Interpreting and analysing qualitative data

1. Interpreting and analysing qualitative data Jennifer Haven

2. Investigating the engagement of New Zealand diagnostic radiographers with researchJennifer Haven BSc (hons) MSc (hons)Programme Leader – BHSc (Medical Imaging)

4. Who are you?

5. Data analysis Why analyse? How will you analyse? What will you find? What implications do the findings have?

6. Defining analysis “Detailed examination of the elements or structure of something, typically as the basis for discussion or interpretation” (New Oxford English Dictionary, ) “..analysis refers quite specifically and narrowly to systematic procedures followed in order to identify essential features and relationships” (Wolcott, 1994, p 24)

7. Defining qualitative analysis Contextual understanding Thick description Reflexivity

8. Theory Top- down? Bottom-up?

9. Collecting Data Interviews Observations Focus groups Questionnaire

10. Observations Structured or un-structured Covert or overt

11. Asking questions Structured Semi-structured Un-structured

12. Asking questions A How was you day today? B Did you have a good day? C How is today working out for you? D Have you enjoyed your day so far? E Tell me about your day.

13. Asking questions Verbal cues? Time to formulate answer? Time to reflect on answer? Contextual factors?

14. Transcription “The process of transcription is not best conceptualised as a matter of simply writing down what someone said or some people said or did, it involves making analytical judgements about what to represent and how to represent it, and choosing to display or focus on certain features of a piece of talk, action or interaction rather than others.”

15. Transcription How will you record the data? Why? What are the implications?

16. Transcription (did you feel that you have the skills to research after this training?). I think so, I know how to go about it but I’m still unsure, if I had a buddy or someone I could go to I probably would be able to (Who would you go to?) Someone who was good at explaining things, someone who was approachable, who would not be overbearing and take it over, (Anyone in particular – off your ward or from your Uni or at home?) From the ward probably, but the problem is that everyone is busy and they don’t have time. (Would you know where to start if you did start a research project?) I think so, I would see my supervisor, manager, ask them about doing it. (Do you think you could do that?) Yes I could but I don’t know whether it would be possible or not. It isn’t widely advertised. Ive only heard of one girl who has done it, she has done a Masters (Has this influenced the ward in any way?) I actually don’t know anything about it. I don’t know what the topic was about. It hasn’t been shown to us or anything.

17. Transcription Interview 1 (ER) Basically I just wondered what you thought when you got a questionnaire about research in radiography and what it made you think, if anything? Well yeah, erm, i suppose ‘cause i don’t really any radiographers and stuff that are doing research, I’ve never, I’ve only been qualified 3 years but i haven’t really met anyone whose doing it so I was kind of interested in what kind of things were being said about it. So you were interested? Yeah, We did a thesis for our final year project, it was 15,000 words, so we had to do research as well, and it is interesting and we all kind of learnt stuff from it. So what did you do? Did you do a literature review or a whole project? I did questionnaires went into hospitals and gathered data, and I did a literature review and things and mine was on PET CT. How did you feel about doing the project? At the start i thought it was such a pain and everything, and sometimes it can be difficult to find stuff and thats really frustrating because you cant get the right things. But then its kinda of interesting because you’re learning whilst your doing it, I picked this topic because I was interested in it, If it was something that I had no interest in then I’m sure i wouldn’t have enjoyed it Do you feel like, having done that now that if you were in clinical you could do a research project? Yeah i reckon so, i found the statistics hard, but thats because it was in college and we were just doing basic things, so we just got basic training.

18. Transcription Which features are relevant? How will you represent them?

19. Transcription Indexical transcription Unfocused transcription Focused transcription

20. Data immersion Contemplate Assimilate Listen, read and repeat

21. Interpreting the data What topics were covered? How does it compare to the other data or theory? What role did you play? What can you take forward?

22. Thematic analysis Examining commonality / recurrent themes Examining differences / opposing views Positivity, negativity and neutrality Examining relationships

23. Thematic analysis Grounded theory – code saturation point Discourse analysis – temporal, on-going flow Narrative analysis – how the story is told Semiotics – meaning within concrete context

24. Analysis “Basically we’re over-ridden by radiologists on most things. They have the final say in our protocols. You’ve obviously got all the information but they have the final more educated answer. We’re just making images for them to report and make a diagnoses” “Promotion of the profession…I think that here [in New Zealand] radiography is way down here, not a very high profile profession.”

25. Analysis “I know no-one wants to do it, but once you actually get into it, trying to find relevant data its actually quite good” “No-ones going to do it unless they either have a genuine interest or it can help them to progress in their work”

26. Coding Occurs more than once? Intensity or emphasis? Agreement or disagreement? Mistakes?

27. Computational analysis Ethnograph NUD*IST SAS CDC EZ-Text ACCESS

28. The power of the spreadsheet

29. The power of the spreadsheet

30. Reliability: The extent to which results are consistent over time. Validity: Does the research truly measures that which it was intended to measure or how truthful the research results are.

31. Trustworthiness and rigour “How can an inquirer persuade his or her audiences that the research findings of an inquiry are worth paying attention to?" (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p. 290) Seale (1999).. states that the “trustworthiness of a research report lies at the heart of issues conventionally discussed as validity and reliability” (p. 266).

32. Trustworthiness and rigour Reflexivity Subjectivity Social interactions

33. Writing analyses Research diaries Collaboration and critique Structured around a question Structured around a concept

34. Structured by theme

35. Structured by theme 5.7.2 Interview results Aspects of section 2 of the questionnaire were repeated in the interviews. Some radiographers were asked, again, whether they were professionals and all were asked whether research is a part of professionalism. For two participants the link between research and professionalism had not been obvious; “No it didn’t come into my head. I suppose you associate research with lecturers, you don’t really think about people doing it in health” [IP2] and “I dunno, I never really thought about it”[IP1]. However after some thought the latter radiographer did not entirely accept the relationship;“I wouldn’t have thought research was the definition of professional, I see a professional is someone who has training in a certain area and is someone who has been trained to do a specific task. I think it is important though that people still try to keep up to date with things and keep advancing the practice so maybe research will help that.”

37. Any questions? Good luck! jhaven@unitec.ac.nz 500-4029 ext 5183