CHAPTER NINE

Qualitative Procedures

Qualitative procedures demonstrate a different approach to scholarly inquiry than methods of

quantitative research. Qualitative inquiry employs different philosophical assumptions; strategies of

inquiry; and methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Although the processes are

similar, qualitative procedures rely on text and image data, have unique steps in data analysis, and

draw on diverse strategies of inquiry. In fact, the strategies of inquiry chosen in a qualitative project

have a dramatic influence on the procedures, which, even within strategies, are anything but

uniform. Looking over the landscape of qualitative procedures shows diverse perspectives ranging

from social justice thinking (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005), to ideological perspectives (Lather, 1991), to

philosophical stances (Schwandt, 2000), to systematic procedural guidelines (Creswell, 2007; Corbin

& Strauss, 2007). All perspectives vie for center stage in this unfolding model of inquiry called

qualitative research.

This chapter attempts to combine many perspectives, provide general procedures, and use examples

liberally to illustrate variations in strategies. This discussion draws on thoughts provided by several

authors writing about qualitative proposal design (e.g., see Berg, 2001; Marshall & Rossman, 2006;

Maxwell, 2005; Rossman & Rallis, 1998). The topics in a proposal section on procedures are

characteristics of qualitative research, the research strategy, the role of the researcher, steps in data

collection and analysis, strategies for validity, the accuracy of findings, and narrative structure.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

For many years, proposal writers had to discuss the characteristics of qualitative research and

convince faculty and audiences as to their legitimacy. Now these discussions are less frequently

found in the literature and there is some consensus as to what constitutes qualitative inquiry. Thus,

my suggestions about this section of a proposal are as follows:

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• Review the needs of potential audiences for the proposal. Decide whether audience members are

knowledgeable enough about the characteristics of qualitative research that this section is not

necessary.

• If there is some question about their knowledge, present the basic characteristics of qualitative

research in the proposal and possibly discuss a recent qualitative research journal article (or study)

to use as an example to illustrate the characteristics.

• Natural setting—Qualitative researchers tend to collect data in the field at the site where

participants experience the issue or problem under study. They do not bring individuals into alab (a

contrived situation), nor do they typically send out instruments for individuals to complete. This up

close information gathered by actually talking directly to people and seeing them behave and act

within their context is a major characteristic of qualitative research. In the natural setting, the

researchers have face-to-face interaction over time.

• Researcher as key instrument—Qualitative researchers collect data themselves through examining

documents, observing behavior, or interviewing participants. They may use a protocol—an

instrument for collecting data—but the researchers are the ones who actually gather the

information. They do not tend to use or rely on questionnaires or instruments developed by other

researchers.

• Multiple sources of data—Qualitative researchers typically gather multiple forms of data, such as

interviews, observations, and documents, rather than rely on a single data source. Then the

researchers review all of the data, make sense of it, and organize it into categories or themes that

cut across all of the data sources.

• Inductive data analysis—Qualitative researchers build their patterns, categories, and themes from

the bottom up, by organizing the data into increasingly more abstract units of information. This

inductive process illustrates working back and forth between the themes and the database until the

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researchers have established a comprehensive set of themes. It may also involve collaborating with

the participants interactively, so that participants have a chance to shape the themes or abstractions

that emerge from the process.

• Participants’ meanings—In the entire qualitative research process, the researcher keeps a focus on

learning the meaning that the participants hold about the problem or issue, not the meaning that

the researchers bring to the research or writers express in the literature.

• Emergent design—The research process for qualitative researchers is emergent. This means that

the initial plan for research cannot be tightly prescribed, and all phases of the process may change or

shift after the researcher enters the field and begins to collect data. For example, the questions may

change, the forms of data collection may shift, and the individuals studied and the sites visited may

be modified. The key idea behind qualitative research is to learn about the problem or issue from

participants and to address the research to obtain that information.

