Analysis Strategies
This is where people get stuck. They wonder what to do with all those transcripts, tapes, and notes. It can be overwhelming. We suggest beginning analysts use the long-table approach. It is a time-tested method and breaks down the process into manageable chunks.
Long-Table Approach
The long-table approach is a low-technology option that has been used in countless analysis projects. It allows the analyst to identify themes and categorize results. It isn't an elegant or sophisticated-looking strategy, but it works. This is what you need:
* A room where you can spread out your work and it can remain undisturbed until you are done with analysis. It helps to have a long table(s). Lots of floor space will substitute nicely, if you don't mind bending down and you can keep the kids and dogs out of the area. Walls work too if you don't mind taping things to them.
* Transcripts
* Scissors
* Colored marking pens
* Colored paper for copying the transcripts
* Flip chart or newsprint paper
You are going to cut the transcripts apart. But once they are cut into individual quotes, you will also want to know where the quote came from originally. Here are a couple of tips that can help you identify where quotes came from after your transcripts are cut into hundreds of little pieces.
Tip 1: Number each line of each transcript. Most word-processing software has a feature that will do this for you. The line numbers will help you quickly locate a quote within a transcript.
Tip 2: Print transcripts on different colors of paper, thereby color coding the transcripts by audience type, category, and so on (e.g., student groups on blue, parent groups on green, etc.). Or run a blue marking pen down the left margin of each page of student groups and a green marker down the left margin of each page of the parent transcripts. (Or if you want to be even more systematic, give the first student group one blue line, the second two blue lines, and the third three blue lines. That way, you can not only tell student groups from the parent groups, but you can also tell which student group it came from.) This helps you know where quotes came from after you have cut the transcripts apart.

Make two hard copies of each transcript, one to cut up (the working transcript) and one that stays intact. Put the transcripts that are to stay intact in your files.
Arrange the working transcripts in a reasonable order. It could be in the sequence in which the groups were conducted, but more likely, it will be by categories of participants or by some demographic screening characteristics of participants. For example, if you did three groups with students, three groups with parents, and three groups with teachers, you would work with all three transcripts of one kind (e.g., students) before moving to the next. This arrangement helps you be alert to changes that may be occurring from one type of audience group to another.
Before cutting, do a quick reading of all transcripts. This quick reading is just to remind you of the whole scope and to refresh your memory of what was said in the groups.
Place the flip chart or newsprint paper on long tables, on the floor, or on the walls. Write one of the focus group questions to be analyzed on the top of each page of newsprint. If you had ten questions to analyze, you now have ten pages of newsprint surrounding you. You may also want to divide the newsprint page into categories to represent different types of focus group participants. For example, on one part of the page you could place comments from student focus groups, in another location you could place comments from parent focus groups, and in a third section you could place comments from teacher focus groups.
Now it's time to begin the cutting and categorizing.
Read each quote and answer these questions:
Point 1. Did the participant answer the question that was asked?
- IF YES go to Point 3.
- DON'T KNOW set it aside and review it later.
- IF NO go to Point 2.
(If you are undecided or unclear about any answers, then take the conservative approach and save the comments and review them later.)
Point 2. Does the comment answer a different question in the focus group?
- IF YES move it to appropriate question.
- IF NO go to Point 3.
(Caution: Don't assume that answers will follow the questions. Occasionally, participants will provide answers to questions asked earlier or to questions that have not yet been asked. When this occurs, move the comment to the appropriate location.)
Point 3. Does the comment say something of importance about the topic?
- IF YES tape it to the newsprint under the appropriate question.
- IF NO set it aside.
Tip: Don't use a lot of tape because you will want to move the quotes around later.
Point 4. Is it like something that has been said earlier?
- IF YES start grouping like quotes together. You are basically making piles (categories)* of like things.
- IF NO start a separate pile.
You are constantly comparing and making decisions. Is this similar to or different from other things?
Soon the newsprint page is filling up with participant quotes. Not everything necessarily fits neatly into categories. In focus groups, people regularly get off topic or expand in detail on an aspect of minimal importance to the study. There's a good chance that you won't use this information, and you will want to set it aside to clear the clutter, but don't toss these out. Instead, create storage areas so you can later review these quotes again. You might rearrange categories or create new categories and want to review these unused quotes to see if they fit your new categories. Sometimes the storage area is a box in the middle of the room with unused quotes.
After you've completed cutting up all the transcripts, you're ready to begin analysis of specific questions. Make sure you have all the quotes that say similar things together. Rearrange until you're satisfied. You may want to talk with someone else about how you are categorizing certain things. Or you may want to show them. When you finish putting quotes into categories, you are ready for the next step.
Go back to each newsprint page and write a descriptive summary of what each type of group said in response to the question. Write a description of what students said in response to the question. Then write a summary for the parents and then the teachers. Again, you are comparing and contrasting. How are they similar? How are they different? At this point, just describe what was said. Later you may want to go further and offer an interpretation of what it means or a recommendation.
