INITIAL CODING OF INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS

Posted: March 1st, 2023

INITIAL CODING OF TRANSCRIPT #1 Overview

Now that you have interviewed a peer and have transcribed the interview, what next? How do you answer your research questions based on the data you have collected when the data are many pages of transcriptions? Just like the quantitative researcher uses raw numeral data to find statistical relationships, the qualitative researcher must use an analysis method in order to make sense of all of the transcripts and other qualitative data that is gathered. In order to begin analyzing qualitative data, a reasercher uses a process called coding to reduce hundreds of pages of transcriptions into codes that will help them to make sense of the data. The codes emerging from the data will then, in turn, be used to determine the themes. These themes will be used to help answer the research questions that are being investigated in the research.

So, what is a code? A code is a word or label that is used to describe a segment of text. This segment is typically a line or a sentence. The assigning of codes to the data will help you to start to categorize and label similar thoughts and ideas that were presented in the raw data and reduce the data down to manageable units. Once the data is manageable, the qualitative researcher can then analyze these codes (this may take several processes) to generate themes.

For example, you may have an interview question, “What is your favorite type of pet and why?

From the answers of the people you interview, you may derive codes such as:

Participant Quote

Code

Dogs because they are man’s best friend.

Comfort

Cats because they are the least scary companions.

Comfort

Snakes because they feel slimy.

Strange

Fish because they are quiet.

Unintrusive

What codes would you assign to what this interviewee said about her son?

“My son had a great experience being in the high school band. He was always a shy boy, but when he played the trumpet, it was like he was another kid. He loved to perform in front of people. He loved solos! I always hated speaking in front of people, so I don’t know where he got that from. He even won several band competitions with his trumpet. He was so excited when he made first-chair as a junior in high school. He even won a college scholarship and is now a music major at Atlantic University.”

What codes would you assign to the above quote from a proud mom? Did you list codes such as positive expereince, transformational, performance, positive self-esteem? What other codes can you derive from this quote? Keep in mind that most codes will not be a word used in the sentence, but the resaerchers interpretation of the most important word that captures the sentence.

Instructions

1.Open the Word document of the transcription of your first interview that you completed in Module 5: Week 5. (This is the transcription that you completed manually.)

2.Next, consdier the responses sentence by sentence.

3.Beside each sentence, write one or two code words based on that sentence in bold letters. A technique might be to use margin comments in MS word while highlighting complete sentences.

4.Include a title page and submit by 11:59 on Sunday Module 6: Week 6.

Example:

Title

1.My son had a great experience being in the high school band. Positive experience, band

2.He was always a shy boy, but when he played the trumpet, it was like he was another kid. Positive self-esteem

3.He loved to perform in front of people. Performance, positive self-esteem

4.He loved solos! Positive self-esteem, performance

5.I always hated speaking in front of people, so I don’t know where he got that fr

6.He even won several band competitions with his trumpet. Positive experience, success, band

7.He was so excited when he made first-chair as a junior in high school. Positive experience, success, band

8.He even won a college scholarship and is now a music major at Atlantic University. Success, college

INITIAL CODING OF INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS
An Essential Step in Qualitative Data Analysis
Qualitative research relies heavily on in-depth interviews and focus groups to gather rich narratives and explore participants’ lived experiences. However, analyzing the large volumes of text-based data that result can seem daunting. Initial or open coding is a crucial first step for making sense of interview transcripts and reducing them into more manageable themes. This article will outline the coding process and provide examples to illustrate how it works.
Coding involves reviewing interview transcripts line-by-line and assigning brief yet descriptive labels to chunks of text based on their meaning or content (Saldana, 2016). These labels, or “codes,” serve as indexing tags that allow researchers to quickly retrieve related excerpts from across multiple interviews. Codes are generally a word or short phrase taken from the text itself or reflecting the researcher’s interpretation.
For example, consider this quote from a participant discussing their experience with a medical condition:
“The diagnosis was really scary at first. I didn’t know what was wrong with me or if it would get better. It took a long time to adjust.”
Potential codes for this excerpt could include “fear of the unknown,” “adjustment period,” and “diagnosis experience.”
Coding is an iterative process that involves multiple rounds of analysis. After an initial pass, codes may be refined, combined, separated into subcodes, or reorganized into a codebook with definitions (DeCuir-Gunby et al., 2011). Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software like NVivo can help manage the coding process when working with numerous interviews.
Once all interviews are coded, the researcher analyzes codes for relationships and patterns, grouping similar ones under overarching themes. For instance, the codes above could potentially fall under a higher-level theme of “emotional impact of diagnosis.” Identifying themes allows conclusions to start emerging regarding the central research questions.
To illustrate coding in practice, consider this longer quote from a mother discussing her son’s experience in high school band:
“My son had a great experience being in the high school band. He was always a shy boy, but when he played the trumpet, it was like he was another kid. He loved to perform in front of people. He loved solos! I always hated speaking in front of people, so I don’t know where he got that from. He even won several band competitions with his trumpet. He was so excited when he made first-chair as a junior in high school. He even won a college scholarship and is now a music major at Atlantic University.”
Potential codes for this passage could include: “positive experience,” “confidence,” “performance,” “success,” and “skill development.”
In conclusion, initial coding represents the critical first step in analyzing qualitative interview data by reducing it into analyzable units. Though time-intensive, the structured and systematic process of coding allows key themes to emerge from large amounts of narrative text. Mastering these techniques equips researchers to make meaningful interpretations from their qualitative findings.
DeCuir-Gunby, J. T., Marshall, P. L., & McCulloch, A. W. (2011). Developing and using a codebook for the analysis of interview data: An example from a professional development research project. Field Methods, 23(2), 136–155.
Saldana, J. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.