One of the integral pieces of doing qualitative research is being able to code your data well, in preparation for your analysis. This is often a step that we get questions about so we've prepared this guide to point you to some useful readings, videos, etc on how you can approach qualitative coding.
The Sage Research Methods database is a great resource for help with the research process : research design, methodology, data collection & analysis etc. It contains books, book chapters, articles, videos, planning tools and more. Try a search for "coding" and see what you get!
Use the Project Planner (under Research Tools) to help guide you through the stages of research:
Use the Methods Map (under Research Tools) to explore different methods:
Reading Lists:
Create a profile so you can make your own Reading Lists of resources, or search public Reading Lists (under Research Tools) to find lists created on a topic by other Sage users. You can also share your reading lists with others. For example, here's a brief Reading List of books and videos we prepared on Coding your data
NOTE: Use our Curbside Pick-up & Mail Delivery service to borrow print copies of books
Codes and Coding, from the Sage encyclopedia of qualitative research methods
- for a brief overview to get you started
- Saldaña, Johnny. (2016). The coding manual for qualitative research
- We only have print copies of this because the publisher does not sell an electronic version to libraries, but individuals can buy online (use drop-down menu for options). It's an in-depth guide to each of the multiple approaches available for coding qualitative data. In total, 32 different approaches to coding are covered
- Saldaña's more general Fundamentals of qualitative research IS available online - Auerbach, C.F. & Silverstein, L.B. (2003). Qualitative data : an introduction to coding and analysis
A print copy can also be borrowed - Lichtman, M. (2017). Qualitative research for the social sciences.
- Gives an overview of the whole research process, but see in particular Chapter 12: Drawing meaning from the data - Schreier, M. (2012). Qualitative content analysis in practice
- much of the book deals with setting up a coding frame for your data - Tracy, S.J. (2019). Qualitative research methods: Collecting evidence, crafting analysis, communicating impact
- Gives an overview of the whole research process, but see in particular Chapter 9: Data analysis basics
- Qualitative analysis of interview data: A step-by-step guide for coding/indexing - Kent Löfgren
- Coding - Graham R. Gibbs, this is a recording of a lecture, divided into 5 parts. (Sound quality is not the greatest)
- Grounded Theory Playlist - Graham R. Gibbs , a number of videos in the playlist focus on different types of coding used in grounded theory research
- Duke University's ModU - from their Social Science Research Unit, a whole series of videos on qualitative research methods, including a number that focus on coding:
- Sage Research Methods: you can do a keyword search, for example: "coding" and limit your results to content type=videos
If you have decided that you want to use the NVivo software for your qualitative research project, check out our NVivo Workshops schedule and sign up for one of the Approaches to Coding workshops to see how NVivo helps with the coding process.
