Data Analysis Methods
Using the doctoral study that you selected in Week 1 and send to you, evaluate the data analysis
methods used. Incorporate appropriate references to the course readings about data analysis methods.
For all the questions below, remember to explain how you came to your conclusions. Support your
answers with explanation or evidence drawn from the dissertation and from
course readings.
� Were the data analysis methods used appropriately for the qualitative tradition or research design
(e.g., case study, ethnography, grounded theory, etc.)? Why or why not?
� Were all aspects of the data analysis methods described or justified sufficiently? If not, what could
have the author said and why? If sufficient, explain why you think so.
� Do you think the data needed to answer the research question(s) could have been analyzed as
effectively using other data analysis methods? If so, what other methods would you recommend and
DATA ANALYSIS METHODS 2
why? If not, why not? This includes the data analysis methods as well as how they were conducted or
implemented.
� Add any additional comments for evaluation not addressed above.
Use citations and references to support your opinions and statements
Data Analysis Methods
After carefully looking at the doctoral study, one ought to find that some methods of
data analysis were used in an appropriate manner. However, to make sense of the term data
analysis it first needs to be defined in the context we are in. Data analysis refers to the process
of investigating, transforming, cleaning and modelling data collected from a research or study
with the sole purpose of discovering information that would be significant to the cause of the
study (Agresti et al., 2011). Such information would including finding a trend or pattern in the
data that would point to a certain point of view.
From the doctoral study that was chosen, you realize that it was a qualitative
phenomenological study. The main method of gathering data that was used is an interview.
There were at least three types of interviews that were used to acquire data from some people
involved with the study. However, this paper will focus on the data analysis methods used to
get meaning from the collected data. After all, the sole purpose of the study would be betrayed
if there was no way to ensure that the correct or appropriate data analysis methods were
implemented to ensure the study was of a wide range of relevance.
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The data analysis methods used were certainly appropriate for the specific study. Since
the method of gathering data that was used was interviewed, it was deemed necessary and
prudent that the interviews were analyzed means of coding or classifying the text from the
interview. Coding text from the interview solely involved the use of phrases and words by the
study participant to describe or explain their experience with ethical decision making. The data
from the codes would then be counted, and particular attention was drawn to the most recurring
words or phrases from the interviews. This method of analyzing data is very effective as it
would determine or identify with ease the most influential aspects as mentioned in the context
of the doctoral study (Tesch, 2013).
The aspects of data analysis were justified efficiently. It is unavoidable to notice the
comprehendible way with which the author explained the use of the methods of data analysis.
Furthermore, the author added information concerning the significance of the selected data
analysis methods chosen for the specific doctoral study. All these pointed out the importance
and effectiveness of the data analysis methods chosen thus justifying the use of them.
It is paramount to keep an open mind when discussing matters concerning research or,
in this case, doctoral studies. Moreover, it is prudent to use such research or studies as learning
points. Therefore, it would be unwise to say that the data needed to answer the research
question was tied down to an analysis by the chosen data analysis methods alone. Hence, there
are other data analysis methods that would have been as effective as the methods of data
analysis that were chosen for the doctoral study. An example data analysis methods that could
have been chosen for the process of analyzing data would be grounded theory. The grounded
theory method would have utilized a systematic approach to enquiry. This method would
involve the process of looking for relationships within the data being analyzed.
DATA ANALYSIS METHODS 4
References
Agresti, A., & Kateri, M. (2011). Categorical data analysis (pp. 206-208). Springer Berlin
Heidelberg.
Bazeley, P. (2013). Qualitative data analysis: Practical strategies. Sage.
Grbich, C. (2012). Qualitative data analysis: An introduction. Sage.
Tesch, R. (2013). Qualitative Types: Analysis Typ. Routledge.
Thyme, K. E., Wiberg, B., Lundman, B., & Graneheim, U. H. (2013). Qualitative content
analysis in art psychotherapy research: Concepts, procedures, and measures to reveal
the latent meaning in pictures and the words attached to the pictures. The Arts in
Psychotherapy, 40(1), 101-107.
