Thread by @SarahJTracy

Many beginning #qualitative researchers are overly concerned that they are doing analysis "wrong". Here are some activities that can help people to think qualitatively & practice analysis in playful ways.
These and other techniques will be expanded in my 3rd edition qual book.

1. Using 10-15 items from your own personal library (of books, music, movies, recipes), sort them into a set number of categories and name them. Then discuss what themes you chose and why you chose them.

Re-categorize them into another set of categories. Do this as many times as possible with the goal of seeing how many kinds of categories you might have (for example, chronological categories, genre, how much you like them, their societal popularity, etc.).

2 Check out Waite (2011) on using a deck of cards to understand analysis. Several key steps are: Sort a deck of cards (e.g., a data set); provide an explanation for why you sorted them this way (usually difficult because our common sense is tacit); (cont) journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.117…

(cont from above) then sort the deck in a new and way and explain the rationale (usually easier because the theorizing is more explicit) ; figure out what to do with the jokers and blanks (similar to data outliers).

3 Pose a simple question to a group of people who can respond w/ text or images. Then, use an online digital collaboration platform like Miro.com as a virtual whiteboard to work through the sorting process of how different aspects of texts or images can be grouped.

Note: These are starting points that especially helpful for newbies. They are not ending points. Good qualitative research requires interpretation, theorizing, and creativity. Said another way, please don't take these activities to suggest that sorting = analysis.