• Theoretical lens—Qualitative researchers often use lens to view their studies, such as the concept

of culture, central to ethnography, or gendered, racial, or class differences from the theoretical

orientations discussed in Chapter 3. Sometimes the study may be organized around identifying the

social, political, or historical context of the problem under study.

• Interpretive—Qualitative research is a form of interpretive inquiry in which researchers make an

interpretation of what they see, hear, and understand. Their interpretations cannot be separated

from their own backgrounds, history, contexts, and prior understandings. After a research report is

issued, the readers make an interpretation as well as the participants, offering yet other

interpretations of the study. With the readers, the participants, and the researchers all making

interpretations, it is apparent how multiple views of the problem can emerge.

• Holistic account—Qualitative researchers try to develop a complex picture of the problem or issue

under study. This involves reporting multiple perspectives, identifying the many factors involved in a

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situation, and generally sketching the larger picture that emerges. A visual model of many facets of a

process or a central phenomenon aid in establishing this holistic picture (see, for example, Creswell

& Brown, 1992).

THE RESEARCHER’S ROLE

As mentioned in the list of characteristics, qualitative research is interpretative research, with the

inquirer typically involved in a sustained and intensive experience with participants. This introduces

a range of strategic, ethical, and personal issues into the qualitative research process (Locke et al.,

2007). With these concerns in mind, inquirers explicitly identify reflexively their biases, values, and

personal background, such as gender, history, culture, and socioeconomic status, that may shape

their interpretations formed during a study. In addition, gaining entry to a research site and the

ethical issues that might arise are also elements of the researcher’s role.

• Include statements about past experiences that provide background data through which the

audience can better understand the topic, the setting, or the participants and the researcher’s

interpretation of the phenomenon.

• Comment on connections between the researcher and the participants and on the research sites.

“Backyard” research (Glesne & Peshkin, 1992) involves studying the researcher’s own organization,

or friends, or immediate work setting. This often leads to compromises in the researcher’s ability to

disclose information and raises difficult power issues. Although data collection may be convenient

and easy, the problems of reporting data that are biased, incomplete, or compromised are legion. If

studying the backyard is necessary, employ multiple strategies of validity (as discussed later) to

create reader confidence in the accuracy of the findings.

• Indicate steps taken to obtain permission from the Institutional Review Board (see Chapter 4) to

protect the rights of human participants. Attach, as an appendix, the approval letter from the IRB

and discuss the process involved in securing permission.

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• Discuss steps taken to gain entry to the setting and to secure permission to study the participants

or situation (Marshall & Rossman, 2006). It is important to gain access to research or archival sites by

seeking the approval of gatekeepers, individuals at the research site that provide access to the site

and allow or permit the research to be done. A brief proposal might need to be developed and

submitted for review by gatekeepers. Bogdan and Biklen (1992) advance topics that could be

addressed in such a proposal:

• Why was the site chosen for study?

• What activities will occur at the site during the research study?

• Will the study be disruptive?

• How will the results be reported?

• What will the gatekeeper gain from the study?

DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES

Comments about the role of the researcher set the stage for discussion of issues involved in

collecting data. The data collection steps include setting the boundaries for the study, collecting

information through unstructured or semi-structured observations and interviews, documents, and

visual materials, as well as establishing the protocol for recording information.

• Identify the purposefully selected sites or individuals for the proposed study. The idea behind

qualitative research is to purposefully select participants or sites (or documents or visual material)

that will best help the researcher understand the problem and the research question. This does not

necessarily suggest random sampling or selection of a large number of participants and sites, as

typically found in quantitative research. A discussion about participants and site might include four

aspects identified by Miles and Huberman (1994): the setting (where the research will take place),

the actors (who will be observed or interviewed), the events (what the actors will be observed or

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interviewed doing), and the process (the evolving nature of events undertaken by the actors within

the setting).

• Indicate the type or types of data to be collected. In many qualitative studies, inquirers collect

multiple forms of data and spend a considerable time in the natural setting gathering information.

