Quantifying Thematic Saturation in Qualitative Data Analysis

Field Methods ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Lowe ◽  
Anthony C. Norris ◽  
A. Jane Farris ◽  
Duncan R. Babbage

An important aspect of qualitative research is reaching saturation—loosely, a point at which observing more data will not lead to discovery of more information related to the research questions. However, there has been no validated means of objectively establishing saturation. This article proposes a novel quantitative approach to measuring thematic saturation based on a sound statistical model. The model is validated on two data sets from different qualitative research projects involving interviews, focus groups, and literature surveys. The proposed model provides consistent estimates of saturation across data sets, within branches of data sets, and over the course of a research project. The model can be used for both quantifying saturation and estimating the number of observations required to achieve a specified level of saturation.

Author(s):  
Su Li Chong

This paper illustrates how the Analytic Guiding Frame (AGF) and the Overall Guiding Frame (OGF) are applied when analytic shifts occur in qualitative data analysis. Analytic shifts mainly occur when a proposed analytical method is found to be not fully amenable for analysis because of the contextually-bound nature of qualitative data. In this paper, the illustration located in the field of literacy education revolves around how a methodological and analytical problem was confronted during the fieldwork/analysis stage of research and how analytic negotiations were made with the help of the AGF/OGF framework. From here, it is proposed that much more consideration on matters of epistemology, methodology, research objective and research questions in qualitative research must be made when the iterative process of qualitative data analysis takes place.


Author(s):  
Eric Dishongh

Jamie Harding’s (2013) Qualitative Data Analysis from Start to Finish is a new, user-friendly book for beginning qualitative research students. The thrust of the book deals with analyzing qualitative data from interviews and focus groups. This reviewer considers the relevance of Harding’s book for a Qualitative Research course in an MFT doctoral program.


This chapter illustrates how to do qualitative data analysis. The principles of grounded theory methodology are taken as the main reference for developing a rigorous analysis of the data. Several examples and case studies are discussed to show the practicalities of qualitative data analysis. While explaining the mechanisms of qualitative data analysis, this chapter frames data analysis as part of the overall research process. Methods used in qualitative research give access to people's stories and experiences through language and captures the complexities of social processes. Grounded theory methodology is used to illustrate an approach to coding. Coding is about finding key themes in qualitative data in the form of a text and developing explanations of the research questions. Several approaches to coding—from open and axial coding to selective coding—are systematically presented. Issues of validity and reliability of qualitative data are also addressed within the overall process of research and data analysis leading to the writing-up.


Author(s):  
Victoria Elliott

Coding is a ubiquitous part of the qualitative research process, but it is often under-considered in research methods training and literature. This article explores a number of questions about the coding process which are often raised by beginning researchers, in the light of the recommendations of methods textbooks and the factors which contribute to an answer to these questions. I argue for a conceptualisation of coding as a decision-making process, in which decisions about aspects of coding such as density, frequency, size of data pieces to be coded, are all made by individual researchers in line with their methodological background, their research design and research questions, and the practicalities of their study. This has implications for the way that coding is carried out by researchers at all stages of their careers, as it requires that coding decisions should be made in the context of an individual study, not once and for all.


KWALON ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Inge Varekamp

Data-analysis in descriptive qualitative research: organizing, summarizing, comparing and interpreting Data-analysis in descriptive qualitative research: organizing, summarizing, comparing and interpreting The grounded theory (GT) method of open, axial and selective coding is unnecessary in descriptive qualitative research. This is for example the case in complex situations and when several research questions are posed. Researchers could get lost when a GT methodology would be applied. The author argues that Miles and Huberman offer a more appropriate method of analysis: organize the data by means of a well-considered set of codes, summarize the data in matrixes and report by comparing the data. This qualitative data analysis method is exemplified with an in-depth analysis of research data on medical decision making concerning the allocation of scarce donor organs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (104) ◽  
pp. 55-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kadir Yıldız ◽  
Pınar Güzel ◽  
Fırat Çetinöz ◽  
Tolga Beşikçi

Background. In this research, we aimed to investigate the effects of outdoor camps on orienteering athletes. Methods. The study group consisted of 74 athletes (44 males and 30 females, aged 11.94 ± 1.32 years) who participated in Bolu outdoor camp on the 3 rd –13 th of August, 2015. Interview technique, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used as data collection tool and content analysis method was used for data analysis. Results. Demographic factors were interpreted after the analysis of the obtained data and three main research questions were discussed under the topics of the views of athletes about the concept of Orienteering which is an outdoor sport, themes and codes regarding the purpose of Orienteering by the students who participated in the outdoor camp, and themes and codes about the outcomes of Orienteering for the students who participated in outdoor camps. Conclusion. It is suggested that a policy must be developed within the Ministry of Youth and Sport and Sport Federations in order to disseminate more deliberate and more comprehensive outdoor education among young people and measures should be taken to provide extensive participation.


Field Methods ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1525822X2198948
Author(s):  
Adeagbo Oluwafemi ◽  
S. Xulu ◽  
N. Dlamini ◽  
M. Luthuli ◽  
T. Mhlongo ◽  
...  

Transforming spoken words into written text in qualitative research is a vital step in familiarizing and immersing oneself in the data. We share a three-step approach of how data transcription facilitated an interpretative act of analysis in a study using qualitative data collection methods on the barriers and facilitators of HIV testing and treatment in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Junita Junita ◽  
Zainuddin Zainuddin ◽  
Ibnu Hajar ◽  
Rahma Muti’ah ◽  
Marlina Siregar

This study aims to obtain a concrete picture of the effectiveness of the application of the principles of teacher Islamic communication in fostering the character of tenth grade students of Madrasah Aliyah Negeri Rantauprapat. The communication process in education is not only understood as a one-way knowledge transfer process, however, there must be a serious effort on the part of the educator / teacher, as a communicator, to be able to provide good role models. Qualitative research methods try to understand a phenomenon as the understanding of the respondents studied, with an emphasis on the subjective aspects of one's behavior. Qualitative research provides an opportunity for researchers to understand the way respondents describe the world around them based on the way they think. The researcher tries to enter the conceptual world of the subject under study to capture what and how things happen. Data collection techniques used in this study were interviews in this study researchers used a semi-structured interview (semitructure interview), namely: interviews in the category of in-depth interviews. Data about the application of teacher Islamic communication and the communication character of tenth grade students, data analysis used in this study during the field using the Miles and Huberman Model, namely the activities in qualitative data analysis are carried out interactively and continue continuously until completion, so that the data is already saturated.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
I.P.A. Bhuwana ◽  
I.G. Budasi ◽  
G. Mahendrayana

The development of music, film, and other industry of entertainment is stated to contribute to the existence of slang words. There are so many slang words that become popular after they are included in the lyrics of songs. One of them is YOLO (You Only Live Once) which is popularized by Drake. In relation to that, this descriptive qualitative research attempts to find out the types and word formation processes of slang words found in the lyrics of Drake’s songs. By taking the model of document analysis by Bowen (2009) and Qualitative data analysis by Miles and Hubberman (1994), it is found out that there are 190 slang words existing in the lyrics of Drake’s songs. They are respectively categorized into Clipping type (62 slangs), Fresh and Creative type (44 slangs), Compounding type (44 slangs), Imitative type (36 slangs), and Acronym type (4 slangs).


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