6Дata analysis in qualitative research is defined as the process of systematically searching and arranging the interview transcripts, observation notes, or other non-textual materials that the researcher accumulates to increase the understanding of the phenomenon. 5 In contrast to quantitative research, which uses statistical methods, qualitative research focuses on the exploration of values, meanings, beliefs, thoughts, experiences, and feelings characteristic of the phenomenon under investigation.

It is not a technical exercise as in quantitative methods, but more of a dynamic, intuitive and creative process of inductive reasoning, thinking and theorising. Data analysis is the part of qualitative research that most distinctively differentiates from quantitative research methods. audio and visual recordings of patients, radiology film, and surgery videos), or other multimedia materials. In some cases, qualitative data can also include pictorial display, audio or video clips (e.g. These textual data could be interview transcripts, observation notes, diary entries, or medical and nursing records. Qualitative research yields mainly unstructured text-based data. In medical research, it is particularly useful, for example, in a health behaviour study whereby health or education policies can be effectively developed if reasons for behaviours are clearly understood when observed or investigated using qualitative methods. 1, 3 Most importantly, qualitative research relies on extensive interaction with the people being studied, and often allows researchers to uncover unexpected or unanticipated information, which is not possible in the quantitative methods. Qualitative methods explore the perspective and meaning of experiences, seek insight and identify the social structures or processes that explain peopleвЂќs behavioural meaning. The increasing popularity of qualitative methods is a result of failure of quantitative methods to provide insight into in-depth information about the attitudes, beliefs, motives, or behaviours of people, for example in understanding the emotions, perceptions and actions of people who suffer from a medical condition. 1 There has also been a corresponding rise in the reporting of qualitative research studies in medical and health related journals. Qualitative research has seen an increased popularity in the last two decades and is becoming widely accepted across a wide range of medical and health disciplines, including health services research, health technology assessment, nursing, and allied health.

Data analysis methods research