Abstract
Despite often brief and superficial coverage in research reports, discussion of the processes through which qualitative data has been analysed in a particular project is an essential part of the recording of the work. A recent PhD thesis examining the information-seeking behaviour of young people described in some detail the procedures in this area that had been followed in the project in question and the overall strategy appears to be of sound general application. This paper takes the reader through, step by step, the data analysis method that was employed. A key early stage is the creation of verbatim transcripts of any individual interviews or focus group conversations that have been conducted. Data analysis is shown to embrace formative and summative elements. In the former, data is scrutinised as it is gathered, whilst the latter involves detailed examination of the data once the collection phase is complete. Significant tasks associated with summative analysis are likely to include coding and classifying the data, maintaining a record of the codes employed, investigating the way in which individual concepts within the data relate to each other, and generating typologies, models and theories. These activities are reported in considerable detail.
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