Discussion: Coding, Categories, and Themes

Qualitative researchers approach data collection with anappreciation of the data sources (the participants, documents, etc.) asthe key to understanding the phenomenon of interest. The same is truefor data analysis. The researcher chooses an approach or approaches inorder to systematically move through the words and images to identifycodes, categories and themes that will reflect the sources’ experience.

• A code is a word or short phrase that assigns an attribute, idea, or quality to a portion of text or visual data.
• A category is a collection of these codes that share attributes, meaning, and/or intent. It is also labeled with a word or short phrase.
• A theme is developed from one or more categoriesand can represent a “manifest” (directly observable) or “latent”(underlying) aspect of the phenomenon.

For this Discussion, you will examine coding, categories, and themes in your qualitative data you previously collected.

To prepare for this Discussion:

• Review Chapter 8 of the Ravitch and Carl text and Chapter 12 of theRubin and Rubin text and consider the differences in coding,categories, and themes.
• Use the Course Guide and Assignment Help found in this week’sLearning Resources to search for books, encyclopedias and articlesrelated to coding, categories, and themes in qualitative research.
• Review your coding of your phone interview transcript. Identify twoor more codes that could be grouped into a category. Next, identifysamples of text you chose to define the codes.
• Do the same for one of the Scholars of Change videos that you coded.
• Consider if you can detect a theme emerging from your data analysisprocess. If you can identify a theme, name and describe it. If youcannot, consider why this is the case.

By Day 3

Post an explanation of the differences betweencodes, categories, and themes. Provide examples from your work. Use yourLearning Resources and the article you found to support yourexplanation.

Be sure to support yourmain post and response post with reference to the week’s LearningResources and other scholarly evidence in APA style.