Abstract
Coding is the approach for correctly interpreting the information gathered through qualitative research to retrieve patterns and significant observations related to the study’s topic or hypothesis. The analysis of such data can be performed throughout such methodologies as discourse and conversation analysis, theory development, and content proceeding (Smith & Firth, 2011). Qualitative research is at risk of becoming less credible due to the biases, subjective analysis of the results, and significant scope of uncategorized data received from the participants (Roberts et al., 2019). The coding framework is the convenient strategy to make the study more rigorous as the process involves strict thematic separation, categories creation, and anonymized information allocation.
Coding
Selected posts include such themes to incorporate into the coding process as leadership experience in nursing, perception of continuing education, and reasons to pursue a DNP degree. Although the classmates’ posts also mention their personal information and backgrounds, they are not suitable for the framework and study as they cannot be compared or categorized. I selected the three themes because they are interconnected and allow a researcher to explore narrow topics to make valuable and credible conclusions. Smith and Firth (2011) claim that “the approach enables researchers to track decisions, which ensures links between the original data and findings are maintained and transparent” (p. 59). Coding will address questions of leadership in nursing (1), tendencies for the experienced professionals to continue education (2), and the need for a DNP degree in clinical practice (3).
The first classmate’s codes are: “night shift nursing supervisor at Veteran Hospital” (1), “have embraced the experience of leadership” (1). “Hoping to gain new insight into improving nursing practice” (2), “using my lifelong nursing skills and knowledge to engage and empower patients” (3). The second classmate’s codes: “various leadership experience” (1), “objective and benevolence in attribution to nursing transformation in the medical evolution” (2), “mobilize community is driving impetus for my motivation in the doctoral program” (3). The third post’s coding is: “Oncology Nurse Manager” (1), “second semester for DNP” (2,3). The fourth coding is: “the need to rise and do something instead of waiting for someone else to do it” (1), “three associate degrees, two bachelor’s degrees, and two Master’s degrees” (2). Furthermore, the classmate “relocated to pursue the Doctoral degree” (3). The last classmate’s coding: “career in CVICU” (1), “ continued my education and became an AGACNP-BC” (2), “it was natural for me to pursue a DNP degree.”
Analysis and Discussion
The introduction posts analyzed through the coding framework revealed that my classmates address the three themes selected for the hypothetical research. Indeed, they have leadership experience in nursing, perceive continuing education as essential for improving their practice and building careers, and consider pursuing the DNP degree as necessary for their clinical work. The coding data gathered in-vivo provides a deeper insight into the participants’ reasoning and makes research more transparent (Lochmiller, 2021).
A framework is necessary to accumulate and segment broad records because it allows retrieving the results based on the particular patterns noticed around the themes (Hackett & Strickland, 2018). The experience of exercising such an approach of analyzing qualitative data helped me improve the skill of seeing patterns and dividing information into different topics. Besides, I learned to separate the private records from ones that can be utilized for studying and therefore address the ethical part of researching.
References
Hackett, A., & Strickland, K. (2018). Using the framework approach to analyse qualitative data: a worked example. Nurse Researcher, 26(3). Web.
Lochmiller, C. R. (2021). Conducting thematic analysis with qualitative data. Qualitative Report, 26(6), 2029-2044. Web.
Roberts, K., Dowell, A., & Nie, J. B. (2019). Attempting rigour and replicability in thematic analysis of qualitative research data; a case study of codebook development. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 19(1), 1-8. Web.
Smith, J., & Firth, J. (2011). Qualitative data analysis: the framework approach. Nurse Researcher, 18(2), 52-62. Web.