Analysing Qualitative Data

Table of Contents

1. Analysing Qualitative Data
2. Data Management
3. Data management
4. Data management
5. Data management
6. Identifying initial themes
7. Data coding
8. Answer
9. Identifying initial concepts
10. Developing descriptions of the data
11. Developing descriptions of the data
12. Building your conclusions
13. In summary

Data coding

Coding needs to reflect the themes that are relevant to your evaluation and is a way of making all the data comparable.

Good practice in coding requires codes to be clearly attached to the data to which it refers, to be relevant to the questions and comparable across interviews or focus group transcripts so you need to use the same codes to refer to the same sort of thing in all the data you analyse.

All of the following are appropriate for coding interview or focus group transcripts.

• A list of numbers which each has an assigned meaning.

E.g. 1 = cost to patient, 2 = timing

• A list of keywords selected to represent key themes.

E.g. TIMING = timing of appointments, waiting times, length of consultation

COST = cost of patient travel, cost to patient of substitute care.

• Colour codes. All quotes related to timing are Blue, all related to cost are Red.

Choose one of these methods and code all relevant instances in the extract given previously