Qualitative Content Analysis in Practice

Qualitative content analysis is a powerful method for analyzing large amounts of qualitative data collected through interviews or focus groups. It is frequently employed by students, but introductory textbooks on content analysis have largely focused on the quantitative version of the method.

In one of the first to focus on qualitative content analysis, Margrit Schreier takes students step-by step through:

• creating a coding frame

• segmenting the material

• trying out the coding frame

• evaluating the trial coding

• carrying out the main coding

• what comes after qualitative content analysis

• making use of software when conducting qualitative content analysis.

Each part of the process is described in detail and research examples are provided to illustrate each step. Frequently asked questions are answered, the most important points are summarized, and end of chapter questions provide an opportunity to revise these points. After reading the book, students are fully equiped to conduct their own qualitative content analysis.

Designed for upper level undergraduate, MA, PhD students and researchers across the social sciences, this is essential reading for all those who want to use qualitative content analysis.

Autorentext

Margrit Schreier has been a professor of empirical research methods at Jacobs University, Bremen, Germany, since 2003 (BA/MA English Literature, Oxford; Diploma Psychology and PhD Psychology, Heidelberg University; Habilitation Psychology, University of Cologne). Her research interests include qualitative research methods and methodology, mixed methods, media psychology, empirical study of literature, and health research. She has been a principal investigator in several DFG-funded research projects on these topics, and she has authored and coauthored more than 90 book chapters and articles. She is coeditor of the issue "Qualitative and quantitative research: Conjunctions and divergences" of Forum: Qualitative Social Research (2001; with Nigel Fielding), coauthor of Forschungsmethoden in Psychologie und Sozialwissenschaften für Bachelor ([Research methods for psychology and the social sciences] with Walter Hussy and Gerald Echterhoff), and author of Qualitative Content Analysis in Practice (2012; SAGE).

Inhalt

Introduction: What Is Qualitative Content Analysis?
What Is Qualitative about Qualitative Content Analysis?
Will Qualitative Content Analysis Work for Me? Decision Aids
The Coding Frame
Building a Coding Frame
Strategies for Building a Data-Driven Coding Frame
Segmentation and Units of Coding
Trying It Out: The Pilot Phase
What to Keep in Mind: Evaluating Your Coding Frame
The Main Analysis Phase
How to Present Your Results
Using Software in Doing Qualitative Content Analysis