how to present results in qualitative research

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Qualitative Data Analysis

23 Presenting the Results of Qualitative Analysis

Mikaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur

Qualitative research is not finished just because you have determined the main findings or conclusions of your study. Indeed, disseminating the results is an essential part of the research process. By sharing your results with others, whether in written form as scholarly paper or an applied report or in some alternative format like an oral presentation, an infographic, or a video, you ensure that your findings become part of the ongoing conversation of scholarship in your field, forming part of the foundation for future researchers. This chapter provides an introduction to writing about qualitative research findings. It will outline how writing continues to contribute to the analysis process, what concerns researchers should keep in mind as they draft their presentations of findings, and how best to organize qualitative research writing

As you move through the research process, it is essential to keep yourself organized. Organizing your data, memos, and notes aids both the analytical and the writing processes. Whether you use electronic or physical, real-world filing and organizational systems, these systems help make sense of the mountains of data you have and assure you focus your attention on the themes and ideas you have determined are important (Warren and Karner 2015). Be sure that you have kept detailed notes on all of the decisions you have made and procedures you have followed in carrying out research design, data collection, and analysis, as these will guide your ultimate write-up.

First and foremost, researchers should keep in mind that writing is in fact a form of thinking. Writing is an excellent way to discover ideas and arguments and to further develop an analysis. As you write, more ideas will occur to you, things that were previously confusing will start to make sense, and arguments will take a clear shape rather than being amorphous and poorly-organized. However, writing-as-thinking cannot be the final version that you share with others. Good-quality writing does not display the workings of your thought process. It is reorganized and revised (more on that later) to present the data and arguments important in a particular piece. And revision is totally normal! No one expects the first draft of a piece of writing to be ready for prime time. So write rough drafts and memos and notes to yourself and use them to think, and then revise them until the piece is the way you want it to be for sharing.

Bergin (2018) lays out a set of key concerns for appropriate writing about research. First, present your results accurately, without exaggerating or misrepresenting. It is very easy to overstate your findings by accident if you are enthusiastic about what you have found, so it is important to take care and use appropriate cautions about the limitations of the research. You also need to work to ensure that you communicate your findings in a way people can understand, using clear and appropriate language that is adjusted to the level of those you are communicating with. And you must be clear and transparent about the methodological strategies employed in the research. Remember, the goal is, as much as possible, to describe your research in a way that would permit others to replicate the study. There are a variety of other concerns and decision points that qualitative researchers must keep in mind, including the extent to which to include quantification in their presentation of results, ethics, considerations of audience and voice, and how to bring the richness of qualitative data to life.

Quantification, as you have learned, refers to the process of turning data into numbers. It can indeed be very useful to count and tabulate quantitative data drawn from qualitative research. For instance, if you were doing a study of dual-earner households and wanted to know how many had an equal division of household labor and how many did not, you might want to count those numbers up and include them as part of the final write-up. However, researchers need to take care when they are writing about quantified qualitative data. Qualitative data is not as generalizable as quantitative data, so quantification can be very misleading. Thus, qualitative researchers should strive to use raw numbers instead of the percentages that are more appropriate for quantitative research. Writing, for instance, “15 of the 20 people I interviewed prefer pancakes to waffles” is a simple description of the data; writing “75% of people prefer pancakes” suggests a generalizable claim that is not likely supported by the data. Note that mixing numbers with qualitative data is really a type of mixed-methods approach. Mixed-methods approaches are good, but sometimes they seduce researchers into focusing on the persuasive power of numbers and tables rather than capitalizing on the inherent richness of their qualitative data.

