Chapter 16
Analysis of Qualitative Data
The parallels and linkages between practice and research are most readily apparent in qualitative approaches to research. In fact, it has been argued that many traditional social work method for evaluating and assessing practice are also traditional qualitative methods for collecting and analyzing data (Smith, 1998). So as we present the ways by which qualitative researchers make sense of their data, it should help the student of the human service to see that the techniques used for drawing meaning from qualitative research data lend themselves equally well to making sense of practice information. For example, process recording, a technique long used in social work both for training students in clinical methods and for documenting case progress, is closely related to the case study method used by qualitative researchers and presented later in this chapter. Social workers are commonly required to write case summaries, and these reports closely parallel a qualitative researcher’s report that analyzes, interprets, and integrates data from a qualitative study. Human service students in internships or field placements are often required to maintain a log or journal of their experiences. Here again we see that the student’s task of synthesizing and summarizing content of such a journal is very similar to the qualitative researcher’s task of analyzing field notes. Students who have covered the use of such techniques as genograms, sociograms, and time lines to graphically represent practice phenomena will find themselves on familiar group as we present some of the same approaches here (although sometimes using different labels). What differentiates these research and practice approaches is the greater emphasis on systematic and rigorous application found in research as compared with practice.