Major Assignment 2: The Analysis and Interpretation of Qualitative Data

Overview and Guidelines

Overview

The purpose of this Major Assignment is to immerse you in the qualitative research

process. The process includes hands-on opportunities for you to collect, organize,

analyze, and interpret qualitative data. This qualitative research process begins with

some items that have already been identified for you:

1. The research topic for this effort is the meaning of social change for Walden

graduate students. You have been examining videos and reading about social

change as part of the course study.

2. The knowledge you have gained plus your reflections on the meaning of social

change will form the beginning of the inquiry. That is, the research question you

will explore is “What is the meaning of social change for Walden graduate

students?”

3. The description of your efforts of gathering, organizing and analyzing data will

form the basis of your methods section. And, the results of those efforts—the

analysis and interpretation of those data—will be summarized.

This Major Assignment 2 is composed of four parts, each of which will be completed

over six weeks. These parts include: Part 1: Introduction; Part 2: Role of the

Researcher; Part 3: Results; and Part 4: Trustworthiness and Summary.

Part 1: Introduction

1. Write a background statement of approximately 1–2 pages that includes:

a. What you have learned about social change as a social issue.

b. What you have learned about social change as a research problem. Support your

insights with academic citations from the Learning Resources.

c. Describe the gap that your study will address.

2. From the gap, create a brief purpose statement that is aligned with the following

research question:

What is the meaning of social change for Walden graduate students?

Part 2: Role of the Researcher

Review your field notes, etc., written during each aspect of the data collection

process, and examine your role and experience and how that is shaping your

experience (reflexivity).

Describe the roles you are playing in this research effort (i.e., a graduate student,

classmate, interviewer, etc.).

Identify any ethical issues that could or did arise during the data collection processes

(i.e., these could include doing a study within one’s own work environment, conflict

of interest, or power differentials).x

Part 3: Results

During this course, you have coded your two Scholars of Change videos, you have

conducted and coded your phone interview, and you have gathered data from the

Walden social change website and any other documents or websites you might have

included. For this Part 3 of your Major Assignment 2, you will write up the results of your

findings. You will include the following sections in your write-up:

A.Data Sources—briefly describe each data source including location, duration of data

collection, how data were recorded, and unusual circumstances.

Two Scholars of Change videos

One phone interview

Resources from the Walden social change website

B. Instrumentation—briefly describe the type of instrumentation you used for your data

collection.

Who developed each data collection tool and what is the date of

publication?

Where and with which participant group has it been used previously?

How appropriate is it for current study and include whether modifications

will be or were needed?

C. Data Analysis—based on the data sources in “A.”, provide a detailed analysis to

include the following:

Report the process used to move inductively from coded units to larger

representations including categories and themes.

Describe the specific codes, categories, and themes that emerged from the

data using quotations as needed to emphasize their importance.

1. 1st cycle—describe, give examples.

2. 2nd cycle—describe, give examples/moving from codes to categories.

3. Identify themes—provide examples and illustrate your results with a figure or a

chart.

Part 4: Trustworthiness and Summary

D. Trustworthiness—summarize across the different data sources and respond to the

following:

What themes are in common?

What sources have different themes?

Explain the trustworthiness of your findings, in terms of:

o Credibility

o Transferability

o Dependability strategies

o Confirmability

E. Summary

Based on the results of your analyses, how would you answer the question: “What is

the meaning of social change for Walden graduate students?”

Self-Reflection—Has your own understanding of you as a positive social change

agent changed? Explain your reasoning.

Based on your review of the three articles on social change, which one is aligned

with your interests regarding social change and why?

Learning Resources

REQUIRED READINGS

Saldaña, J. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

• Chapter 1, “An Introduction to Codes and Coding (pp. 1–42) (previously read in Weeks 5, 6, and 7)
• Chapter 2, “Writing Analytic Memos About Narrative and Visual Data” (pp. 43–65) (previously read in Weeks 5, 6, and 7)

Ravitch, S. M., & Carl, N. M. (2021). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological (2nd ed.) Sage Publications.

• Chapter 5, “Methods of Data Collection” (pp. 124–163) (previously read in Week 7)
• Chapter 8, “An Integrative Approach to Data Analysis” (pp. 233–252)
• Chapter 9, “Methods and Processes of Data Analysis (pp. 254–294)

Rubin, H. J., & Rubin, I. S. (2012). Qualitative interviewing: The art of hearing data (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

• Chapter 12, “Data Analysis in the Responsive Interviewing Model” (pp. 189–211) (previously read in Weeks 5, 6, and 7)
• Chapter 14, “Personal Reflections on Responsive Interviewing”

Document: Excel Video Coding Document Template (Excel spreadsheet)

Review this Excel template as you view this week’s media program related to coding. Also, you will use this template for reorganizing and reanalyzing data.

REQUIRED MEDIA

Laureate Education (Producer). (2016). Second cycle coding [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 6 minutes.

In this media program, Dr. Susan Marcus, Core Research Faculty with the School of Psychology at Walden University, introduces second cycle coding. She discusses the purpose of reorganizing and reanalyzing data from first cycle coding. She will also demonstrate using this method.