Qualitative Data Analysis: Narrative, Thematic, and CGT
Week 7
Narrative Analysis
Narrative: An event (or set of events) that unfolds in time and involves several characters. We can analytically distinguish between the chronological trajectory of the events (the story) and the causal relation between these events (the plot).
Structure: Formal organization.
Archetypes: Villain, donor, helper, hero, false hero, etc.
A story is based on a temporal sequence and a causal chain of events.
As analysts, we have to focus on the ordering process used to construct the meaning.
What to Look for in a Narrative Analysis
- Authorship
- Structure of the story
- Chronological sequence
- Logical connection between the elements of the story
- Characters, the relationship between them, and the role they play in the plot
Shared ways of thinking/cultural assumptions
How to Do Narrative Analysis
- Relationship between a personal story and the relevant dominant ideologies/cultural repertoires?
- What is the role of stories in the production and performance of identity?
- How do people’s stories resist and challenge the power structures constraining their lives?
Additional Tips
- Situate quotes within the larger story in the text. How does that specific quote relate to the overall story?
- Pay attention to stereotypes and social conventions/expectations.
- Compare the different stories to each other.
Thematic Analysis
Themes: Key patterns within the data. Something important about the data in relation to the research question, with some level of patterned response.
It can be inductive (categories may develop based on an underlying theory from the field or the research question) or deductive (the creation of relevant categories can occur through an emergent evaluation of the data).
Coding and categorizing: Once the codes (or later themes) are created, you go back and re-read the data with these codes/themes in mind. You will notice that you see new things in the data because of this focused reading.
It is a process of condensing the data into themes, then expanding each main theme to capture its complexity and find new codes in the text.
Phases of Thematic Analysis
- Immersion in the data (reading and re-reading).
- Generation of initial codes (coding all data).
- Merging similar/related codes: placing them into larger categories leading to initial themes.
- Revising and improving the themes.
Advantages
Flexibility.
Suitable for a large amount of data, ability to be used by multiple researchers, and its focus on developing categories.
Disadvantages
Flexibility, as it requires reflexivity.
Concerns about reliability and verification of themes.
Additional Tips
- Consider using software.
- Look for new themes in the data.
- Know the context of your data.
(Constructivist) Grounded Theory
Useful for analyzing text and images, and helpful for exploring new phenomena.
Why ‘grounded’?: The findings emerge from the data (inductive process). Theory will come in a later stage. Rather than imposing a theory on a research topic, grounded theory is built from the ground up.
Situated research: Contemporary scholars are focusing on ‘situatedness’. This comes from a constructivist point of view and places priority on the idea that data and analysis are created from shared experiences between the researcher and the participant.
Levels of Coding
- Open coding: Initial categorization, capturing what the researcher sees in the data.
- In vivo coding: Assigning a label to a section of data with a word or short phrase taken from that section of the data.
- Axial coding: Finding recurring themes in the data. Advanced stage, more abstract codes are built.
- Selective coding: Serves to explain the behavior of the participants or of the phenomena. Serves as a guide for understanding the research and should answer the research question.
- Theoretical sampling: Used to selectively sample new data with the core concept or selective code in mind (deductive part).
Writing up the research: First, describe each of the selective codes and how they are supported by axial codes, giving examples from the data. The selective codes are described as core categories or overarching themes with axial codes being described as supporting themes or categories. Open codes are not usually directly referred to, only in the methodology section.
Differences Between CGT and Thematic Analysis
CGT does not directly apply theoretically informed codes at early stages of coding. Thematic analysis reads the text through a theoretical lens right from the start.