STRATEGIES TO MANAGE QUALITATIVE DATA 2
Research methods search interviews, observations and surveys usually result in
qualitative data. This form of data is mostly in word form, video or audio, which is different
from quantitative data, which involve numbers. Therefore, before analysis, qualitative data
require other procedures to ensure that the large volumes of data collected are easily analyzed
and meaning be extracted from such. These procedures are the strategies that enable the
researcher to handle this voluminous data hence making them less overwhelming.
The first strategies to handle large volumes of qualitative data is to organize the collected
data based on the characteristics and the method of data collection. At this stage, the research has
to review all the data sets for themes and patterns to emerge. This will be followed by identifying
and documenting the themes from the data set. Secondly, the data will be coded and entered into
tables to allow easier analysis and interpretation in the subsequent stages of data management
(Richards, 2014).
With the codes, data should be separated into groups based on the themes and patterns
identified at the organizational stage of data. This will promote analysis and discussion of
voluminous data simple. Another way of handling a large volume of data is through organizing
collected data based on the study objectives, research questions and sub-topics of the study topic,
and the categories of the respondents depending with the study sample (Male, 2016). By doing
this, both researchers and other people who were not actively involved in the research exercise
will have an easy time in analyzing the data and interpretation of the findings. Organizing data
through the mentioned strategies also ensures that errors associated with a large amount of data
are avoided hence improving the credibility of the results.
STRATEGIES TO MANAGE QUALITATIVE DATA 3
References
Richards, L. (2014). Handling qualitative data: A practical guide. Sage.
Male, T. (2016). Analysing qualitative data. Doing research in education: Theory and practice,
177-191.