The collection procedures in qualitative research involve four basic types, as shown in Table 9.2

Table 9.2 Qualitative Data Collection Types, Options, Advantages, and Limitations

• Qualitative observations are those in which the researcher takes field notes on the behavior and

activities of individuals at the research site. In these field notes, the researcher records, in an

unstructured or semi structured way (using some prior questions that the inquirer wants to know),

activities at the research site. Qualitative observers may also engage in roles varying from a non-

participant to a complete participant.

• In qualitative interviews, the researcher conducts face-to-face interviews with participants,

interviews participants by telephone, or engages in focus group interviews, with six to eight

interviewees in each group. These interviews involve unstructured and generally open-ended

questions that are few in number and intended to elicit views and opinions from the participants.

• During the process of research, the investigator may collect qualitative documents. These may be

public documents (e.g., newspapers, minutes of meetings, official reports) or private documents

(e.g., personal journals and diaries, letters, e-mails).

• A final category of qualitative data consists of qualitative audio and visual materials. This data may

take the form of photographs, art objects, videotapes, or any forms of sound.

• In a discussion about data collection forms, be specific about the types and include arguments

concerning the strengths and weaknesses of each type, as discussed in Table 9.2.

• Include data collection types that go beyond typical observations and interviews. These unusual

forms create reader interest in a proposal and can capture useful information that observations and

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interviews may miss. For example, examine the compendium of types of data in Table 9.3 that can

be used, to stretch the imagination about possibilities, such as gathering sounds or tastes, or using

cherished items to elicit comments during an interview.

DATA RECORDING PROCEDURES

Before entering the field, qualitative researchers plan their approach to data recording. The proposal

should identify what data the researcher will record and the procedures for recording data.

• Use a protocol for recording observational data. Researchers often engage in multiple observations

during the course of a qualitative study and use an observational protocol for recording information

while observing. This may be a single page with a dividing line down the middle to separate

descriptive notes (portraits of the participants, a reconstruction of dialogue, a description of the

physical setting, accounts of particular events, or activities) from reflective notes (the researcher’s

personal thoughts, such as “speculation, feelings, problems, ideas, hunches, impressions, and

prejudices” Bogdan & Biklen, 1992, p. 121). Also written on this form might be demographic

information about the time, place, and date of the field setting where the observation takes place.

• Use an interview protocol for asking questions and recording answers during a qualitative

interview. This protocol includes the following components:

• A heading (date, place, interviewer, interviewee)

• Instructions for the interviewer to follow so that standard procedures are used from one interview

to another

• The questions (typically an ice-breaker question at the beginning followed by 4-5 questions that

are often the subquestions in a qualitative research plan, followed by some concluding statement or

a question, such as, “Who should I visit with to learn more about my questions?”

• Probes for the 4-5 questions, to follow up and ask individuals to explain their ideas in more detail

or to elaborate on what they have said

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• Space between the questions to record responses

• A final thank-you statement to acknowledge the time the interviewee spent during the interview

(see Creswell, 2007)

• Researchers record information from interviews by making handwritten notes, by audiotaping, or

by videotaping. Even if an interview is taped, I recommend that researchers take notes, in the event

that recording equipment fails. If audiotaping is used, researchers need to plan in advance for the

transcription of the tape.

• The recording of documents and visual materials can be based on the researcher’s structure for

taking notes. Typically, notes reflect information about the document or other material as well as

key ideas in the documents. It is helpful to note whether the information represents primary

material (i.e., information directly from the people or situation under study) or secondary material

(i.e., secondhand accounts of the people or situation written by others). It is also helpful to comment

on the reliability and value of the data source.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Discussion of the plan for analyzing the data might have several components. The process of data

analysis involves making sense out of text and image data. It involves preparing the data for analysis,

conducting different analyses, moving deeper and deeper into understanding the data (some

qualitative researchers like to think of this as peeling back the layers of an onion), representing the

data, and making an interpretation of the larger meaning of the data. Several generic processes

might be stated in the proposal that convey a sense of the overall activities of qualitative data

analysis, such as the following drawn from my own thoughts (Creswell, 2007) and those of Rossman

and Rallis (1998):