A variety of issues of scholarly ethics and research integrity are raised by the writing process. Some of these are unique to qualitative research, while others are more universal concerns for all academic and professional writing. For example, it is essential to avoid plagiarism and misuse of sources. All quotations that appear in a text must be properly cited, whether with in-text and bibliographic citations to the source or with an attribution to the research participant (or the participant’s pseudonym or description in order to protect confidentiality) who said those words. Where writers will paraphrase a text or a participant’s words, they need to make sure that the paraphrase they develop accurately reflects the meaning of the original words. Thus, some scholars suggest that participants should have the opportunity to read (or to have read to them, if they cannot read the text themselves) all sections of the text in which they, their words, or their ideas are presented to ensure accuracy and enable participants to maintain control over their lives.

Audience and Voice

When writing, researchers must consider their audience(s) and the effects they want their writing to have on these audiences. The designated audience will dictate the voice used in the writing, or the individual style and personality of a piece of text. Keep in mind that the potential audience for qualitative research is often much more diverse than that for quantitative research because of the accessibility of the data and the extent to which the writing can be accessible and interesting. Yet individual pieces of writing are typically pitched to a more specific subset of the audience.

Let us consider one potential research study, an ethnography involving participant-observation of the same children both when they are at daycare facility and when they are at home with their families to try to understand how daycare might impact behavior and social development. The findings of this study might be of interest to a wide variety of potential audiences: academic peers, whether at your own academic institution, in your broader discipline, or multidisciplinary; people responsible for creating laws and policies; practitioners who run or teach at day care centers; and the general public, including both people who are interested in child development more generally and those who are themselves parents making decisions about child care for their own children. And the way you write for each of these audiences will be somewhat different. Take a moment and think through what some of these differences might look like.

If you are writing to academic audiences, using specialized academic language and working within the typical constraints of scholarly genres, as will be discussed below, can be an important part of convincing others that your work is legitimate and should be taken seriously. Your writing will be formal. Even if you are writing for students and faculty you already know—your classmates, for instance—you are often asked to imitate the style of academic writing that is used in publications, as this is part of learning to become part of the scholarly conversation. When speaking to academic audiences outside your discipline, you may need to be more careful about jargon and specialized language, as disciplines do not always share the same key terms. For instance, in sociology, scholars use the term diffusion to refer to the way new ideas or practices spread from organization to organization. In the field of international relations, scholars often used the term cascade to refer to the way ideas or practices spread from nation to nation. These terms are describing what is fundamentally the same concept, but they are different terms—and a scholar from one field might have no idea what a scholar from a different field is talking about! Therefore, while the formality and academic structure of the text would stay the same, a writer with a multidisciplinary audience might need to pay more attention to defining their terms in the body of the text.

It is not only other academic scholars who expect to see formal writing. Policymakers tend to expect formality when ideas are presented to them, as well. However, the content and style of the writing will be different. Much less academic jargon should be used, and the most important findings and policy implications should be emphasized right from the start rather than initially focusing on prior literature and theoretical models as you might for an academic audience. Long discussions of research methods should also be minimized. Similarly, when you write for practitioners, the findings and implications for practice should be highlighted. The reading level of the text will vary depending on the typical background of the practitioners to whom you are writing—you can make very different assumptions about the general knowledge and reading abilities of a group of hospital medical directors with MDs than you can about a group of case workers who have a post-high-school certificate. Consider the primary language of your audience as well. The fact that someone can get by in spoken English does not mean they have the vocabulary or English reading skills to digest a complex report. But the fact that someone’s vocabulary is limited says little about their intellectual abilities, so try your best to convey the important complexity of the ideas and findings from your research without dumbing them down—even if you must limit your vocabulary usage.

When writing for the general public, you will want to move even further towards emphasizing key findings and policy implications, but you also want to draw on the most interesting aspects of your data. General readers will read sociological texts that are rich with ethnographic or other kinds of detail—it is almost like reality television on a page! And this is a contrast to busy policymakers and practitioners, who probably want to learn the main findings as quickly as possible so they can go about their busy lives. But also keep in mind that there is a wide variation in reading levels. Journalists at publications pegged to the general public are often advised to write at about a tenth-grade reading level, which would leave most of the specialized terminology we develop in our research fields out of reach. If you want to be accessible to even more people, your vocabulary must be even more limited. The excellent exercise of trying to write using the 1,000 most common English words, available at the Up-Goer Five website ( https://www.splasho.com/upgoer5/ ) does a good job of illustrating this challenge (Sanderson n.d.).

