Qualitative Treatment

Qualitative Treatment or analysis of qualitative data has a usual general process.  I quote from UST Professor, Dr. De Guzman in the use of cool and warm analysis, which begins the process.  For a reference to Dr. De Guzman here's a link.

But first a few preliminaries:

Thematizing - the process of looking for common themes.  This can be done on transcribed interviews, transcribed news or speeches, even primary written materials such as autobiographies, laws, even inscriptions (in tombs 😁).  

Themes - common ideas across objects being studied.  These themes depend on your design.  

Example 1, a case study on the success of a city in implementing COVID19 policies can have themes in the form of processes (consultation, council, consolidation, cooperation).  

Example 2, A study on networks will have either relationship themes (resource relationship, communicative relationship, open relationship), or 

Example 3, network component concepts (node, bottleneck, line).

Codes - any word that you can use to help your mind in thematizing data.  There are open codes and close codes.  Open codes mean that you create codes as you read the data.  Closed codes are based on your framework.  You sometimes do this when you do your readings and you use different colors to highlight.  Here, you also associate the highlights to specific ideas - the codes.

Let's proceed to the process of treatment

Cool Analysis

This is the beginning of any data treatment.  You have your transcribed data.  You read them, and you note words, phrases, and sentences.  You highlight, underline, and note the margins.  Note similarities of ideas, and recurring ideas.  You do this to all the data.  And you can start even if you're not yet done with the data gathering.  Since each transcription will require its own cool treatment.  When you're done reading and highlighting, best to redo to make sure you've covered all of the document, and even to make corrections to your notations.

Warm Analysis  

Review your highlights and notations.  As you do, please apply the though process of your framework and chosen analysis design.

Notice the commonality of ideas in each document and across them.  Reflect and evaluate how these ideas (highlighted words, phrases, statements) relate to the concepts in your framework.  It is best to approach this methodically.  Because if you don't it lessens the validity of your qualitative work.  it becomes questionable to quantitative scientists who would label your work with: unscientific, anecdotal, cherry-picked.

And the method can either be in the basic forms of tables/matrix, or in the form of a dendrogram.

In table or matrix form, you tabulate the quotes that you highlighted.

Picture 1 - Sample Thematic Analysis Table or Matrix

   

Note in Picture 1 above.  Column A is source.  That means I classified the transcriptions.  My interviews were from model barangays and non performing barangays.

Column B is the quote that I identified during cool analysis.  Column C are Main Themes.  And Column D are Sub Themes,  

Themes and Sub Themes form a relationship.  You will notice that in your analysis, several quotes belong under one category (main theme), you will also notice that the quotes in this category can also be divided into sub categories (sub theme).  The reverse can also be true.  You will notice that a group of quotes (sub themes) can fall under a bigger category (main theme).

Simulacra Creation

Simulacrum (singular), from the word simulation.  If the conceptual framework is a diagram of an idea. simulacra are diagrams of the real world.  When you began your thesis, you only had ideas of what is happening in your target barangay, city, institution, etc.  You had a theory, and you framed it.

Now that you've gone to the field, you now have a clearer picture of how society, politics goes on.  And you are presenting this discovery to the academic community.  In the case of my discipline, the political science community.  You create a simulacrum or several simulacra.  Another word for simulacrum is model.  If successful, YOUR diagram will eventually become the next framework for the future.  Check out example 1 above.  Notice they all begin with the same letters.  That's a strategy in picking words for codes and themes.  Eventually, you end up with: the three c's of LGU Covid Governance 💀.

Based on Picture 1 above, I was able to make two simulacra.  Since it's a comparative study.  One simulacrum for a model barangay, and one for non performing.  Your simulacrum can be a new diagram, or it can be a modification of your conceptual framework.  Always mention what you did as you write Chapter 4.

Picture 2 - Simulacrum of Performing Barangay in Effective Solid Waste Management

Picture 3 - Simulacrum of Performing Barangay in Effective Solid Waste Management

In quantitative theses, the presentation of data in Chapter 4 is through graphs and charts.  In a qualitative one, you show the diagram and discuss it in full.  Adding the quotes to the discussion as supporting proofs.  Notice this in Picture 4.  All these pictures are snippets of my article to be published this month.

Picture 4 - Presentation of Data, Discussion, Diagram, Quotes

Validation

Once done, it's best to have the codes, themes, sub themes, and the diagram validated by peers, especially by your adviser, or an expert on the topic.  it adds to the science of qualitative analysis.