Qualitative Data Analysis Report
Introduction
Qualitative studies assist researchers who desire to understand complex social phenomena which are normally appropriate when seeking knowledge about the fundamental characteristics of a phenomenon being studied before theorizing about it (2003). This knowledge often surfaces through close contact with subjects of a study, allowing the researcher to understand their points of view about and experiences with the phenomenon.
Researchers even disagree on the definition of "qualitative." For example, some researchers use terms such as naturalistic and descriptive, as well as field, product, and case study. But according to (1992) qualitative research methods branched out from several academic fields and belong to at least twenty diverse traditions. (2002) identified the core qualitative methods in the form of in-depth interviewing of individuals and small groups, systematic observation of behavior, and analysis of documentary data.
Under the qualitative research approach, researchers consider the quality of the information gathered more important than the quantity of sources that are available wherein quality of the data particularly its validity is highly recommended so as not to compromise the results and findings of the research study (1998). Qualitative research studies are characterized and classified based on the importance of and focus on the qualitative elements in which standard measures that enabled quantification such as statistical tests of the concepts will not meet the information needs of the project ( 1999; 2000).
Despite the number of ways to interpret and analyze qualitative data which primarily depend on the objectives raised by the study, most researchers practice similar stages ( 2002). The different sources and forms of qualitative data include interviews, observations, content analyses, interview tapes and transcripts and field notes, as well as journal entries. However, the level and extent of qualitative data analysis from different sources usually depend basically on the purpose of the collection procedures conducted that need to be addressed during the presentation of the study.
This paper aims to present a qualitative data analysis of the provided interview transcripts in order to demonstrate an understanding of the inherent qualitative data analysis procedures by applying certain research knowledge as learning outcomes of the course. Moreover, understanding of the challenges in performing qualitative data analysis in order to attain research validity was raised through reflective accounts of the process.
Data Management(1992) proposes that there are but three general types of data-gathering techniques in qualitative studies: experiencing, enquiring, and examining. These three techniques are used, Wolcott argues, in such diverse qualitative approaches as case studies, non-participant observed studies, interviews, participant observation, phenomenology, ethnomethodology, enography, and ethnology. As (1992) notes, most qualitative research is based on a case study that uses one or several of these qualitative techniques, enabling researchers to immerse themselves within a culture or a context and producing questions to pursue for further research and understanding of phenomena.
As an extension of the qualitative technique of interviewing, (1991) propose that focus groups offer researchers a rich source in which to gather genuine information about participants' perceptions, experiences, and attitudes which provide a basis from which to build theory. Another variation of interviewing techniques proposed by (1992) is the Delphi technique, which can be valuable in gathering data on a subject from a panel of experts.
The qualitative data that were provided for the completion of this paper explores the experiences of two individuals who underwent HIV testing. The interview process tackled the interviewees’:
· Medical background relevant to HIV Testing
· Experiences in undergoing HIV tests
· Assessment of the experienced HIV testing
· Importance of being HIV informed
These themes were primarily identified from the posted questions in the interview guide. The flow of the interview based on the order of the topics of the conversations between the interviewer and the participants greatly helped in providing insights on how the qualitative concepts were organized for the completion of the interview as the research methodology of the study at hand. It came evident that the interview questions were asked following a certain order.
There are grouped questions that were asked in sequential order primarily because they are related with each other and could be categorized under a single theme. These subsets of questions include introductory inquiries as well as follow up questions. The follow up questions were addressed in order to elaborate on the topic as well as verify and clarify the answers of the participants. Obviously, the follow-up questions were utilized to ensure that the interviewer and the participants are using the same definitions and meanings of the statements in their conversation. But these ordered sets of questions were discussing a single theme. These observations from the content of the transcripts provided the distinct themes that were covered by the study along with the concepts that which provided focus on each of the scope and limitation of the research inquiry. Following are the themes of the grouped questions which tackled sub-themes and concepts of the topic of the study:
a) their historical background in undergoing HIV testing (number of tests taken, most recent test, and regularity of testing),
b) their life before the tests
c) their considerations prior to the testing,
d) their fears in submitting their selves to the test,
e) their reactions during the different testing conditions and situations they encountered,
f) their experiences in getting the results of the test,
g) their life after the test results,
h) their assessment and evaluation of the individuals and institutions who tested them,
I) their preference in having a short or long-term support system,
j) their expectations in undergoing the HIV testing, and
k) their perception regarding the importance of public information on issues and problems pertaining to HIV (medical, personal, and social importance).
