Qualitative_data_analysis

WHAT IS QUALITATIVE DATA? 13
contemporary culture; the art historian Michael Baxandall (1974) comments that ‘a
painting is the deposit of a social relationship’. Qualitative data embraces an
enormously rich spectrum of cultural and social artefacts.
What do these different kinds of data have in common? They all convey meaningful
information in a form other than numbers. However, note that numbers too
sometimes convey only meanings, as, for example, when we refer to the numbers on
football jerseys, car number plates, or the box numbers in personal ads. It would be
absurd to treat these numbers as numerical data, to be added, subtracted or
otherwise subject to mathematical manipulation. But it is not always so easy to
distinguish between the use of number as a descriptor of quality and its use as a
measure of quantity. This is particularly true where, for convenience in
manipulating data, we use numbers as names. It is then all too easy to forget that
the numbers are only names, and proceed as if they ‘meant’ more than they do.
Often, for example, response categories in an interview are coded by number. This
may be convenient for the analysis. But if we forget that these numbers are really
just names, we may analyse them as though they conveyed more information than
they actually do. In distinguishing between quantitative and qualitative data in terms
of numbers and meanings, we have to avoid the fallacy of treating numbers as
numbers where they are used only to convey meaning.
By comparison with numbers, meanings may seem shifty and unreliable. But
often they may also be more important, more illuminating and more fun. If I am a
boringly meticulous jogger, I may use a pedometer to measure the distance I jog, a
watch to measure my time, and the scales afterwards to measure my weight. For
each concept—distance, time, weight—we can measure behaviour in terms of
standard units—yards, minutes and pounds: ‘I jog 3,476 yards every day, in 20
minutes on average, and I hope to lose 5lb after a month’. However, I happen to
know that with jogging this obsession with quantitative measurement is
counterproductive: it adds stress and reduces enjoyment. I also know that by
replacing fat with muscle, I am liable to gain rather than lose weight! Therefore, I
prefer to measure my jogging in qualitative terms: ‘I jog until I am tired out. By the
end of the month I hope I’ll feel fitter.’ Short of conducting some medical tests,
there are no quantitative measures in terms of which to quantify my exhaustion, or
my fitness. But I can describe my exhaustion, and I can compare how much fitter I
feel now than before I began to jog. Although I could use quantitative measures
(e.g. my pulse rate) as a way of assessing my fitness, these may not provide a very
meaningful assessment of how fit I feel.
It would be wrong to assume that quantitative data must take precedence over
qualitative data simply because it involves numbers. Take the ever topical question
of weight watching. There are various ways we can weight watch. We might use the
scales and measure how many kilos or pounds we weigh. This is a quantitative