Another element of voice is whether to write in the first person. While many students are instructed to avoid the use of the first person in academic writing, this advice needs to be taken with a grain of salt. There are indeed many contexts in which the first person is best avoided, at least as long as writers can find ways to build strong, comprehensible sentences without its use, including most quantitative research writing. However, if the alternative to using the first person is crafting a sentence like “it is proposed that the researcher will conduct interviews,” it is preferable to write “I propose to conduct interviews.” In qualitative research, in fact, the use of the first person is far more common. This is because the researcher is central to the research project. Qualitative researchers can themselves be understood as research instruments, and thus eliminating the use of the first person in writing is in a sense eliminating information about the conduct of the researchers themselves.

But the question really extends beyond the issue of first-person or third-person. Qualitative researchers have choices about how and whether to foreground themselves in their writing, not just in terms of using the first person, but also in terms of whether to emphasize their own subjectivity and reflexivity, their impressions and ideas, and their role in the setting. In contrast, conventional quantitative research in the positivist tradition really tries to eliminate the author from the study—which indeed is exactly why typical quantitative research avoids the use of the first person. Keep in mind that emphasizing researchers’ roles and reflexivity and using the first person does not mean crafting articles that provide overwhelming detail about the author’s thoughts and practices. Readers do not need to hear, and should not be told, which database you used to search for journal articles, how many hours you spent transcribing, or whether the research process was stressful—save these things for the memos you write to yourself. Rather, readers need to hear how you interacted with research participants, how your standpoint may have shaped the findings, and what analytical procedures you carried out.

Making Data Come Alive

One of the most important parts of writing about qualitative research is presenting the data in a way that makes its richness and value accessible to readers. As the discussion of analysis in the prior chapter suggests, there are a variety of ways to do this. Researchers may select key quotes or images to illustrate points, write up specific case studies that exemplify their argument, or develop vignettes (little stories) that illustrate ideas and themes, all drawing directly on the research data. Researchers can also write more lengthy summaries, narratives, and thick descriptions.

Nearly all qualitative work includes quotes from research participants or documents to some extent, though ethnographic work may focus more on thick description than on relaying participants’ own words. When quotes are presented, they must be explained and interpreted—they cannot stand on their own. This is one of the ways in which qualitative research can be distinguished from journalism. Journalism presents what happened, but social science needs to present the “why,” and the why is best explained by the researcher.

So how do authors go about integrating quotes into their written work? Julie Posselt (2017), a sociologist who studies graduate education, provides a set of instructions. First of all, authors need to remain focused on the core questions of their research, and avoid getting distracted by quotes that are interesting or attention-grabbing but not so relevant to the research question. Selecting the right quotes, those that illustrate the ideas and arguments of the paper, is an important part of the writing process. Second, not all quotes should be the same length (just like not all sentences or paragraphs in a paper should be the same length). Include some quotes that are just phrases, others that are a sentence or so, and others that are longer. We call longer quotes, generally those more than about three lines long, block quotes , and they are typically indented on both sides to set them off from the surrounding text. For all quotes, be sure to summarize what the quote should be telling or showing the reader, connect this quote to other quotes that are similar or different, and provide transitions in the discussion to move from quote to quote and from topic to topic. Especially for longer quotes, it is helpful to do some of this writing before the quote to preview what is coming and other writing after the quote to make clear what readers should have come to understand. Remember, it is always the author’s job to interpret the data. Presenting excerpts of the data, like quotes, in a form the reader can access does not minimize the importance of this job. Be sure that you are explaining the meaning of the data you present.

