Data Analysis in Qualitative Research

1. A researcher does a study of students' phenomenological feelings about problem solving. One of her categories of codes involves positive affect. Two subcategories of that category of positive affect are smiles when solves the problem, and shouts hooray when finished. The relation between these subcategories and the overall category of positive affect is:

a.       Spatial

b.      Sequence

c.       Strict inclusion

d.      Function

2. In looking at the relationships between coding categories, the relation, "X is a place in Y; X is part of Y" in Spradley's taxonomy of semantic relations is labeled:

a.  Spatial

b.  Rationale

c.  Means-end

d.  Strict inclusion

3. In looking at the relationships between coding categories, the relation X is a kind of Y in Spradley's taxonomy of semantic relations is labeled:

a. Spatial

b. Rationale

c. Means-end

d. Strict inclusion

4. A researcher is doing a study of peer groups in middle school. She interviews 5  girls and 5 boys. She is doing a grounded theory study; hence, she decides to generate her codes as she scans through her transcriptions of her data. These codes are labeled:

a.       A priori codes

b.      Post hoc codes

c.       Inductive codes

d.      Master list codes 

5. Sarah is a qualitative researcher studying how children and parents interact in Head Start Centers. As she examines her data (videotapes and transcripts), she jots down notes concerning the interactions, generating hypotheses, suggesting relationships among categories of information she is examining and so on. This process of jotting notes as she examines the data is called:

a.       Memoing

b.      Transcription

c.       Facesheet coding

d.      Drawing diagrams

6. Qualitative data analysis is still a relatively new and rapidly developing branch of research methodology.

a. True

b. False

7. The process of marking segments of data with symbols, descriptive words, or category names is known as _______.

a.       Concurring

b.      Coding

c.       Coloring

d.      Segmenting

8. What is the cyclical process of collecting and analyzing data during a single research study called?

a. Interim analysis

b. Inter analysis

c. Inter-item analysis

d. Constant analysis

9. What is the recording of reflective notes about what you are learning from your data during data analysis called?

a. Coding

b. Segmenting

c. Memoing

d. Reflecting

10. Which of the following is one of Spradley’s types of relationships?

a. Strict inclusion

b. Sequence

c. Cause-effect

d. All of the above

11. Which of the following is not one of Spradley’s types of relationships?

a. Strict inclusion

b. Sequence

c. Cause-effect

d. Correlational

12. Codes that apply to a complete document or case are called ________.

a.   Cover codes

b.   False sheet codes

c.   Factual codes

d.   Facesheet codes

13. A classification system generally used in the social sciences that breaks something down into different types or levels is called a ________.

a.   Diagram

b.   Flow chart

c.   Hierarchical category system

d.   Category

14. When you have high consistency among different coders about the appropriate codes for a set of data, you have ____.

a. High intercoder reliability

b. High intracoder reliability

15. Codes developed before examining the current data being coded are called ______.

a. Co-occuring codes

b. Inductive codes

c. A priori codes

d. Facesheet codes

16. The process of quantifying data is referred to as _________.

a.  Typology

b.  Diagramming

c.  Enumeration

d.  Coding

17. Which of the following refers to the cyclical process of collecting and analyzing data during a single research study?

a.  Memoing

b.  Segmenting

c.  Coding

d.  Interim analysis

18. An advantage of using computer programs for qualitative data is that they _______.

a. Can reduce time required to analyze data (i.e., after the data are transcribed)

b. Help in storing and organizing data

c. Make many procedures available that are rarely done by hand due to time constraints

d. All of the above

19. _________ are codes that are developed during the process of coding.

a.       Inductive codes

b.      A priori codes

c.       Co-occurring codes

d.      Facesheet codes

20. Boolean operators are words that are used to create logical combinations.

a. True

b. False

21. __________ are the basic building blocks of qualitative data.

a. Categories

b. Units

c. Individuals

d. None of the above

22. When a segment of textual data has overlapping codes, this is called a(n) __________.

a. Inductive code

b. Co-occurring codes

c. Priori code

d. Facesheet code

23. This is the process of transforming qualitative research data from written interviews or field notes into typed text.

a. Segmenting

b. Coding

c. Transcription

d. Memoing

24. Network diagrams show only direct links between variables or events over time.

a. True

b. False

25. A challenge of qualitative data analysis is that it often includes data that are unwieldy and complex; it is a major challenge to make sense of the large pool of data.

a.  True

b.  False

Answers:

1. c

2. a

3. d

4. c

5. a

6. a

7. b

8. a

9. c

10. d

11. d

12. d

13. c

14. a

15. c

16. c

17. d

18. d

19. a

20. a

21. a

22. b

23. c

24. b

25. a