўre told. Every analysis method has its drawbacks, so donРІР‚в„ўt be put off by these РІР‚вЂњ just be aware of them!Р”Р„s the name suggests, narrative analysis is all about listening to people telling stories and analysing what that means. So, keep these factors in mind if youРІР‚в„ўre considering content analysis. This isnРІР‚в„ўt necessarily a bad thing though РІР‚вЂњ just something to be aware of.

Also, because of its multidimensional focus on both qualitative and quantitative aspects, it is sometimes accused of losing important nuances in communication.Р”В¬ontent analysis also tends to concentrate on a very specific timeline and doesnРІР‚в„ўt take into account what happened before or after that timeline. One of the main issues with content analysis is that it can be very time consuming, as it requires lots of reading and re-reading of the texts.

Naturally, while content analysis is widely useful, itРІР‚в„ўs not without its drawbacks. Because of this, content analysis provides a small splash of quantitative thinking within a qualitative method. With content analysis, youРІР‚в„ўll group large amounts of text into codes, summarise these into categories, and possibly even tabulate the data to calculate the frequency of certain concepts or variables. Or you could identify patterns of deeper underlying interpretations РІР‚вЂњ for instance, by identifying phrases or words in tourist pamphlets that highlight India as an ancient country.Р”В«ecause content analysis can be used in such a wide variety of ways, itРІР‚в„ўs important to go into your analysis with a very specific question and goal, or youРІР‚в„ўll get lost in the fog. With content analysis, you could, for instance, identify the frequency with which an idea is shared or spoken about РІР‚вЂњ like the number of times a Kardashian is mentioned on Twitter. For example, a collection of newspaper articles or political speeches. At the simplest level, content analysis is used to evaluate patterns within a piece of content (for example, words, phrases or images) or across multiple pieces of content or sources of communication. QDA Method #1: Qualitative Content AnalysisР”В¬ontent analysis is possibly the most common and straightforward QDA method. If youРІР‚в„ўre keen to learn more about the differences between qual and quant, weРІР‚в„ўve got a detailed post over here. Qualitative research investigates the РІР‚Сљsofter sideРІР‚Сњ of things to explore and describe, while quantitative research focuses on the РІР‚Сљhard numbersРІР‚Сњ, to measure differences between variables and the relationships between them. Simply put, qualitative research focuses on words, descriptions, concepts or ideas РІР‚вЂњ while quantitative research focuses on numbers and statistics. So, howРІР‚в„ўs that different from quantitative data, you ask? In other words, qualitative isnРІР‚в„ўt just limited to text-based data. Qualitative data can, and often does, take the form of interview transcripts, documents and open-ended survey responses РІР‚вЂњ but it can also involve the interpretation of images and videos. Words, you guessed? WellРІР‚В¦ sometimes, yes. In other words, itРІР‚в„ўs not the stuff you measure using a fixed scale or complex statistics or mathematics. Well, qualitative data refers to pretty much any data thatРІР‚в„ўs РІР‚Сљnot numbersРІР‚Сњ. To understand qualitative data analysis, we need to first understand qualitative data РІР‚вЂњ so letРІР‚в„ўs take a step back and ask the question, РІР‚Сљwhat exactly is qualitative data?РІР‚Сњ. What (exactly) is qualitative data analysis?

Types of data analysis methods in qualitative research