The initial coding process included the identification of the themes of the research study through extensive study and understanding of the concepts in the interview transcripts that were provided. The result of the initial coding process of the qualitative data was organized based on the themes and concepts that characterized the subsets of questions. The list of themes presented above is the result of the organization of the accumulated data from the provided transcripts. The organization of the data can be sorted by theme using the interview guide questions as basis of the conceptual organization.
The thematic chart below illustrates the conceptual organization of the research topic using the interview questions as skeleton of categorization. Following the instructions of the assignment, the theme entitled Experiences of Undergoing HIV Testing was used to complete the objectives of this paper. As such identification and enumeration of the concepts under this category was extensively presented compared to the three other identified themes (Medical Background Relevant to HIV Testing, Assessment of the HIV Testing Experience, and Importance of Being HIV Informed). The concepts were colour-coded in order to identify the themes and concepts that are grouped together.
Under the theme of Experiences in Undergoing HIV Testing, relevant inquiries that will provide a holistic discussion of this particular concept included questions which explored the chronological presentation of all the relevant events in the interviewees’ life starting from his/her initial encounter of HIV testing. As such questions that elicited the interviewees’ life as well as bits of information regarding his/her lifestyle before deciding to undergo HIV testing procedures were asked. The interviewees’ considerations which included his/her motivations and other driving forces that influenced her decision to undergo HIV testing were asked in order to understand the rationale behind the participants’ motives. Similarly, his/her fears and apprehensions in taking the HIV test were likewise solicited. Extensive exploration and elaboration of the details during the test experiences themselves as well as the situations which transpired while getting the result of each test were asked from the interviewees. Finally, the interviewees’ life after learning the test result were also asked in order to determine the impact of undergoing HIV testing in a person’s life.
Descriptive Account
Using the theme Experiences in Undergoing HIV Testing, the information related by the interviewees included all their experiences from their initial testing experience up to the last blood work they had. In this respect, there is a chronological sequencing of the information elicited from the interviewees which further helped in organizing the bulk of the collected qualitative data. Aside from the chronological sequences as determined by the line of questioning conducted by the interviewer, the information under this particular theme could be further categorized according to good and bad experiences that the interviewees have encountered. This will provide in-depth manipulation of the gathered qualitative data along with the chronological description of the experiences of the interviewees. Moreover, comparing the interviewees’ life before and after submitting their selves to HIV testing could also be used as another scheme for clearly defining the types of information that were elicited.
The follow up questions along with other efforts of the interviewer to provide meaning on some clouded issues and information raised and mentioned by the interviewees through verification and clarification of the answers contributed to the task of refining and organized classification of the collected qualitative data. As such, the themes and concepts and their relationship with each other that the study aims to investigate were given distinguishable scope and limitations which is reflective of the purpose and objectives of the study being conducted whatever the focus maybe.
Upon completing the identification of the qualitative data’s dimensions, refining the categories identified, and enumerating the obvious classifications of the collected qualitative information, interpretation and concrete analysis of the data would come easier and orderly. Presentation of the results and findings of the study could also follow the conceptual classification scheme of coding and indexing the data for an organized and neat presentation and discussion.
Exploratory Account
There are two factors which stand to achieve from the use of qualitative research inquisition. First, researchers gain not only because of increased ease of use to pre-existing viewpoint and the contextually responsive nature of methodologies such as life history, but also for the reason that qualitative research methodology helps researchers address the "singularity of values" (1993) so ubiquitous in past research efforts and understand the nature of "intercontextual work" (1992,). According to , (1993) second factor, the researched, benefit from qualitative research inquiry because the inquiry provides for more authentic texts and opportunities for personal empowerment and transformation.
On the other hand, (1991) argues that teacher understanding is a 'multiplicity of personal, social, cultural and political influences'. Thus, research methods have shifted to reflect new ideas. Inquiry into teaching focuses more on self-images and voices of teachers, rather than the single values of the researcher. "Constructionist" and "interactionist" inquiries, argues , are being used to reflect the sophisticated contexts within which teachers operate. (1991) believes that it is a "process of meaning-making, grounded in the contexts of personal and social history" (). Apparently, (1987) asserts that qualitative researchers not only rebuff the conception of common context-free oversimplification but that delicate and interpersonal histories are mixed up in teaching and qualitative research is a scrupulous approach to data that is milieu sensitive.