• It is an ongoing process involving continual reflection about the data, asking analytic questions,

and writing memos throughout the study. I say that qualitative data analysis is conducted

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concurrently with gathering data, making interpretations, and writing reports. While interviews are

going on, for example, the researcher may be analyzing an interview collected earlier, writing

memos that may ultimately be included as a narrative in the final report, and organizing the

structure of the final report. • Data analysis involves collecting open-ended data, based on asking

general questions and developing an analysis from the information supplied by participants.

• Often we see qualitative data analysis reported in journal articles and books that is a generic form

of analysis. In this approach, the researcher collects qualitative data, analyzes it for themes or

perspectives, and reports 4-5 themes. I consider this approach to be basic qualitative analysis; today

many qualitative researchers go beyond this generic analysis to add a procedure within one of the

qualitative strategies of inquiry. For example, grounded theory has systematic steps (Corbin &

Strauss, 2007; Strauss & Corbin, 1990, 1998). These involve generating categories of information

(open coding), selecting one of the categories and positioning it within a theoretical model (axial

coding), and then explicating a story from the interconnection of these categories (selective coding).

Case study and ethnographic research involve a detailed description of the setting or individuals,

followed by analysis of the data for themes or issues (see Stake, 1995; Wolcott, 1994).

Phenomenological research uses the analysis of significant statements, the generation of meaning

units, and the development of what Moustakas (1994) calls an essence description. Narrative

research employs restorying the participants’ stories using structural devices, such as plot, setting,

activities, climax, and denouement (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). As these examples illustrate, the

processes as well as the terms differ from one analytic strategy to another.

Despite these analytic differences depending on the type of strategy used, qualitative inquirers often

use a general procedure and convey in the proposal the steps in data analysis. An ideal situation is to

blend the general steps with the specific research strategy steps. An overview of the data analysis

process is seen in Figure 9.1. As a research tip, I urge researchers to look at qualitative data analysis

as following steps from the specific to the general and as involving multiple levels of analysis.

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Step 1. Organize and prepare the data for analysis. This involves transcribing interviews, optically

scanning material, typing up field notes, or sorting and arranging the data into different types

depending on the sources of information.

Step 2. Read through all the data. A first step is to obtain a general sense of the information and to

reflect on its overall meaning. What general ideas are participants saying? What is the tone of the

ideas? What is the impression of the overall depth, credibility, and use of the information?

Sometimes qualitative researchers write notes in margins or start recording general thoughts about

the data at this stage.

Step 3. Begin detailed analysis with a coding process. Coding is the process of organizing the

material into chunks or segments of text before bringing meaning to information (Rossman & Rallis,

1998, p. 171). It involves taking text data or pictures gathered during data collection, segmenting

sentences (or paragraphs) or images into categories, and labeling those categories with a term, often

a term based in the actual language of the participant (called an in vivo term).

Before proceeding to Step 4, consider some remarks that will provide detailed guidance for the

coding process. Tesch (1990, pp. 142-145) provides a useful analysis of the process in eight steps:

1. Get a sense of the whole. Read all the transcriptions carefully. Perhaps jot down some ideas as

they come to mind.

2. Pick one document (i.e., one interview)—the most interesting one, the shortest, the one on the

top of the pile. Go through it, asking yourself, “What is this about?” Do not think about the

substance of the information but its underlying meaning. Write thoughts in the margin.

3. When you have completed this task for several participants, make a list of all topics. Cluster

together similar topics. Form these topics into columns, perhaps arrayed as major topics, unique

topics, and leftovers.

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4. Now take this list and go back to your data. Abbreviate the topics as codes and write the codes

next to the appropriate segments of the text. Try this preliminary organizing scheme to see if new

categories and codes emerge.