A few more notes about writing with quotes: avoid patchwriting, whether in your literature review or the section of your paper in which quotes from respondents are presented. Patchwriting is a writing practice wherein the author lightly paraphrases original texts but stays so close to those texts that there is little the author has added. Sometimes, this even takes the form of presenting a series of quotes, properly documented, with nothing much in the way of text generated by the author. A patchwriting approach does not build the scholarly conversation forward, as it does not represent any kind of new contribution on the part of the author. It is of course fine to paraphrase quotes, as long as the meaning is not changed. But if you use direct quotes, do not edit the text of the quotes unless how you edit them does not change the meaning and you have made clear through the use of ellipses (…) and brackets ([])what kinds of edits have been made. For example, consider this exchange from Matthew Desmond’s (2012:1317) research on evictions:

The thing was, I wasn’t never gonna let Crystal come and stay with me from the get go. I just told her that to throw her off. And she wasn’t fittin’ to come stay with me with no money…No. Nope. You might as well stay in that shelter.

A paraphrase of this exchange might read “She said that she was going to let Crystal stay with her if Crystal did not have any money.” Paraphrases like that are fine. What is not fine is rewording the statement but treating it like a quote, for instance writing:

The thing was, I was not going to let Crystal come and stay with me from beginning. I just told her that to throw her off. And it was not proper for her to come stay with me without any money…No. Nope. You might as well stay in that shelter.

But as you can see, the change in language and style removes some of the distinct meaning of the original quote. Instead, writers should leave as much of the original language as possible. If some text in the middle of the quote needs to be removed, as in this example, ellipses are used to show that this has occurred. And if a word needs to be added to clarify, it is placed in square brackets to show that it was not part of the original quote.

Data can also be presented through the use of data displays like tables, charts, graphs, diagrams, and infographics created for publication or presentation, as well as through the use of visual material collected during the research process. Note that if visuals are used, the author must have the legal right to use them. Photographs or diagrams created by the author themselves—or by research participants who have signed consent forms for their work to be used, are fine. But photographs, and sometimes even excerpts from archival documents, may be owned by others from whom researchers must get permission in order to use them.

A large percentage of qualitative research does not include any data displays or visualizations. Therefore, researchers should carefully consider whether the use of data displays will help the reader understand the data. One of the most common types of data displays used by qualitative researchers are simple tables. These might include tables summarizing key data about cases included in the study; tables laying out the characteristics of different taxonomic elements or types developed as part of the analysis; tables counting the incidence of various elements; and 2×2 tables (two columns and two rows) illuminating a theory. Basic network or process diagrams are also commonly included. If data displays are used, it is essential that researchers include context and analysis alongside data displays rather than letting them stand by themselves, and it is preferable to continue to present excerpts and examples from the data rather than just relying on summaries in the tables.

If you will be using graphs, infographics, or other data visualizations, it is important that you attend to making them useful and accurate (Bergin 2018). Think about the viewer or user as your audience and ensure the data visualizations will be comprehensible. You may need to include more detail or labels than you might think. Ensure that data visualizations are laid out and labeled clearly and that you make visual choices that enhance viewers’ ability to understand the points you intend to communicate using the visual in question. Finally, given the ease with which it is possible to design visuals that are deceptive or misleading, it is essential to make ethical and responsible choices in the construction of visualization so that viewers will interpret them in accurate ways.

The Genre of Research Writing

As discussed above, the style and format in which results are presented depends on the audience they are intended for. These differences in styles and format are part of the genre of writing. Genre is a term referring to the rules of a specific form of creative or productive work. Thus, the academic journal article—and student papers based on this form—is one genre. A report or policy paper is another. The discussion below will focus on the academic journal article, but note that reports and policy papers follow somewhat different formats. They might begin with an executive summary of one or a few pages, include minimal background, focus on key findings, and conclude with policy implications, shifting methods and details about the data to an appendix. But both academic journal articles and policy papers share some things in common, for instance the necessity for clear writing, a well-organized structure, and the use of headings.

