Analysis
Making sense of qualitative and quantitative data to produce clear, useful findings.
Qualitative analysis
Qualitative analysis can help explore experiences, perspectives, meanings and patterns within interviews, focus groups, open-text responses and other textual material. The aim is to move beyond description and identify themes, differences and relationships within the data, while remaining grounded in participants’ accounts and the context in which they were produced.
Methods of qualitative analysis include:
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thematic analysis
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qualitative content analysis
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discourse analysis
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grounded theory analysis
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framework analysis
The scope and timescale of qualitative analysis will depend on the method, volume and complexity of the data, and the level of collaboration required within the research team. Where appropriate, analysis can include iterative coding, development and refinement of themes or categories, and discussion of emerging interpretations with project researchers.
Quantitative analysis
Quantitative analysis can be used to summarise data, explore patterns and relationships, compare groups, and examine whether observed differences are likely to be meaningful. Descriptive statistics help show what is happening within a dataset — for example, typical scores, ranges, frequencies or distributions — while inferential statistics can be used to explore whether differences, associations or relationships are statistically significant.
Methods of quantitative analysis include:
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descriptive statistics
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frequencies and distributions
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cross-tabulations
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correlations
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t-tests
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non-parametric tests
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group comparisons
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tests of reliability and validity
Mixed-method analysis
Where a project includes both qualitative and quantitative data, the different strands can be analysed separately and then integrated to build a fuller picture of the findings. This can help explain not only what is happening, but also why, allowing statistical patterns to be interpreted alongside people’s experiences and perspectives. It can also highlight where different forms of evidence converge, complement one another or point to different interpretations.