Qualitative data cannot be measured numerically, but instead is observational or categorical in nature. Qualitative data often come out of interviews, capturing commentary. Qualitative data can be summarized, providing insights into attributes, but cannot be counted.
A subcategory of Qualitative Data
Categorical aka Nominal Data
As the name suggests, this type of data refer to named things, such as day/ night. These are also called categorical, because they are often naming categories, such as dog/cat, good/ bad, etc. Categorical data are frequently included in 6sense Research statistical analyses such as ANOVA and Multiple Linear Regression and Logistic Regression. In Logistic Regression, the outcome variable is always categorical.
Quantifying Qualitative Data
Qualitative data can be transformed into quantitative data through coding. For example, researchers may take comments from a customer satisfaction survey and count the number of positive and negative emotion words that are used. Each comment could then have an “emotional valence” score – a score for how positive or negative the comment was. Another example is counting the number of times competitors are mentioned in interviews with customers that have churned.
Minimizing subjectivity in coding of qualitative data
When coding qualitative data, it is a good practice to agree in advance on the coding scheme, and then have multiple knowledgeable individuals code a sample of entries independently, compare their codings, come to consensus on how to handle situations where coding differed, and then instruct future coders based on this experience.
