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Qualitative Coding

Tagging research notes and quotes with themes, so patterns can be found and checked.

What is Qualitative Coding?

Tagging research notes and quotes with themes, so patterns can be found and checked.

What you learn

Every theme should trace back to what people actually said.

When it helps

research material is too scattered to compare, or themes can’t be traced to evidence.

Use it at work

  1. Read the material and tag passages with short codes.
  2. Group the codes into themes.
  3. Link each theme to its quotes and the people who said them.
  4. Keep and report the quotes that disagree.

Your output

For each theme in your next report, link the quotes behind it and note any that disagree.

Watch for

Writing themes from memory or overall impressions.

Related practices

Sources

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