NNLM Evaluation Office

EvalBasics 4: Data Analysis for Program Evaluation

Qualitative Methods: Sample Coding Process

Table 1

Coder 1’s Themes (shared with 2) / Coder 2’s Themes (shared with 1)
Creating a handout for clients’ self-care / Preparing handouts
Finding information for own family / Finding info for family member
Helping clients cope with medical expense / Finding affordable health care
Helping clients to find drug information:
  • efficacy information about drugs/supplements
  • adverse effect information about drugs/supplements
  • cost information about drugs/supplements
/ Finding information about drugs:
  • OTC medications
  • Prescription drugs
  • Affordable medications

Providing descriptive information about disease/condition / Providing information about diseases
Providing information about prevention or management of disease/conditions / Managing health issues
Providing information about normal lab values / Providing information about medical tests
Coder 1’s Themes (different from 2) / Coder 2’s Themes (different from 1)
Supporting clients in their caregiver roles
Helping clients find a health care provider
Helping clients make health care decisions
Helping clients remember MedlinePlus (M+)
Using health info to ease anxiety
Teaching clients about online health resources
Promoting MedlinePlus to clients
Finding health information about topics in the media
Helping clients prepare for medical appointments
Preparing presentations
Researching alternative treatments

Revised: 4/11/17Page 1 of 4

NNLM Evaluation Office

EvalBasics 4: Data Analysis for Program Evaluation

Table 2

Themes / Broader Themes / Codes
Helping clients cope with medical expense
Finding affordable medications
Finding affordable health care / Finding affordable care
(stories 1,7) / Affordable
Using health info to ease anxiety
Helping clients prepare for medical appointments
Helping clients find a health care provider
Helping clients make health care decisions
Creating a handout for clients’ self-care / Managing and preventing health issues
(stories 3,5,6, 8, 9, 11) / Wellness
Finding info for family members
Supporting clients in their caregiver roles / Managing family’s health
(stories 4,10) / Family
Preparing presentations
Promoting M+ to clients
Teaching clients about online health resources
Helping clients remember MedlinePlus
Finding health information about topics in the media / Promoting use of consumer health resources
(stories 2,8, 10, 11) / Promote
Finding information about OTC medications
Finding information about prescription drugs
Helping clients to find efficacy information about drugs/supplements
Providing adverse effect information about drugs/supplements
Providing cost information about drugs/supplements / Researching drug information
(stories 1,9, 11,12) / Drugs
Providing descriptive information about disease/condition
Providing information about normal lab values
Providing information about medical tests / Understanding illnesses and treatments
(stories 3, 4, 5, 6, 10) / Health Issues
Theme / Code / Definition / Examples (give a combination of typical and notable examples)
Finding affordable care / Affordable / The hair stylists used MedlinePlus to find affordable drugs and health care for their clients / For example, one hair stylist helped her client find a cheaper alternative to a drug her doctor had prescribed. Another helped a client find a facility that offered low cost health care to uninsured patients
Managing and preventing health issues / Wellness / Hair stylists found materials on M+ to help clients with health care management / One hair stylist found a “record page” on MedlinePlus where people with diabetes can keep track of their blood glucose levels. They often found information about drugs or treatments and suggested their clients talk with their doctors about them
Managing family’s health / Family / Clients also asked hair stylists to get information about their families / One hair stylist said that her clients often come to her with concerns about family, and she always gives them an M+ bookmark
Promoting use of consumer health resources / Promote / Hair stylists described ways they promoted use of health information by clients / Hair stylists made handouts for patients and gave out bookmarks. One said she put the web site address on her appointment cards because she knew her clients weren’t likely to lose them. One hair stylist talked about researching information about a drug that she heard about on television
Researching drug information / Drugs / Hair stylists often looked up drug information for clients / There were numerous accounts of clients wanting information about prescriptions, OTC drugs, and supplements
Understanding illnesses and treatments / Health
Issues / Hair stylists helpedclients get information about diseases, diagnostic tests, and treatments. / Usually, hair stylists found information about health conditions

Table 3

T

Revised: 4/11/17Page 1 of 4

NNLM Evaluation Office

EvalBasics 4: Data Analysis for Program Evaluation

Summary of Thematic Analysis Process[1]

  1. Both coders independently read and code a portion (approximately 20%) of the stories.
  2. Coders’ themes are combined and analyzed for both common themes and themes unique to each coder.A “master” list of themes is developed to encompass both coders’ initial findings.Both coders agree to the final master list. (See Table 1.)
  3. Both coders then work together to categorize the themes in the master list under a smaller number of broader themes. (See Table 2.)
  4. Both coders develop definitions and add examples for each of the 6 broader themes. (See Table 3) The examples may have a combination of “typical” and “unusual but significant” findings.
  5. After a portion of the stories have been analyzed and a broader list of codes has been finalized, all of the stories should be coded. The goal is to test whether all of the stories fit under each of the 6 themes or if new themes must be added.There are several approaches for this step, varying in the time and resources needed:
  • Both coders could review and code all stories
  • The coders could divide the stories between them
  • One coder could code the remainder of the stories
  1. Regardless of the approach used in Step 5, the coders should continue to talk about the themes, identifying the stories that are “outliers” (don’t fit completely – or at all – under the 6 broader themes) and come to an agreement about revising the list of broader themes.
  2. The final description of themes should be presented to interviewees, program participants, or other knowledgeable stakeholders to see if the findings ring true with them.
  3. The themes – which are the findings for this evaluation study – could be compared to data from similar programs (reported within the agency or in the literature) to see if it corroborates or diverges from what others have found.

Revised: 4/11/17Page 1 of 4

[1]There are many ways to conduct a thematic analysis. This is just one approach that works well for this hypothetical project.The key is to have a systematic approach that involves more than one person.