Step 1

Schedule a 30-45 minute meeting with 1-2 stakeholders

You want to schedule this session as early as possible, ideally when you’re drafting your research plan and study timeline. If you can’t get it on the calendar, look to schedule a meeting when you’re nearing the end of your qualitative data collection.

Make sure to send information about the meeting so your stakeholders come prepared.

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Step 2

Clean and Structure the Qualitative Data

You want your stakeholders to jump right into coding without worrying about how clean or structured your qualitative data is. Address any typos, expand any acronyms/initialisms, and flesh out an incomplete notes.

Then, you want to put that structured data into a format that’s easy for your stakeholders to start coding and for you to review their progress. Software like Miro, Microsoft Whiteboard, or Figjam can help you accomplish this task. You can also print out copies of your structured qualitative data and share with your stakeholders to code with a pen or markers.

If you, you want to bring and test early themes or recommendations you’re considering including in your deliverable.

Make sure that research question(s) and study goal(s) are listed at the top or somewhere alongside the data so you can keep your stakeholders — and yourself! — focused.

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Step 3

Select 3-4 participants worth of qualitative data

If you have only a handful of qualitative research participants (say less than five), bring all of the data and allow stakeholders to select what data they want to analyze.

You want to select data that’s meaningful and relevant to addressing your research questions. Avoid selecting data that’s overly sensational or extremely unrepresentative of your target population. Codes in this situation can distract you or your stakeholders.

If you have more than one stakeholder, you don’t necessarily have to have them code the same data. If you can, having 2+ stakeholders code different datasets while being focused on understanding the same research question(s) can help strengthen your focus when you finish your qualitative data analysis.

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Step 4

Review the research question and basics of qualitative coding when the meeting starts (5-10 min)

In 10 minutes or so, complete the following actions at the start of the session:

• A quick review of the research plan for this study, the research questions, and participants who completed the study
• A brief explanation of qualitative coding (from qualitative codes to categories and to draft themes)

You can use share screenshots from this Handbook to explain coding or watch this 5 minute video with your stakeholders. Make sure to ask if they have any questions before you start coding as a group.

Make sure to reiterate that the goal of the session isn’t to become a perfect qualitative coder, but to engage in a meaningful discussion about the collected qualitative data. These sessions can also help your stakeholders recognize the focus and patience needed to effectively code qualitative data, building understanding about what good research looks like.

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Step 5

Have stakeholders loosely code their data (20-25 min)

Ask your stakeholder to write down what they’re thinking every couple of line in the data. Tell them the goal is to take notes on as much of the data as possible in the next 15 minutes.

Inform stakeholders that they don’t have to be consistent with their codes. They can jump between in vivo coding, descriptive coding, and implicit codes. The goal should be to cover as much of the data as possible while being aware of the research question(s) and study goal(s). You can read more about different kinds of qualitative codes here.

If you want, you can play non intrusive music in the background to make the coding more enjoyable. Or you could inform stakeholders to have a pair of headphones to listen to music of their choosing.

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Step 6

Discuss what stood out to your stakeholders (10 min)

Have stakeholders quickly share what they was interesting or confusing. You don’t need to discuss their exact codes but more-so the patterns and themes they noticed.

Possible discussion questions include:

• What did you find interesting in the data?
• What did you find confusing or contradictory?
• Are there any immediate or actionable recommendations you noticed?
• Are there any new or additional research questions that you want to study next?
• Do you have any suggestions for where I should focus on analytical efforts?
• Are there any quotes or important moments that you think should be reported out to the larger team or other colleagues?

Make sure to keep the research question(s) and study goal(s) in mind to keep this discussion focused.

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Step 7

Collect their coded data and amend your analysis plan

Based on what stood out to your stakeholders, make meaningful changes to codebook, codes, categories, and themes. If you can narrow your focus or identify critical/relevant moments that can be communicated as unexpected but actionable insights, do so.

When you’re finishing your qualitative data analysis (and working on your deliverable), review the coded data to ensure you’re speaking about the problem how stakeholders think about it.