Much of the data you get from the methods outlined in this guide is in the form of either spoken or written conversation. Unlike the numerical, scalar or true/false data that you get from a quantitative survey, textual data – words, images and video are unstructured – and not easily analyzed via statistical methods or counting. This makes the analysis of qualitative or unstructured data really intimidating for those people who are unaccustomed to working with it. But it doesn’t have to be.
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions:
- What is unstructured data, and how should I approach the analysis of it?
- How can I make sure my qualitative analysis is reliable? Verifiable? Trustworthy?
- How can I work in a team to analyze unstructured qualitative data?
This chapter is divided up into the following six sections:
- What is Unstructured Data?
- Text Analysis
- Developing a Coding Guide
- Interpretive Theming
- Deductive Theming
- Participatory Theming