A Guide for Qualitative Data Analysis in Social Sciences

Abstract

Ontological assumptions that social reality is standardized and predictable, or that it is constantly reconstructed through human interactions, affect the research topics choice of the researchers, how they formulate questions, and how they conduct research. The researcher's ontological perspective is reflected in these epistemological inquiries, which indicate how to obtain information about the nature of reality. These philosophical approaches serve as instruments for framing how the research process should progress, from the type of research questions to how data will be acquired and analyzed to data interpretation and provide a viewpoint on the social world. This research focuses on qualitative data analysis, which is one of the most difficult processes in qualitative research methodologies that aim to comprehend and interpret the social world in its natural setting and is critical to the research's success. It aims to develop a guide that will assist novice researchers who desire to conduct qualitative data analysis. To achieve this aim, the steps of qualitative data analysis are explained. Content analysis and thematic analysis which are the basic qualitative data analysis methodologies are described within the context of the disciplines on which they are founded. Qualitative data analysis methodologies, which are most used in the field of social sciences, are clarified by stressing the distinctions between the fundamental ideas.

A comparative analysis of the curriculum implemented in the village institutes

“…This involves an analytical method. It involves finding, selecting, interpreting, evaluating and synthesizing the data in the documents (Kıral, 2020). This analytical method applied in the research was made in the form of a comparative evaluation in the section on the 1943 and 1947 programs.…”

My Data Are Ready, How Do I Analyze Them: Navigating Data Analysis in Social Science Research

“…Qualitative analysis Qualitative data analysis is a crucial aspect of social science research, influenced by the researcher's ontological perspective (Toker, 2022). It involves interpreting words and actions, requiring creativity to condense and organize the data without losing meaning (Clarke, 1999).…”

“…Manian and Vadivel (2021) highlight the importance of data analytics in the modern era, particularly in fields like big data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. Toker (2022) emphasizes the significance of qualitative data analysis in understanding and interpreting the social world, providing a guide for novice researchers. With the advent of new technologies and tools for data collection, researchers have access to unprecedented amounts of data.…”