Day: February 25, 2020

Reply must be 250 words and include citations from at least 1 scholarly sources. Each thread and reply must follow current APA format.

Glesne, C. (2016) Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction (5th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.

**David**

Following the surveys and the interviews on the topic of choice, there comes a time when it must all come together into a completed research paper.  The process involves a thematic analysis of the data searching for patterns from the different respondents in an attempt to link the data into a combined view of the topic.  The analytic rigor comes in the coding of the data and is particularly common in ethnographic studies when the interview transcripts, field notes, and observation notes come together into the combined perspective through the process of coding (Wan, 2018).  Our text and other sources explain the coding process, but the thought process and explanation of the meaning of the noted similarities and differences become the source of coding made up of events, perceptions, methods, values, and noteworthy occurrences summed up into the authors unique code (Glesne, 2016).  The purpose of this discussion is to provide insight into the key benefits and strategies of coding and provide information on dangers to avoid while coding interviews.

Key Benefits and Strategies of Coding

 There are benefits and strategies for the coding process.  The coding process in quantitative research is a straight forward process enabling a count used in the statistical process; this is not so in qualitative research, as described previously.  The systematic process of coding entails identifying the categories, themes, and codes to determine how data ties together and makes sense (Glesne, 2016).  Making sense of information is a crucial benefit of coding, allowing for an inductive and deductive approach where inductive coding provides phrases or terms directly from the source, and deductive coding comes before the analysis from reviewing the literature and establishing a code before the information gathering takes place.  Another key benefit of coding comes from the systematic progression from data to theory providing detailed examples relating directly to the source information.  There are multiple strategies for coding, but using the deductive and inductive approach listed above provides an excellent way to tie the data into existing literary findings (Linneberg & Korsgaard, 2019).

Dangers to Avoid While Coding Interviews

With an understanding of the benefits and strategies of coding, this discussion will shift to the dangers to avoid while coding.  A criticism of coding and a danger to avoid while coding interviews is losing the holistic aspect central to qualitative analysis, but this danger is avoidable by keeping the overall understanding of the experiences applicable and related to the findings emerging from the source data.  Another danger comes from the subjectiveness of the coding process, but subjectiveness offsets itself by the vividness and detail obtained from qualitative research.  Another danger to avoid that falls in line with subjectiveness is not including others in the coding process.  Trustworthiness comes in, including others in the coding process, to establish reliability through collaboration.  A final danger comes if the researcher mistakes coding as a quick mechanical fix and de-contextualizes the data to the point it loses its realistic perspective where the count of occurrences replaces comprehensive narratives.  The researcher avoids this quick-fix danger by ensuring their results include the rich accounts of events sought after from qualitative research (Linneberg & Korsgaard, 2019).

Conclusion

 The purpose of this discussion was to provide insight into the key benefits and strategies of coding and provide information on dangers to avoid while coding interviews.  The benefits come from making sense of data and allowing for an inductive and deductive approach where inductive coding provides phrases or terms directly from the source, and deductive coding comes before the analysis from reviewing the literature and establishing a code before the information gathering takes place. The other benefit is the systematic progression from data to theory providing detailed examples relating directly to the source information.  The strategies associated with the deductive and inductive approach offer an excellent way to tie the data into existing literary findings.  The dangers come from losing the holistic aspect central to qualitative analysis, the subjectiveness of the coding process, and mistaking coding with a quick mechanical fix and de-contextualizing the data.  Researchers avoid these dangers by being true to the rich descriptiveness that comes from qualitative research.

Reply must be 250 words and include citations from at least 1 scholarly sources. Each thread and reply must follow current APA format.

Glesne, C. (2016) Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction (5th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.

**Thomas***

Coding in qualitative research is a non-numerical form of data analysis that involves the exploration of words in a text Glesne (2016).  There is another method based on numbers that are primarily used in quantitative research but is sometimes used in combination with qualitative methods (OLeary, 2005).  Coding in qualitative research focused on identify patterns that present in a text, something she described as thematic analysis.  OLeary (2005) describes coding in qualitative research as a process of reading, note-taking, organizing, and seeking patterns.  This process is multi-level and examines words as language strategies with nonverbal cues.  

Data is separated into categories that the researcher designates, and then examine to understand the item better; these categories are typically based in a coalescing facet of the culture and revealing the fundamental intricacies within.  In some cases, thematic analysis is used to build a theory about a topic (Glesne, 2016).  

Coding is sometimes a line-by-line process (Glesne, 2016); this process was discussed at length in one of the presentations available in the course content (Peach, 2014), but primarily, a word processing program that uses macros is used to distributed data to code it.  Other methods include conversation analysis is used to examine how people communicate with each other (Glesne, 2016).  Conversation analysis is gleaned from everyday interactions, not from interviews, because of non-verbal cues, pauses, and word emphasis are all used to draw meaning inferred in conversation beyond the mere words (Glesne, 2016).  Similarly, the narrative analysis involves examining and assessing verbal utterances, often pre-recorded; not similarly, the terms are gathered during the interview process, typically via open-ended questions, but also from singular storytelling (Glesne, 2016).  Semiotics analyzes symbols and signs of understanding the roots of communication and attempts to glean underlying meaning in written or verbal communication (Glesne, 2016).

One of the challenges of qualitative coding data is that those new to research sometimes find it challenging to maintain consistency and abandon the effort too soon or are not consistent with the balance between the data and their ability to describe it accurately (OLeary, 2005).  Glesne (2016) discusses the challenge of how to be sure that the results are accurate and reliable.  Ideally, another perspective will be sought, but this transparency brings a risk to confidentiality, and the risk must be acknowledged.  The researcher should recognize the delimitations that their assessment has formed; their approach may influence the results when another method may have different effects.  The approach and coding terms result in limitations to the study that also must be acknowledged.  Peter (3:16, ESV) addresses interpreting research while acknowledging limitations:

As he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

References

Glesne, C. (2016). Becoming qualitative researchers: An introduction (5th ed.). Chapter 1 Meeting Qualitative Inquiry.  New York, NY: Pearson. ISBN 

OLeary, Z. (2005). Researching real-world problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. ISBN: 9781412901956.

Peach, H. (2014, June 14). Coding Text Using Microsoft Word. Retrieved February 18, 2020, from YouTube: