Qualitative data analysis
Qualitative data analysis is how we draw conclusions from qualitative data (e.g., texts, audio interviews, open-ended survey questions). Qualitative analysis is used to:
Reduce large amounts of qualitative data into a brief summary
Identify and understand core meanings in the data
Display and describe findings
In evaluation, analysis is guided by the evaluation questions, which help identify what is important or relevant in the data.
Qualitative data analysis may be called “coding,” which has the following steps:
Prepare the raw data for analysis by transcribing audio and formatting text
Read the text closely, perhaps multiple times, to gain familiarity
Identify common themes or categories that come up in the text (called “codes”)
Categorize important pieces of text under the relevant codes
Review and revise the coding system as necessary
Write up the findings
Note: one segment of text could be assigned to multiple codes, while some segments might not be assigned to any codes.
Qualitative analysis can be made more efficient by using qualitative data analysis (QDA) software such as NVivo, ATLAS.ti or Dedoose.