At our last couple meetings, we've been talking about how you analyze qualitative data. It's been super interesting, and I've been remembering how much I enjoyed analyzing the qualitative data for my MPH research. It's just kind of fun, looking at the comments and pushing the group to think about reflexivity and where they might be making assumptions. But it struck me this past week, that it is fun, yes, but it also takes a BUNCH of work to analyze. We're currently at about 330 responses, and while a good amount of the data will probably be best represented by a count (e.g., a lot of people responded simply "consent" to the question about what content they wish had been covered in their sex ed class) there are a lot of complex units that need more analysis. I had been so psyched about seeing how many responses we're getting that I guess I hadn't totally wrapped my mind around how big our data set is, which is totally a good challenge to have.
I've been trying to think of how to best go about analyzing the qualitative data, which is primarily from two questions. Those questions are about what content they wish had been covered and what suggestions they have for improving sex ed in Minnesota. We did some examples as a group, pairs did one section (mostly out of meeting) and then at our most recent meeting did the section they didn't do the first time. It's worked well, but it seems like it might be too slow of a process. This is my first time both teaching about qualitative data analysis (of which I'm definitely not an expert) and trying to do said analysis in a group. I'm trying to have a good balance of meaningful meetings, but not too many focused on it that we lose momentum. Especially since I think we are all excited about getting to the place of deciding what we want to do with the results. I'm thinking the plan right now is to have pairs do it out of session, then we discuss the themes/challenges in meeting and create a hierarchy in meeting. We'll see how it goes!