4.3.1 Generic methods for analyzing

Globally, a generic method for analyzing is used in many situations: How to analyze the data? To get the meaning of the data? It encompasses the technical and intellectual operations and manipulations helping the researcher to catch the meanings.

• Technical operations for analyzing are processes, operations and management of the data such as transcriptions, cutting of the text, putting it in tables, etc.
• Intellectual operations for analyzing consist of the transposition of terms in other terms, intuitive groupings, confrontation, induction …

Classically, 3 generic methods of analysis are used in qualitative health (care) research, each of them using specific tools

• The phenomenological examination of the empirical data, aiming to report the authentic comprehension of the material
• The thematic analysis, more specifically this is the creation and the refinement of categories to give a global picture of the material
• The analysis using conceptualising categories, aiming at the creation and the refinement of categories to go further than the description, to reach conceptualization of

4.3.2 Specific traditions

Specific traditions are embedded in the generic methods used in health(care) research we described. We give an example for each of them:

4.1.1.1     Phenomenology

Phenomenology focuses on “how human beings make sense of experience and transform experience into consciousness, both individually and as shared meaning” (Patton 2015, p.115). Phenomenology is about understanding the nature or meaning of everyday life. In-depth interviews with people who have directly experienced the phenomenon of interest, is the most used data collection technique. Phenomenology in qualitative research goes back to a philosophical tradition that was first applied to social science by E. H. Husserl to study people’s daily experiences.

Phenomenology will not be developed into detail, because it is less relevant to KCE projects.

4.1.1.2     Framework analysis

Framework analysis has been developed specifically for applied or policy relevant qualitative research, and is a deductive research strategy. In a framework analysis the objectives of the investigation are set in advance. The thematic framework for the content analysis is identified before the research or the qualitative research part in the project sets off.

The decision on using frameworks when analyzing data is closely related to the question for what purpose the qualitative material will be used in the overall research strategy. “Frameworks” are generally deducted from hypotheses of theoretical frameworks: e.g. if the aim of a focus group is trying to get a picture of stakeholders interests and potential conflicting perspectives on a health care issue, and the focus group tries to grasp how stakeholders develop power plays or influence strategies to set agenda’s, a conceptual framework on decision-making processes and power play will serve as a useful tool to orient data-collection and data-analysis.

Applying framework analysis concretely means that the themes emerging from the data are placed in the framework defined a priori. The framework is systematically applied to all the data. Although an analytical framework can be very useful, it is not suited, if the aim is to discover new ideas, since a framework or grid could be blinding (Paillé and Mucchielli 2011).

For the specificity of the analysis of data according to this method see Framework analysis

4.1.1.3     Grounded theory

Grounded theory was developed by Glaser and Strauss in the late 1960s as a methodology for extracting meaning from qualitative data. Typically, the researcher does not start from a preconceived theory, but allows the theory to emerge from the data (Durant-Law 2005). Hence grounded theory is an inductive rather than a deductive methodology. Emergence is also a key assumption in grounded theory: data, information and knowledge are seen as emergent phenomena that are actively constructed. They can only have meaning when positioned in time, space and culture (Durant-Law 2005).

The power of grounded theory lies in the depth of the analysis. Grounded theory explains rather than describes and aims at a deep understanding of phenomena (Durant-Law 2005). Key to grounded theory is the emphasis on theory as the final output of research. Other approaches may stop at the level of description or interpretation of the data (e.g. thematic analysis).

Grounded theory is a complete method, a way of conceptualizing a qualitative research project.

For the specificity of the analysis of data according to this method see Data analysis in the Grounded Theory

4.3.3 Inductive versus deductive approaches

The approach chosen depends largely on the design and the aims of the research. Some designs and/or research questions require an inductive, others a deductive approach. Inductive means that themes emerge from the data, while deductive implies a pre-existing theory or framework which is applied to the data. Qualitative data analysis tends to be inductive, which means that the researcher identifies categories in the data, without predefined hypotheses. However, this is not always the case. A qualitative research analysis can also be top down, with predefined categories to which the data are coded, for example a priori concepts can be adopted from the literature or a relevant field. Framework analysis can be used this way.

The next table shows how the different methods, approaches and types of coding  relate to each other.

Generic methods, specific methods/ traditions, approaches and type of coding for qualitative analysis