Mess in Qualitative Data Analysis

As an eager HDR student ready to ‘start data analysis’ nothing is more terrifying than pages and pages of semi-structured interview transcripts. In this session, a recent UTS graduate, Dr. Meg Hibbins will reflect on the messiness of qualitative data and the data analysis process. 

Qualitative data can be considered ‘messy’ because of the array of rich, complex human experiences that have been captured. These experiences are not easily categorised into neat numbers or boxes. Rather, there is a non-linear, iterative process needed for the researcher to navigate the inherent inconsistencies, nuances, and overlapping themes that lay within the data awaiting discovery. 

Join us for this session and increase your confidence with the complexity and the messiness of human thought and behaviour.

Events in the 2025 Qualitative Data Analysis series

• Thematic Analysis - Big Q and little q – Tuesday 25 February 2025, 12:30pm – 1:30pm
• Autoethnography - The possibilities – Tuesday 18 March 2025, 12:30pm – 1:30pm
• Investigating the Potential for LLMs for Inductive and Deductive Coding – Tuesday 22 April 2025, 12:30pm – 1:30pm
• Autoethnography - Triangulations – Tuesday 29 April, 12:30pm – 1:30pm
• Inductive Content Analysis - Tuesday 13 May, 12:30pm - 1:30pm
• Using mixed methods to bring together big data, and qualitative research in the Wikihistories project - Tuesday 10 June, 12:30pm - 1:30pm
• Mess in QDA – Tuesday 8 July, 12:30pm – 1:30pm
• Applying concepts and underlying 'ologies' – Tuesday 9 September, 12:30pm – 1:30pm
• Deep Dive into Thematic Analysis - From Concepts to Practice – Tuesday 7 October, 12:30pm- 1:30pm
• Non-word-based techniques in qualitative research and analysis – Tuesday 11 November, 12:30pm – 1:30pm   

This is a UTS Aspire event. UTS Aspire is a program of pan-university research development opportunities led by the Research Capability and Development Team.