So what factors make up the genre of the academic journal article in sociology? While there is some flexibility, particularly for ethnographic work, academic journal articles tend to follow a fairly standard format. They begin with a “title page” that includes the article title (often witty and involving scholarly inside jokes, but more importantly clearly describing the content of the article); the authors’ names and institutional affiliations, an abstract , and sometimes keywords designed to help others find the article in databases. An abstract is a short summary of the article that appears both at the very beginning of the article and in search databases. Abstracts are designed to aid readers by giving them the opportunity to learn enough about an article that they can determine whether it is worth their time to read the complete text. They are written about the article, and thus not in the first person, and clearly summarize the research question, methodological approach, main findings, and often the implications of the research.

After the abstract comes an “introduction” of a page or two that details the research question, why it matters, and what approach the paper will take. This is followed by a literature review of about a quarter to a third the length of the entire paper. The literature review is often divided, with headings, into topical subsections, and is designed to provide a clear, thorough overview of the prior research literature on which a paper has built—including prior literature the new paper contradicts. At the end of the literature review it should be made clear what researchers know about the research topic and question, what they do not know, and what this new paper aims to do to address what is not known.

The next major section of the paper is the section that describes research design, data collection, and data analysis, often referred to as “research methods” or “methodology.” This section is an essential part of any written or oral presentation of your research. Here, you tell your readers or listeners “how you collected and interpreted your data” (Taylor, Bogdan, and DeVault 2016:215). Taylor, Bogdan, and DeVault suggest that the discussion of your research methods include the following:

• The particular approach to data collection used in the study;
• Any theoretical perspective(s) that shaped your data collection and analytical approach;
• When the study occurred, over how long, and where (concealing identifiable details as needed);
• A description of the setting and participants, including sampling and selection criteria (if an interview-based study, the number of participants should be clearly stated);
• The researcher’s perspective in carrying out the study, including relevant elements of their identity and standpoint, as well as their role (if any) in research settings; and
• The approach to analyzing the data.

After the methods section comes a section, variously titled but often called “data,” that takes readers through the analysis. This section is where the thick description narrative; the quotes, broken up by theme or topic, with their interpretation; the discussions of case studies; most data displays (other than perhaps those outlining a theoretical model or summarizing descriptive data about cases); and other similar material appears. The idea of the data section is to give readers the ability to see the data for themselves and to understand how this data supports the ultimate conclusions. Note that all tables and figures included in formal publications should be titled and numbered.

At the end of the paper come one or two summary sections, often called “discussion” and/or “conclusion.” If there is a separate discussion section, it will focus on exploring the overall themes and findings of the paper. The conclusion clearly and succinctly summarizes the findings and conclusions of the paper, the limitations of the research and analysis, any suggestions for future research building on the paper or addressing these limitations, and implications, be they for scholarship and theory or policy and practice.

After the end of the textual material in the paper comes the bibliography, typically called “works cited” or “references.” The references should appear in a consistent citation style—in sociology, we often use the American Sociological Association format (American Sociological Association 2019), but other formats may be used depending on where the piece will eventually be published. Care should be taken to ensure that in-text citations also reflect the chosen citation style. In some papers, there may be an appendix containing supplemental information such as a list of interview questions or an additional data visualization.

Note that when researchers give presentations to scholarly audiences, the presentations typically follow a format similar to that of scholarly papers, though given time limitations they are compressed. Abstracts and works cited are often not part of the presentation, though in-text citations are still used. The literature review presented will be shortened to only focus on the most important aspects of the prior literature, and only key examples from the discussion of data will be included. For long or complex papers, sometimes only one of several findings is the focus of the presentation. Of course, presentations for other audiences may be constructed differently, with greater attention to interesting elements of the data and findings as well as implications and less to the literature review and methods.