5. Find the most descriptive wording for your topics and turn them into categories. Look for ways of

reducing your total list of categories by grouping topics that relate to each other. Perhaps draw lines

between your categories to show interrelationships.

6. Make a final decision on the abbreviation for each category and alphabetize these codes.

7. Assemble the data material belonging to each category in one place and perform a preliminary

analysis.

8. If necessary, recode your existing data.

These eight steps engage a researcher in a systematic process of analyzing textual data. Variations

exist in this process. As a research tip, I encourage qualitative researchers to analyze their data for

material that can address the following:

• Codes on topics that readers would expect to find, based on the past literature and common sense

• Codes that are surprising and that were not anticipated at the beginning of the study

• Codes that are unusual, and that are, in and of themselves, of conceptual interest to readers (e.g.,

in Asmussen and Creswell, 1995, we identified retriggering as one of the codes/themes in the

analysis that suggested a new dimension for us to a gunman incident on campus and that seemed to

connect with experiences of others on campus)

• Codes that address a larger theoretical perspective in the research As an alternative

conceptualization, consider the list by Bogdan and Biklen (1992, pp. 166-172) of the types of codes

that they look for in a qualitative database:

• Setting and context codes

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• Perspectives held by subjects
• Subjects’ ways of thinking about people and objects
• Process codes
• Activity codes
• Strategy codes
• Relationship and social structure codes
• Preassigned coding schemes
One further issue about coding is whether the researcher should (a) develop codes only on the basis

of the emerging information collected from participants, (b) use predetermined codes and then fit

the data to them, or (c) use some combination of predetermined and emerging codes. The

traditional approach in the social sciences is to allow the codes to emerge during the data analysis.

In the health sciences, a popular approach is to use predetermined codes based on the theory being

examined. In this case, the researchers might develop a qualitative codebook, a table or record that

contains a list of predetermined codes that researchers use for coding the data.

This codebook might be composed with the names of codes in one column, a definition of codes in

another column, and then specific instances (e.g., line numbers) in which the code was found in the

transcripts. Having such a codebook is invaluable when multiple researchers are coding the data

from different transcripts. This codebook can evolve and change during a study based on close

analysis of the data, even when the researcher is not starting from an emerging code perspective.

For researchers who have a distinct theory they want to test in their projects, I would recommend

that a preliminary codebook be developed for coding the data and permit the codebook to develop

and change based on the information learned during the data analysis. The use of a codebook is

especially helpful for fields in which quantitative research dominates and a more systematic

approach to qualitative research is needed.

Returning to the general coding process, some researchers have found it useful to hand code

qualitative transcripts or information, sometimes using color code schemes and to cut and paste text

segments onto note cards. This is a laborious and time-consuming approach. Others tend to use

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qualitative computer software programs to help code, organize, and sort information that will be

useful in writing the qualitative study. Several excellent computer software programs are available,

and they have similar features: good tutorials and demonstration CDs, ability to incorporate both

text and image (e.g., photographs) data, the feature of storing and organizing data, the search

capacity of locating all text associated with specific codes, interrelated codes for making queries of

the relationship among codes, and the import and export of qualitative data to quantitative

programs, such as spreadsheets or data analysis programs.

The basic idea behind these programs is that using the computer is an efficient means for storing

and locating qualitative data. Although the researcher still needs to go through each line of text (as

in transcriptions) and assign codes, this process may be faster and more efficient than hand coding.

Also, in large databases, the researcher can quickly locate all passages (or text segments) coded the

same and determine whether participants are responding to a code idea in similar or different ways.

Beyond this, the computer program can facilitate comparing different codes (e.g., How do males and

females—the first code of gender—differ in terms of their attitudes to smoking—a second code)

These are just a few features of the software programs that make them a logical choice for

qualitative data analysis over hand coding. As with any software program, qualitative software

programs require time and skill to learn and employ effectively, although books for learning the

programs are widely available (e.g., Weitzman & Miles, 1995).

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