QUALITATIVE DATA
Approaches to Analyzing and Reporting Interview and
Focus Group Findings
Agenda
• Approaches to analysis• Emergent versus top-down themes
• Managing data using Excel
• Reporting qualitative findings• General tips
• Alternative formats
Youth Development Executives of King County
(YDEKC) is a coalition of youth-serving organizations
working to advance the youth development field in
order to improve outcomes for young people.
Representing the executive leadership of King County
based youth serving organizations, YDEKC is uniquely
positioned to advocate for its members with the systems
(school districts, governments, the public) that they intersect
with; to develop field level knowledge about best
practices in youth development; and to build leadership
strength in the non-profit youth serving sector.
Who We Are
Plan Collect Reflect
Qualitative Data Sources
• Survey comments
• Focus groups
• Interviews
Data Analysis Approaches
• Organize or cluster information by themes
• Emergent Themes
• Cluster or themes determined by what appears in the
comments or responses
• Pre-determined or Top Down Themes
• Defined by the program logic model or goals
• (Add categories if unexpected themes emerge)
• Some comments may fit with multiple themes
Example: Emergent Themes• The tutors are very mature and good people.
• The program helps me with persistence; it helps you focus.
• My tutor was really cool
• I don’t like to put my friends down. I see that they are struggling and I want to
help them and I do.
• I find the tutors as true friends because they treat me like I was their brother.
• Everyone helps when someone doesn’t know what to do.
• It teaches me discipline because I have to show every day and practice at
home.
• It has helped me to concentrate during school
• I want them to know how to do things that I know because then they won’t be
left out and can have fun.
Example: Emergent Themes• The tutors are very mature and good people.
• The program helps me with persistence; it helps you focus.
• My tutor was really cool
• I don’t like to put my friends down. I see that they are struggling and I want to
help them and I do.
• I find the tutors as true friends because they treat me like I was their
brother.
• Everyone helps when someone doesn’t know what to do.
• It teaches me discipline because I have to show up every day and practice
at home..
• It taught me how to concentrate during school
• I want to help them know how to do things that I know because then they
won’t be left out and can have fun.
Example: Emergent ThemesTUTOR QUALITY
• The tutors are very mature and good people.
• My tutor was really cool.
• I find the tutors as true friends because they treat me like I was their brother.
PRACTICING MENTORSHIP
• I don’t like to put my friends down. I see that they are struggling and I want to help
them and I do.
• Everyone helps when someone doesn’t know what to do.
• I want to help them know how to do things that I know because then they won’t be left
out and can have fun.
TRANSFER OUTCOMES: PERSEVERENCE
• The program helps me with persistence; it helps you focus.
• It teaches me discipline because I have to show every day and practice at home.
• It taught me how to concentrate during school.
Example: Predetermined Themes
• Sense of Belonging
• Interpersonal Skills
• Critical Thinking Skills
Example: Predetermined Themes (1 of 2)
• I really value the time put into projects and like-mindedness of my fellow
classmates, and appreciate the empathy and support from my mentors
• People skills. Collaborations, problem solving, and team work were all
essential in this project. Seeing how great it can be when people work
positively off each other and how negative it is when people don't work
together well was an invaluable lesson.
• My thinking process has changed - I am more analytically minded and
critical.
• The freedom to create what we want with the complete support and
guidance of mentors
• I feel like I'm accomplishing something and that has made my whole
outlook on the way things work changed. Instead of looking at a big
project and deeming it impossible I am able to look at a big project and
find a place to start. It helps to be more efficient and a little bolder when
working on something.
Example: Predetermined Themes (2 of 2)
• I've met many different people and had eye opening experiences. In a
broader sense I've learned how to better collaborate with people and
problem solve. Working through issues within the group as well as
working with those in other fields were great experiences.
• It is hard to find something to complain about, as everything that was
frustrating or exhausting was all very important for the creation of the
final project.
• My social skills have improved dramatically.
• The people I get to work with are absolutely amazing. I value the
differences in opinion and styles and outlooks. I appreciate the
diversity of the class, it covers so many things but relates them all to
each other and shows how all of the process is inter-connected
Example: Predetermined Themes
SENSE OF BELONGING
• I really value the time put into projects and like-mindedness of my fellow classmates, and appreciate the empathy and support from my mentors
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
• People skills. Collaborations, problem solving, and team work were all essential in this project. Seeing how great it can be when people work positively off each other and how negative it is when people don't work together well was an invaluable lesson.
CRITICAL THINKING
• My thinking process has changed - I am more analytically minded and critical.
Data Analysis Approaches
Pros Cons
Emergent
• Good if you’re not sure
what the comments will
address
• Allows unexpected themes
to emerge
• Time-consuming
• Leaves more room
for interpretation
Pre-
Determined
or
Top-down
• Helps to identify alignment
with a Logic Model or
program goals
• Can be a more efficient
way to answer specific
evaluation questions
• Potential to miss
important themes
Sorting Comments in Excel | top-down
themescomments
Comments fit
in more than 1
theme
Sorting Comments in Excel | emergentthemes
comments
Could place the same
comment in multiple columns
Reporting
• Use statements to make the finding explicit
• Use exemplar comments to provide “evidence” or “data.”
• Use at least one exemplar comments for each theme
• Label who made the comment (grade, gender, program, etc.)
• Order themes from strongest/most common to least
• You can make a pie or bar chart that shows frequency of
themes, if that makes sense
• BUT resist the urge to quantify qualitative findings
Alternative Report Format: Displaying Data Visually
Limitations:
• Difficult to interpret
• Nearly impossible to translate to action
However, can be a good conversation starter
Tips for Word Clouds
• Clean up text using “find and replace”
• Take out prepositions and words such as “and” and “the”
• Standardize different versions of the same word, such as
changing innovate, innovation and innovative all to “innovate”
• When multiple words combine to mean one thing, merge them
into one word by removing the period
• Melinda Gates = MelindaGates
• Job Skills =JobSkills
• Wordle, Tagxedo Tagul, WordItOut
Example: Capturing Data Visually
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