�Discussing critically the purposes and key issues when conducting qualitative data analyses
�Exploring the main data quality issues related to validity, reliability, and generalisability.
�Proposing ways to overcome data quality issues
�Highlighting possible ethical issues and feasibility constraints with the collection of primary qualitative
data
Qualitative Data Analysis
Qualitative Data Analysis2
The qualitative data analysis is the system in that we transform the inputs data that have
been gathered as the element of the research purpose and employ it to offer the interpretation,
understanding, and explanation of the situations, people and the phenomena that are studied. The
fundamental role of examining the qualitative data is to investigate the symbolic and meaningful
content of which if found inside. That is the purpose of trying to understand and identify such
ideas, situations, and concepts. It is of greater significance that was before deciding upon the
techniques of data analysis; the researcher should be familiar and confident with the selected
discipline.
When analyzing data, it’s vital for the researcher to have background information on the
chosen field so as to make a lot of decisions relating to the findings and the analysis. According
to the Miles and Huberman (1994 cited in Collis and Hussely, 2013), they explain that
systematic ways to the qualitative examination which can generally be employed for the
investigation of the qualitative data varies across a range of the techniques used to collect data.
Normally, the quality analyses have three parts. That is the data reduction, data display,
and lastly drawing the conclusion. That data reduction entails the condensing of the relevant
Qualitative Data Analysis3
quantity data that is collected to something which is more controllable for the analysis by coding
the data. Coding entails recognizing keywords, ideas, themes and phrases and additionally, it is
influenced by the language the researcher uses.
There exist two types of qualitative data analysis. That is the content analysis and the
thematic analysis, (Vaismoradi, Turunen and Bondas, 2013). Content analysis is used to analyze
data that have been collected using the primary and secondary methods across a wider range of
different sources. In the content analysis, the process of coding is recognized that they entail
ideas, themes, phrases and words that come into view in the data. Afterward, the data is analyzed
to find out the recurrences of the sets, and they are recorded regarding numeric, (Schreier, 2012).
The numerically processed data is created from this analysis and can be examined for the number
of outcomes occurring by using statistical techniques. It could entail the utilization of the
evocative statistics and images representing the data. The method is limited by the fact that is
very time-consuming and needs very close concentration to details.
The thematic analysis is explained as the technique for recognizing, report and analysis
sequences inside the data, (Braun, Clarke, and Terry, 2014). It is broadly used in the qualitative
research because it is straight forward technique and it provides the researchers with essential
tactics for the acceptance of other ways and more complicated methods of examining the quality
data.
The uses of computer packages have helped to handle a larger number of data. The data
is then represented in various formats. It entails researcher’s ideas, interviews, and documents to
mention but a few. To make it efficient, as a researcher, you must do transcription so as to deal
with the issue of time consumption, (Clarke, and Braun, 2013)
Qualitative Data Analysis4
Conclusively, it is vital for the researcher to adhere to the ethical issue. When collecting
data, the researcher should know what is right or wrong to the respondents or what is termed as
morally correct or incorrect by the society. The researcher should not force people to participate
but those are willing and able and qualify for the investigation should be used for analysis,
(Silverman, 2016)
Bibliography
Vaismoradi, M., Turunen, H. and Bondas, T., 2013. Content analysis and thematic analysis:
Implications for conducting a qualitative descriptive study. Nursing & health sciences, 15(3),
pp.398-405.
Schreier, M., 2012. Qualitative content analysis in practice. Sage Publications.
Collis, J. and Hussey, R., 2013. Business research: A practical guide for undergraduate and
postgraduate students. Palgrave macmillan.
Braun, V., Clarke, V. and Terry, G., 2014. Thematic analysis. Qual Res Clin Health Psychol,
pp.95-114.
Clarke, V. and Braun, V., 2013. Teaching thematic analysis: Overcoming challenges and
developing strategies for effective learning. The psychologist, 26(2), pp.120-123.
Silverman, D. ed., 2016. Qualitative research. Sage.
