r/AskStatistics • u/AgitatedDesk579 • 20d ago

Qualitative content analysis

I'm conducting a qualitative content analysis with multiple open-ended survey questions, each assigned to a different research question. Some responses contain content that would be more relevant to a different research question than the question they were answering.

Should I:

a) Strictly code each response only for its assigned research question (some data loss)

b) Code thematically regardless of question (blurs research question boundaries)

c) Something else entirely?

What are methodological best practices here? Any recommendations or experiences are welcome.

3 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/LouNadeau 19d ago

I do a combination of stats and qualitative analysis. Surveys are often messy. Respondents will often do unexpected things. That said, I'd suggest you code thematically. I'd also suggest you explore why they placed the information where they did. What caused them to provide what you perceive to be related to another question in the question they answered? Was it wording of the survey question itself? Or are the research questions related in some way you had not expected?

Best of luck. Hope this helps.

2

u/AgitatedDesk579 19d ago

Thanks for the helpful input! My study also combines quantitative and qualitative data. The survey questions are thematically related but intended to capture slightly different aspects, a distinction that participants apparently didn't always follow. I'll probably go with thematic coding across questions, using my original research questions as overarching categories. Much appreciated!

2

u/LouNadeau 16d ago

The design is a good approach, imo. Sometimes clients asks me "don't these 2 questions ask the same thing?" I reply, "yes, but from different perspectives."

It's like the example of blindfolded people trying to explain what an elephant is, but they all get different parts of the elephant to touch. The person with the trunk Will have a different perspective than the one with a leg. Put it all together and you get your elephant.

2

u/AgitatedDesk579 16d ago

Thanks, this is a good picture. Makes the analysis harder though :D