Concluding Your Work

After you have written a complete draft of the paper, be sure you take the time to revise and edit your work. There are several important strategies for revision. First, put your work away for a little while. Even waiting a day to revise is better than nothing, but it is best, if possible, to take much more time away from the text. This helps you forget what your writing looks like and makes it easier to find errors, mistakes, and omissions. Second, show your work to others. Ask them to read your work and critique it, pointing out places where the argument is weak, where you may have overlooked alternative explanations, where the writing could be improved, and what else you need to work on. Finally, read your work out loud to yourself (or, if you really need an audience, try reading to some stuffed animals). Reading out loud helps you catch wrong words, tricky sentences, and many other issues. But as important as revision is, try to avoid perfectionism in writing (Warren and Karner 2015). Writing can always be improved, no matter how much time you spend on it. Those improvements, however, have diminishing returns, and at some point the writing process needs to conclude so the writing can be shared with the world.

Of course, the main goal of writing up the results of a research project is to share with others. Thus, researchers should be considering how they intend to disseminate their results. What conferences might be appropriate? Where can the paper be submitted? Note that if you are an undergraduate student, there are a wide variety of journals that accept and publish research conducted by undergraduates. Some publish across disciplines, while others are specific to disciplines. Other work, such as reports, may be best disseminated by publication online on relevant organizational websites.

After a project is completed, be sure to take some time to organize your research materials and archive them for longer-term storage. Some Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols require that original data, such as interview recordings, transcripts, and field notes, be preserved for a specific number of years in a protected (locked for paper or password-protected for digital) form and then destroyed, so be sure that your plans adhere to the IRB requirements. Be sure you keep any materials that might be relevant for future related research or for answering questions people may ask later about your project.

And then what? Well, then it is time to move on to your next research project. Research is a long-term endeavor, not a one-time-only activity. We build our skills and our expertise as we continue to pursue research. So keep at it.

• Find a short article that uses qualitative methods. The sociological magazine Contexts is a good place to find such pieces. Write an abstract of the article.
• Choose a sociological journal article on a topic you are interested in that uses some form of qualitative methods and is at least 20 pages long. Rewrite the article as a five-page research summary accessible to non-scholarly audiences.
• Choose a concept or idea you have learned in this course and write an explanation of it using the Up-Goer Five Text Editor ( https://www.splasho.com/upgoer5/ ), a website that restricts your writing to the 1,000 most common English words. What was this experience like? What did it teach you about communicating with people who have a more limited English-language vocabulary—and what did it teach you about the utility of having access to complex academic language?
• Select five or more sociological journal articles that all use the same basic type of qualitative methods (interviewing, ethnography, documents, or visual sociology). Using what you have learned about coding, code the methods sections of each article, and use your coding to figure out what is common in how such articles discuss their research design, data collection, and analysis methods.
• Return to an exercise you completed earlier in this course and revise your work. What did you change? How did revising impact the final product?
• Find a quote from the transcript of an interview, a social media post, or elsewhere that has not yet been interpreted or explained. Write a paragraph that includes the quote along with an explanation of its sociological meaning or significance.

The style or personality of a piece of writing, including such elements as tone, word choice, syntax, and rhythm.

A quotation, usually one of some length, which is set off from the main text by being indented on both sides rather than being placed in quotation marks.

A classification of written or artistic work based on form, content, and style.

A short summary of a text written from the perspective of a reader rather than from the perspective of an author.

Social Data Analysis Copyright © 2021 by Mikaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

How To Write The Results/Findings Chapter

For qualitative studies (dissertations & theses).

By: Jenna Crossley (PhD). Expert Reviewed By: Dr. Eunice Rautenbach | August 2021

So, you’ve collected and analysed your qualitative data, and it’s time to write up your results chapter. But where do you start? In this post, we’ll guide you through the qualitative results chapter (also called the findings chapter), step by step. 

Overview: Qualitative Results Chapter

• What (exactly) the qualitative results chapter is
• What to include in your results chapter
• How to write up your results chapter
• A few tips and tricks to help you along the way
• Free results chapter template

What exactly is the results chapter?