During this process, you will need to decide how much weight or emphasis to give comments or themes. We look at several factors:
Frequency. Although we pay attention to how frequently something is said, it is a huge mistake to assume that what is said most frequently is most important. Sometimes a really key insight might have been said only once in a series of groups. You have to know enough about what you are studying to spot a gem when it comes along.
Specificity. Typically, we give more emphasis to comments that are specific-that provide detail. For example, if we were asking what people dislike about flying, we would give more weight to a quote that specifically described a time when that person lost his or her bags, what he or she did, and what happened than to a comment of "Oh, I hate it when they lose your bags."
Emotion. Also, we typically give more weight to comments or themes in which participants show emotion, enthusiasm, passion, or intensity in their answers.
Extensiveness. Frequency and extensiveness are related but different. Extensiveness is how many different people said something. Frequency is how many times something is said. We have had groups in which one person kept returning to the same theme. Although the theme was mentioned a fair amount, it was brought up by only one person. We pay attention to extensiveness.
When you are done writing a descriptive summary for each of the questions, look across the questions to see what themes cut across the questions. Are there things that come up repeatedly? If so, consider structuring your written report around these themes rather than around the questions. Or perhaps some questions can be combined.
Now take a break. Get away from the data for a couple of days. This is a chance to refocus your attention on the big picture. What prompted the study? Who's going to use the results, and have you located the information that will be helpful? How can you frame this information so it best conveys what participants shared? It's easy to get sidetracked by fascinating tidbits of minor importance. After a few days, go back to conclude the analysis.
When we write a report, we structure it around the questions or the themes. Then we use the summaries we wrote earlier to describe what was said about the question or the theme. If we are writing a narrative report, we then select quotes from those categories that illustrate what was said. The quotes are used as evidence. We look for quotes that capture the essence of what was said. They give the reader an idea of how the participants talked. We typically use about three quotes per category or theme.
When we have completed this level of analysis, then we may go on to include our interpretations or recommendations. However, we are careful to keep these sections separate from the findings section that we just completed through the process outlined above.
The long-table approach has been around a long time, but it is still effective. Quite a number of variations are possible, but the core elements are basically cutting, sorting, and arranging through comparing and contrasting.
We recommend that people who are doing their first qualitative analysis project use this process. It is systematic. It breaks the job down into doable chunks. It helps make analysis a visual process. Once you have mastered this approach to analysis, you have a better idea of how to adapt the process to meet the needs of other efforts.
Using the Computer to Help Manage the Data
Computers have been used in a variety of ways in focus group analysis. We are aware of three distinct approaches, but likely more exist. For each approach, it is assumed that you have transcripts.
One approach is simply using the word processor as another way to cut and paste. Essentially, it is using the computer to perform the long-table analysis described earlier. When used in this way, give thought to the need for tracing the source of each quote. It's easy to block and paste quotes together and then lose sight of where they came from. Sometimes knowing the source is critical. This can be solved by developing a coding system that allows you to identify each quote by group and/or participant.
A second approach is to go beyond cutting and pasting functions of word-processing programs and begin to code quotes. A number of researchers have been creative with the use of sorting, coding, and macros. Essentially, they use the capabilities of software they already use to analyze the results. This system may not be as elegant as the specialized software, but it has benefit because the researchers are already familiar with the software.
The third approach is to use the specially developed software that is designed for qualitative analysis. Two popular programs are The Ethnograph and NUD*IST. These programs open the doors for analysis possibilities that are not reasonable with other strategies. For example, these programs allow you to "nest" codes. This means that you might have a shorter quote within a longer quote, and each one can be coded differently. Earlier procedures tended to limit you to placing quotes in one location, but with these special computer programs, there is no limit. Or you might want to examine comments from participants with certain demographic characteristics that you've coded into your computer. It can be done with other analysis strategies, but it is difficult and awkward.
The advantage of these specially developed computer programs is that they help manage large sets of text. It helps an analyst look very carefully at the data. As a result, these programs are popular in academic settings, particularly graduate research. The downside is the time needed to learn and operate the program. Also, they provide a level of analysis not always needed.
Rapid Approach
Sometimes speed is a critical concern. Perhaps a decision is about to be made and rapid results are critical. Caution is always advised when speed is a driving force. When speed is urgent, veteran moderators often use several strategies, such as the following:
* Tightly focus the study
* Carefully develop the questions to foster fast analysis
* Ask fewer questions than normal
* Use flip charts to capture comments
* Give oral summaries at the end of the groups
* Use assistant moderators to provide verification
Sound Approach
This is an innovative approach that is made possible by equipment and software that allow for digitally recording the focus group. With specialized software (Sound Forge is an example), the moderator can record sound on the laptop computer and mark certain segments that show usefulness for later analysis. Then the researcher can quickly go back over the transcript, find the marker, locate the actual quote, and play back the quote. Later the quotes can be clustered, just as you would cluster written quotes, and you can embed the actual comments on reports that are prepared on CD disks. Note the article by Pierre Belisle (1998, p. 18) in Quirk's Marketing Research Review.