Qualitative Data Analysis

Pat Bazeley is Director of Research Support P/L and Adjunct Professor in the Translational Research and Social Innovation Centre at Western Sydney University. Since graduating in psychology, she has worked in community development, as an evaluation researcher, and in academic research development. For almost 30 years Pat has been providing research training and project consulting to academics, graduate students and practitioners representing a wide range of disciplines across Australia and internationally. Her particular expertise is in helping researchers to make sense of qualitative, survey, and mixed methods data, and to use computer programs for management and analysis of data. Pat’s research has focused on qualitative and mixed methods data analysis, the development and performance of researchers, and the wellbeing of older women. She has published books, chapters, and articles on mixed methods and qualitative data analysis. She serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Mixed Methods Research and was 2015–2016 President of the Mixed Methods International Research Association.

Pat Bazeley’s book is suitable for both novice and experienced researchers who are serious about undertaking rigorous qualitative analysis. It succeeds in balancing academic considerations with the practicalities of doing qualitative data analysis. The entire text is prescribed reading for all my senior students who are tackling qualitative research.

• Part I: Laying the foundations for analysisChapter 1: Thinking and working qualitativelyChapter 2: Foundations for thinking and working qualitativelyChapter 3: Design that supports analysisChapter 4: Managing and preparing data for analysisPart II: Fundamentals of analysis: working with dataChapter 5: Read, reflect, and connect: initial explorations of dataChapter 6: Coding as an analytic strategyChapter 7: Tools to manage the coding processChapter 8: Codes, themes, and descriptive writingChapter 9: Working with cases to build understanding and explanationChapter 10: Learning from stories, accounts, and conversationsChapter 11: Analysing visual dataChapter 12: Comparative analyses using coded dataPart III: Extending analysis beyond codes and themesChapter 13: Exploring, seeing, and investigating connections in dataChapter 14: Elaborating concepts, developing theoryChapter 15: Realising coherent understandingChapter 16: Defending and extending: issues of quality and significance