Coding

How it is used

Codes are grouped into categories and themes. Coding can be inductive (codes come from the data) or deductive (codes come from theory). Researchers often keep a codebook, use software such as NVivo, MAXQDA or ATLAS.ti, and check agreement between two coders.

Example sentences

1. Two researchers carried out the coding independently and then compared their codes.

2. Open coding produced 46 initial codes.

Common collocations

• open coding
• inductive coding
• coding scheme
• codebook
• intercoder reliability

Related terms

• thematic analysisA qualitative method for finding, organizing and interpreting patterns of meaning, called themes, across interviews, texts or other data.
• qualitativeDescribing research that studies experiences, meanings and behavior through words, images or observation rather than numbers, often with smaller groups of people.
• transcribeTo write down exactly what was said in a recorded interview, focus group or conversation so that it can be analyzed.
• reliabilityThe extent to which a measurement or method gives consistent results when it is repeated or used by different researchers.

More terms: Data and Analysis

• data
• findings
• analysis
• significant
• draw a conclusion
• correlation
• account for
• interpret
• dataset
• mean
• standard deviation
• descriptive statistics