Three Strategies for Qualitative Coding (Online)

This 3-hour course will be offered online only. Attendance is required – this course will not be recorded.

Descriptions in textbooks about classic approaches to coding qualitative data rarely coincide perfectly with the demands imposed by time and resources in the real world of practice. This short course reviews three approaches to coding qualitative data. The first two approaches – a purely inductive approach and an approach that combines deductively and inductively derived codes are more familiar than the third approach. The third approach is when a coding scheme is developed by mixed analysis that links qualitative and quantitative data on related constructs. Advantages and disadvantages of each approach are identified, as well as suggestions about how the coding process can be adapted to be less time intensive. In an interactive component, participants will experiment with different approaches to coding. The course will be useful to researchers engaged in qualitative research projects, as well as those who are interested in using an approach with mixed methods.