In this blog, we set out the five steps to prepare qualitative data for analysis. With qualitative research, preparing for analysis relies on effective data collection. This means that the quality of analysis depends on the:
- Design of the primary research study, particularly the collection method; and the
- Dynamics of the collection process, predominantly the environment; and the
- Interpersonal skills of the researcher, principally the ability to listen.
Case Study
Take Janet Mensah. When doing her MSc in Transport and Logistics, she explored the experiences of Warehouse Managers remaining in downsized organisations following redundancy programmes. Janet relied on a narrative research strategy and a qualitative methodology to gather descriptive, non-numerical data via semi-structured interviews. These conversations were recorded with the participants’ informed consent. She also gave written assurances that their personal details would be treated with confidence and anonymised.
Janet conducted her one-to-one, in-person interviews with ten managers, inviting them to narrate their stories of role and task disruption during and after the redundancies. She posed open and probing questions based on her pre-prepared thematic interview guide. She asked about their coping strategies throughout the process. On occasion, she interjected beyond the confines of the guide to go back over incomplete points or clarify details of a story. While she listened to what her participants were saying, she also loosely analysed their responses ‘live’. Janet concluded each interview by requesting the participant provide their personal details. She did this at the end, as some of the data was sensitive in nature (such as age and gender). In addition, she included her own immediate impressions of their experiences during and after each interview. She later informally listened to every recording to gain an overall impression of the conversation.
To formally prepare her qualitative data for analysis, Janet followed five systematic steps (reflecting, converting, transcribing, annotating and reviewing).
Step 1 – Reflecting
Janet reflected on her data collection by writing-up after each interview. She observed:
- Planning: “I did not anticipate the time required to travel to this research site. So, I arrived at the premises ten minutes later than we had agreed.”
- Logistics: “Given my delayed arrival, the interview room originally booked was not available. I was given a room not appropriate for research interviews. It had large windows but lacked privacy blinds.”
- Conduct: “My first participant appeared hesitant in her responses, so our conversation was not free flowing. This was possibly due to the room not being conducive to open and frank discussion.”
- Ethics: “I found the late start and unsuitable office space unsettling. Therefore, I did not fully explain the reason for recording our conversation to the participant. As this was my first interview, I think I will use it as a pilot study and learn from the experience for subsequent interviews with the other managers.”
Step 2 – Converting
Next Janet converted her participants’ spoken words and talk into text data. She had two alternatives to choose from:
- Decide to type the recorded conversations into text herself by using a standard word processing package; or
- Ask a practised expert to do it for her.
She opted for the first choice, as she believed it would fully immerse her in the participants’ narratives.
Step 3 – Transcribing
Next Janet transcribed each interview conversation verbatim (an activity called transcription). She could have done this in one of two ways:
- By relying on a word processing package only. This would involve listening to one small segment of the recording at a time. Then typing out, word-for-word, the participants’ exact talk, until all the spoken words were accurately transcribed; or
- By combining speech-to-text software with a word processing package. This would require listening to a small segment of the recording at a time. Then repeating the precise words spoken into the speech-to-text recording device, via a microphone embedded in the software, until all the words were accurately transcribed. After which the spoken words are converted into word processed text.
She picked the second option, as she felt it offered a more rigorous and meticulous form of transcription.
Step 4 – Annotating
In the fourth step, Janet annotated each transcript with appropriate short-hand symbols to indicate the participants’ non-verbal communication. For example, paralanguage, the vocal features that accompany speech and contribute to communication but are not generally considered part of a language system. Such as loudness and tempo. To take account of paralanguage, Janet used the upward and downward arrow keys on her keyboard to reflect any noticeable variations in a person’s pitch.
Step 5 – Reviewing
With the last step, Janet reviewed every interview transcript several times to gain a high-level appreciation of each manager’s experience of remaining in a downsized organisation. Her goal was to gain a sense of the role and task disruption they encountered and how they coped with the ensuing changes.
These five steps helped Janet thoroughly prepare her qualitative data for analysis. She was ready for the next stage of her research journey, to analyse and interpret her results and produce her findings.