Because of these more sensitive approaches to research, (1993) believes that such issues as gender, race, political and secular interests which may be part of an everyday language can be explored through qualitative methods. According to the researcher's values are only pan of the research and need to be reported as such. The voice of the researched offers a second reality. A third reality is offered by the social, cultural, political and economic contexts surrounding the life of the researched. The issue of reporting reality and knowledge in dominant research efforts was addressed by (1993) and was called an issue of "singularity of values".
Furthermore, (1993) claimed that dominant research, rooted in "mainstream questions and concerns and ethically normative findings, has communicated a singular ontology (philosophy of reality) and epistemology (philosophy of knowing and relating to the intended known, the other" (pp. 30-31) and has lead to the singularity of values, history and accounts in research efforts. Thus, according to him, qualitative inquiry with its greater emphasis on one to one correspondence and its opposition to a priori thinking leads to a greater diversity and representation of the individual and collective values. No longer are researchers the ultimate authority in qualitative research inquiry, ownership is a negotiation between both researchers and researched. Lincoln also argues that power shifts among those involved in the research, roles become flexible, the boundaries of old blurred and changed which ultimately benefit both researcher and researched.
Because qualitative research inquiry addresses issues of authority, interpretation, and reinterpretation in the construction of accounts, authentic texts which appropriately represent the researched are possible. The voice of the researched is valued and given a central place in qualitative research inquiry. A second benefit is that, contructivist, critical, participatory methodologies such as qualitative research inquiry address issues of adequacy and authenticity of text and potentially empowers, and transforms the researched (1993).
There were two interviewees which the study presented. Although both have undergone HIV testing, they provided different accounts of their experiences. They have different lifestyles prior to their HIV testing and they also have different views of taking the test. has been stabbed as well as a former IV drug user who has encountered different lovers. These factors have been the motivations for her to undergo the tests and since she has previous experiences with this particular test, she was not expecting the positive result of her HIV test. On the other hand,
has served five years in prison being an IV drug user also where he had his first encounters of the test. It was fortunate f him to be still negative of the tests. His underlying reason for taking the tests regularly is to have peace of mind in knowing the risks of acquiring the disease.
It was who shared her bad experience relevant to taking the results of her latest test which she learned through a phone conversation from her family doctor’s nurse. She has been very regretful of how the information was relayed to her. On the other hand, simpler considerations were addressed by in his experience with the provincial prison medical staff as compared to the warmer attention provided to him during his tests in the federal. Moreover since the interviewees are situated differently, they were able to share their experiences in different styles. Their similar considerations however, included their disappointment on how the tests were conducted and the results of the tests were told to them.
Conclusion
With respect to legitimacy and sufficiency and changing roles, a number of researchers (1993; 1992) raise additional related issues of ethics, rigor, fidelity, plausibility, and consistency, concealment of research intent and imbalanced researcher /researched perspectives. According to (1993), authentic and adequate accounts demand that researchers: choose newer experimental forms of research, forms which consider problems of interpretation and authority; produce knowledge that is transformative; examine the ethics and morality of their work; write texts that are open-ended and subject to multiple interpretations.
Qualitative research inquiry has the prospective to rid texts of singularity of values and offer textual and inter-contextual analysis of lives, This type of inquiry also has the potential to empower and transform the researched by offering more participatory roles, roles which emphasize greater voice in the collecting, analysis and writing of research. Changing roles of researchers, those researched and texts suggest enriched methods of data collection, of dialogue between researcher and researched and of written accounts of results.
In qualitative research, validation takes the form of triangulation which lends credibility to the findings by incorporating multiple sources of data, methods, investigators, or theories (1998; 2002; 2001). Since qualitative research methods benefit both the researched and researcher communities in diverse ways, this research method is definitely an important factor in development as the researched become agents of knowledge, co-creators scrutinizing the authenticity of texts, while researchers have a mode of textual and inter-contextual analysis and are privy to processes which have ethical safeguards. Researchers therefore have the opportunity to develop a wider understanding of schooling and individual choices through collaborative research.
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