ABSTRACT
In this chapter the author considers when qualitative analysis is appropriate in pedagogical action research. The focus is on two main types of qualitative analysis that she has used in her own research studies. These are: thematic analysis which is specifically a qualitative analysis, and content analysis, which uses both quantitative and qualitative measures. The commonalties between the two methods of analyzing large amounts of text, most commonly interview transcripts, are discussed. The main difference is that thematic analysis is purely qualitative and provides a rich understanding of the research topic from the participant’s point of view; whereas content analysis takes a more formulaic approach to the data. It combines the search for a rich understanding of the participant’s experience together with the opportunity to carry out some basic quantitative techniques.
To illustrate how both methods can be carried out, the author uses an excerpt from one of her interview studies (Norton and Aiyegbayo, 2005). A ‘how to do it’ description is given of thematic analysis in a stage-by-stage procedure. A similar description is given of the content analysis process. The aim is to give readers sufficient knowledge and confidence to tackle either analysis using their own research data, and to encourage them to produce a pedagogical action research report that would be of publishable quality.
