A Collaborative-Comparative Approach to Learning Qualitative Data Analysis

The literature on qualitative research offers the novice two strategies for learning analysis: (1) “trust” that you will “somehow” make sense out of qualitative material, or (2) follow a predetermined set of analytic steps and stages. A problem with the first approach is that it does not take into account the wide variety of qualitative analysis projects researchers undertake or differences in how individuals approach the interpretation of qualitative material. A problem with the second approach is that it does not maximize the learning potential possible from making explicit and sharpening the learner's own interpretive framework. In this paper we describe a third alternative: a collaborative-comparative approach to analyzing qualitative materials. This approach uses a group-based model of learning and explicitly capitalizes upon differences in group member interpretive styles to enhance learning qualitative methods of research.