TYPES OF @Mary Alola
QUALITITATIVE
DATA ANALYSIS &
HOW TO USE THEM
01 Thematic Analysis
Finding Pattersns in the pattern
02 Content Analysis
Counting and categorizing text
03 Narrative Analysis
Interpreting personal stories
04 Discourse Analysis
Exploring how language shapes reality
05 Grounded Theory
Building theories from the ground up
Thematic Analysis
What It Is: Thematic analysis involves
identifying and analyzing recurring
themes or patterns in your data.
When to Use It: When you want to
understand common threads across
interviews, focus groups, or documents.
How to Do It:
Read through your data multiple times to
familiarize yourself.
Highlight key phrases or sentences that
stand out.
Group similar ideas into themes (e.g., "job
satisfaction" or "team dynamics").
Example:
“Thematic analysis of interviews with
employees revealed three recurring themes:
lack of flexibility, desire for growth, and
workplace camaraderie.”
Content Analysis
What It Is: Content analysis quantifies
qualitative data by categorizing words,
phrases, or concepts to identify patterns
and trends.
When to Use It: Use this method when
analyzing large amounts of text, like policy
documents, social media posts, or survey
responses.
How to Do It:
Define categories (e.g., "positive sentiment"
or "negative sentiment").
Count the frequency of words or phrases
within each category.
Analyze how often certain ideas appear and
what they suggest.
Example:
“Content analysis of 1,000 customer reviews
showed that the most frequent positive
terms were ‘fast delivery’ and ‘great
quality.’ Negative feedback often mentioned
‘poor customer service.’”
Narrative Analysis
What It Is: Narrative analysis focuses on
understanding the stories people share,
identifying their structure, and analyzing
their meaning.
When to Use It: Ideal for studying personal
experiences, life histories, or case studies.
How to Do It:
Break the story into key sections (e.g.,
beginning, turning point, resolution).
Analyze the tone, structure, and recurring
themes within the narrative.
Reflect on the broader meaning of the
story.
Example:
“Narrative analysis of cancer survivors’
interviews highlighted a common structure:
shock at diagnosis, resilience during
treatment, and gratitude post-recovery.”
Discourse Analysis
What It Is: Discourse analysis examines how
language is used to shape social or cultural
norms. It’s about studying conversations,
speeches, or written texts to understand the
context and power dynamics.
When to Use It: When exploring how
language reflects or creates societal issues,
like gender roles or organizational
hierarchies.
How to Do It:
Analyze the choice of words, phrases, and
tone used.
Look for patterns in language that reflect
cultural norms or ideologies.
Discuss the implications of these patterns.
Example:
“Discourse analysis of leadership speeches
revealed frequent use of words like ‘vision’
and ‘empowerment,’ creating an image of
forward-thinking leadership.”
Grounded Theory
What It Is: Grounded theory is about
creating a new theory based on the data
itself, without starting with preconceived
ideas.
When to Use It: When studying topics
where existing theories don’t apply or new
phenomena need exploration.
How to Do It:
Start coding your data line by line to
identify recurring concepts.
Group codes into categories.
Build a theory based on the relationships
between categories.
Example:
“Grounded theory analysis revealed three
stages of trust-building in remote teams:
transparency, collaboration, and follow-
through.”
Why Qualitative Data Analysis
Matters
Deep Understanding: It uncovers
the emotions, motivations, and
behaviors behind human actions.
Flexible and Exploratory: Allows
researchers to adjust as new
insights emerge.
Rich Insights: Offers a nuanced
perspective that complements
quantitative findings.
Where to Find Tools for
Qualitative Data Analysis
NVivo: Best for thematic and content
analysis with features for coding and
categorizing data.
Learn: NVivo offers tutorials and free trials
on their website.
[Link]: Another excellent tool for
analyzing large amounts of qualitative
data.
Learn: Check their beginner-friendly
guides.
Google Sheets: For manual coding or
simpler projects, spreadsheets can work
for organizing themes and categories.
MAXQDA: A robust software for coding
and analyzing qualitative and mixed-
methods data.
