HOW TO MANAGE AND DISPLAY QUALITATIVE DATA USING ‘FRAMEWORK’ AND MICROSOFT ® EXCEL
Veronica Swallow Senior Lecturer, BSc, MMEd Sci; RGN, RSCN, School of Health, Community & Education Studies, Northumbria University, Coach Lane Campus, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7XE
John Newton, BSc, MSc; PhD. Principal Lecturer, School of Arts & Social Sciences, Northumbria University.
Carolyn van Lottum, BEng, IT Applications Demonstrator, Learning Support Department, School of Health, Community & Education Studies, Northumbria University
Please address all correspondence to:
Veronica M Swallow
Senior Lecturer
Faculty of Health, Social Work and Education
Northumbria University
Coach Lane Campus, Room H011
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE7 7XA
England
e.mail; [email protected]
The importance of using qualitative research as a means of exploring health-related issues is increasingly recognised. However, this approach does generate large volumes of data to be analysed and has been criticised for being opaque (Murphy et al, 1998). The problem for the researcher is how to make visible the analytical process used and draw practice-relevant conclusions from this material. In this short report we describe a simple and rigorous method to manage and display qualitative data, using widely available computer software, which removes the need to acquire and learn more complicated, dedicated software.
Framework was developed in an applied research context as a systematic procedure for handling qualitative data in order to produce analyses with ‘potential for actionable outcomes ’ (Ritchie & Spencer 1994, p173).
There are five interconnected stages of the Framework technique. These are displayed below and are illustrated by examples drawn from a study conducted by one of us.
The spreadsheet shown in Figure 1 illustrates how Microsoft® Excel was used as a tool to display and manage data extracted from transcripts. Microsoft® Excel was chosen for this task because:
As a component of the Microsoft Office suite of applications it is readily available, and therefore the additional expense of purchasing dedicated analysis software was avoided.
As they were created in a commonly available package, the resulting spreadsheet files could be easily shared by or transferred between researchers.
Many of the skills previously acquired using Microsoft® Word were transferable to Microsoft® Excel. Only a few hours were required to learn the following additional skills specific to spreadsheets: entering or editing text; selecting cells; cell formatting and using print preview. The instructions for using these can be readily found in Excel’s on-screen help pages or manuals, which are available in any high-street bookstore. All of these save the considerable time investment necessary to master a dedicated software package.
In the study referred to, Swallow and Jacoby (2001) were interested in the quality of relationships between mothers and professionals in the management of vesicoureteric reflux (VUR) in children. Data from interviews with two groups of mothers – one group whose children were diagnosed pre-symptomatically and the other whose children were diagnosed post-symptomatically – were transcribed and following close readings of the texts (Stage 1 of Framework) a thematic framework (Stage 2) was developed. The coding frame was applied (manually) to the interview transcripts (Stage 3: ‘Indexing’) and then ‘lifted’ to the Excel spreadsheet designed using the ‘Help’ screens (Stage 4: ‘Charting’). At this point the two researchers worked independently, using the spreadsheets to compare the experiences of the two groups of mothers at different stages of the illness trajectory. Comparison was facilitated by colour coding of the pre- and post-symptomatically diagnosed groups and the researchers used Excel’s ‘Reviewing’ toolbars to exchange comments and memos attached to the spreadsheets. Analysis led to the finding that mothers whose babies had been diagnosed pre-symptomatically were better able to develop trusting relationships with professionals (Stage 5)
Using Excel spreadsheets in conjunction with the Framework technique provides an alternative to dedicated ‘code and retrieve’ qualitative software programmes. Excel is readily available, shareable, and easy to learn; and analyses using this technique have greater transparency than those using manual methods alone.
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Murphy E, Dingwall R, Greatbatch D, Parker S & Watson P (1998) Qualitative research methods in Health Technology Assessment: a review of the literature. Health Technology Assessment 2-NCCHTA, Southampton
Ritchie J & Spencer L (1994) Qualitative data analysis for applied policy research in Analysing Qualitative Data, Bryman A, Burgess RG (eds) Routledge, London & New York
Swallow V & Jacoby A (2001) Mothers’ evolving relationships with doctors and nurses during the chronic childhood illness trajectory. Journal of Advanced Nursing 36 (6) 755-764
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