The elephant in the room: Arguments against horizontalized line-by-line coding in qualitative research

Abstract

In this note, we argue against the use of horizontalized line-by-line coding in qualitative research on the grounds that it is unnecessarily time-consuming and overwhelming; that it impedes researchers’ attempts to progress from descriptive to interpretative analysis; and that it is disingenuous. We argue that researchers’ familiarisation with the data – literally, becoming familiar with it through preliminary exposure, such as via data collection, transcription or read-through – should be conceptualized as the necessary first stage of qualitative analysis. This is because, via familiarisation, researchers naturally develop an understanding of the recurrent and significant elements of the data. Consequently, these elements may be used as templates or sensitizing concepts, thereby enabling researchers rapidly and confidently to jettison irrelevant data, uncoded, and to elevate relevant data through the application of higher-order codes.