Qualitative Data Analysis

ABSTRACT

Content analysis is a highly adaptable technique which is utilized in all fields and application with varying objectives and research goals. It is generally utilized with the assistance of a qualitative research technique. This article begins with the discourse of the foundation of qualitative data analysis and the purpose of data analysis. It proceeds with a discussion of how the Inductive and deductive research methodologies are used to analyze the qualitative data.

The main aim of this paper is to describe and compare the Inductive and deductive research approaches for analyzing the qualitative data. It concludes with the example of the same set of interview data for comparing the two analysis, one with the inductive research approach and other with deductive research approach and with the discussions of how the researchers feel about both approaches while analyzing the data.

INTRODUCTION

Since the beginning of the digital world, researchers have collected quality information from various sources for their research. With the rapid increase in the amount of information or data, analyzing the enormous data consumes more time.

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Many researchers use different techniques to gather, categorize and systematize these overabundant data with respect to their idea of the research. With successful methods to analyze and handle data, the focus has now been shifted in the process of organizing and steered a new era of data-driven technology, Data Analysis.[1]Data analysis is the process of reducing a large amount of data into meaningful data and to make use of it. There are three fundamental things which happen during the data analysis, data or Information are organized, data are categorized, patterns and themes or concepts are found from the data[1].

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Data can be in the form of numbers, images, texts, maps, etc., For analyzing these formats of data, there are two research methodologies for analyzing it i.e. Qualitative and Quantitative[2,3].

The overall aim of qualitative research methodology is to understand and explain the particular phenomena from non-numerical data, and for quantitative research, the methodology is to collect the numerical data and analyze it using statistical methods to explain a particular phenomenon[4]. The purpose of this article is to describe and compare the Inductive and deductive approaches for analyzing the qualitative data analysis. There are different techniques for analyzing the qualitative data and there is no defined way to address those techniques. Researchers select the way for analyzing the qualitative data which depends upon the research questions, the theory of the study, and appropriate techniques to make sense of the data. While analyzing the qualitative data, the researcher should be inundated in the data to become comfortable with it and afterward looking for concepts or ideas related to the research question[1].

BACKGROUND

Qualitative Research Method

The qualitative analysis technique is done with the assistance of qualitative data so as to elucidate a specific event, wherever qualitative data is the data which are measured in word form or the data which is information gathered in non-numeric formthat incorporates a written version of the interview process, notes taken from the field works, Videos clippings, Tape recordings and audio recordings, Pictures, and images. The Qualitative analysis technique was initially accustomed to analyzing the hymns, newspaper, magazines, political discourses and it is started from the sociology to empower researchers concerning scientific discipline and to clarify concerning the cultural research destined phenomena. Today the Qualitative analysis technique is extended to investigate all the research fields and study wherever there's a uniform development[5,6]. Qualitative content analysis typically involves the deciphering of knowledge or information , propose the information, and creating sense of knowledge or information by uninflected the complete data set in to segments which can be coded and subsequently categorized, Then the ideas or concepts and patterns are known from the data by connecting and relating one category with another category [7].

The main aim of the qualitative researcher is to get and provide a broad description of a selected event or development, the end result of the analysis is going to be the concepts or categories rising from the information or data concerning the selected event. With the assistance of concepts or categories, we are able to build a model or theory with regard to the target of our study or research question. The researchers are liberal to select either the concepts or categories to create a theory. As an example, if a researcher needs to create a new theory, then he yields and processes with the concepts emerging from the data concerning the phenomenon[6]. The researchers believe multiple made theories that generate completely different meaning that means for various people concerning the target of research that strictly depends upon the researcher and that they additionally believe that the link between the researchers and participants are necessary for the aim of data or knowledge collection. Data collection is through with the assistance of observing the words of participants and analyze them by searching for themes or ideas[8]

Purpose of Qualitative Data Analysis

Qualitative data analysis is predominantly used for investigating the responses or observations from the participants or to urge additional elaborate descriptions or explanations associated with specific topics or events. For example, If the reader is reading out some books, then our initial question to the reader is What's your impression on the book, the reply from the reader is It's good or It's Boring that is comparable to close-ended questions. While using qualitative data analysis we have a tendency and ready to answer the subsequent queries like Why do you think so and to boot the subsequent question starts with how? additionally. Researchers are ready to provide a mounted response that depends on their own information collections from the participants or on their own experiences. Any response from the analysis that isn't associated with our topic or research question is thought-about either as lost or falls into another category[9]. Qualitative data analysis serves with one or a lot of the following purpose like

  • Description " Description in qualitative data analysis explains the illustrious things, method or any relationships in an exceedingly broad manner.
  • Interpretation " Researchers are ready to gain new data concerning the precise state of affairs and wherever they will build a brand new theory or ideas associated with their focus of analysisVerification "
  • Verification is employed to stop the problems before building a model that is completed by testing the bound expectation, theories Evaluation "
  • Evaluation is employed by the researcher for evaluating the worth of the end result of a selected event [5]

Research Cycle

Research Cycle is that the basic element for qualitative data analysis where it consists of four parts i.e., Theory, Hypothesis, Empirical Observations, Analysis or Generalizations. Theories and Empirical observation are a major part of the research cycle. Qualitative data analysis operates at two levels, one could be a theoretical level associated with another at an empirical level. The theoretical level is employed to develop a theory about a couple of specific events and also the goal of the empirical level is to create or build theory and it is involved concerning testing the theory by choosing out any of the observations from the social world to build a theory. Once the theory gets refined a lot, it fits the discovered reality better from the social world.

From the research cycle, we will be able to define the inductive and deductive approaches. The Inductive approach is also called as theory-building research and deductive approach is also called as theory-testing research. Researchers cannot do both approaches if they are not familiar with the data and theory

  1. Theory " It is a group of concepts or patterns to elucidate a few specific event or development
  2. Hypothesis " A hypothesis is employed for testing the prediction of the link between the variables or testing the theory
  3. Empirical Observations " It is used to detect and identify or label the data within the social world which is done after selecting the hypothesis and where the data or observations are accumulated from the participant to substantiate the hypothesis for a selected theory.
  4. Generalizations " Analysing the themes or patterns from interview data to build a theory[10]

References

  1. Barbara B. Kawulich, Data Analysis Techniques in Qualitative Research, January 2004.
  2. Uzma Shaheen, Introduction to Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Social Science,5 March 2018.
  3. Migrant & Seasonal Head Start Technical Assistance Center, Introduction to Data Analysis Hand Book.
  4. Haq, M (2014), A comparative analysis of qualitative and quantitative research methods and a justification for use of mixed methods in social research. Annual PhD Conference, University of Bradford Business School of Management. June 2014.
  5. Thinagaran Perumal, Research Methodology Open University Malaysia(2014)
  6. Satu Elo and Helvi Kyng's, The Qualitative Content Analysis Process, November 2007.
  7. Ronald L. Jackson II, Darlene K. Drummond, & Sakile Camara, What Is Qualitative Research?, Qualitative Research Reports in CommunicationVol. 8, No. 1, 2007, pp. 21"288.
  8. L. Karen Soiferman, Compare and Contrast Inductive and Deductive Research Approaches, University of Manitoba, April 20109.
  9. Greg Guest, Emily E. Namey, Marilyn L. Mitchell, Collecting qualitative data: a field manual for applied research, SAGE Publications, 2013.10. TBD
Updated: Aug 22, 2022
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Qualitative Data Analysis. (2019, Aug 20). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/qualitative-data-analysis-essay

Qualitative Data Analysis essay
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