The results chapter in a dissertation or thesis (or any formal academic research piece) is where you objectively and neutrally present the findings of your qualitative analysis (or analyses if you used multiple qualitative analysis methods ). This chapter can sometimes be combined with the discussion chapter (where you interpret the data and discuss its meaning), depending on your university’s preference.  We’ll treat the two chapters as separate, as that’s the most common approach.

In contrast to a quantitative results chapter that presents numbers and statistics, a qualitative results chapter presents data primarily in the form of words . But this doesn’t mean that a qualitative study can’t have quantitative elements – you could, for example, present the number of times a theme or topic pops up in your data, depending on the analysis method(s) you adopt.

Adding a quantitative element to your study can add some rigour, which strengthens your results by providing more evidence for your claims. This is particularly common when using qualitative content analysis. Keep in mind though that qualitative research aims to achieve depth, richness and identify nuances , so don’t get tunnel vision by focusing on the numbers. They’re just cream on top in a qualitative analysis.

So, to recap, the results chapter is where you objectively present the findings of your analysis, without interpreting them (you’ll save that for the discussion chapter). With that out the way, let’s take a look at what you should include in your results chapter.

What should you include in the results chapter?

As we’ve mentioned, your qualitative results chapter should purely present and describe your results , not interpret them in relation to the existing literature or your research questions . Any speculations or discussion about the implications of your findings should be reserved for your discussion chapter.

In your results chapter, you’ll want to talk about your analysis findings and whether or not they support your hypotheses (if you have any). Naturally, the exact contents of your results chapter will depend on which qualitative analysis method (or methods) you use. For example, if you were to use thematic analysis, you’d detail the themes identified in your analysis, using extracts from the transcripts or text to support your claims.

While you do need to present your analysis findings in some detail, you should avoid dumping large amounts of raw data in this chapter. Instead, focus on presenting the key findings and using a handful of select quotes or text extracts to support each finding . The reams of data and analysis can be relegated to your appendices.

While it’s tempting to include every last detail you found in your qualitative analysis, it is important to make sure that you report only that which is relevant to your research aims, objectives and research questions .  Always keep these three components, as well as your hypotheses (if you have any) front of mind when writing the chapter and use them as a filter to decide what’s relevant and what’s not.

Need a helping hand?

How do I write the results chapter?

Now that we’ve covered the basics, it’s time to look at how to structure your chapter. Broadly speaking, the results chapter needs to contain three core components – the introduction, the body and the concluding summary. Let’s take a look at each of these.

Section 1: Introduction

The first step is to craft a brief introduction to the chapter. This intro is vital as it provides some context for your findings. In your introduction, you should begin by reiterating your problem statement and research questions and highlight the purpose of your research . Make sure that you spell this out for the reader so that the rest of your chapter is well contextualised.

The next step is to briefly outline the structure of your results chapter. In other words, explain what’s included in the chapter and what the reader can expect. In the results chapter, you want to tell a story that is coherent, flows logically, and is easy to follow , so make sure that you plan your structure out well and convey that structure (at a high level), so that your reader is well oriented.

The introduction section shouldn’t be lengthy. Two or three short paragraphs should be more than adequate. It is merely an introduction and overview, not a summary of the chapter.

Pro Tip – To help you structure your chapter, it can be useful to set up an initial draft with (sub)section headings so that you’re able to easily (re)arrange parts of your chapter. This will also help your reader to follow your results and give your chapter some coherence.  Be sure to use level-based heading styles (e.g. Heading 1, 2, 3 styles) to help the reader differentiate between levels visually. You can find these options in Word (example below).

Section 2: Body

Before we get started on what to include in the body of your chapter, it’s vital to remember that a results section should be completely objective and descriptive, not interpretive . So, be careful not to use words such as, “suggests” or “implies”, as these usually accompany some form of interpretation – that’s reserved for your discussion chapter.

The structure of your body section is very important , so make sure that you plan it out well. When planning out your qualitative results chapter, create sections and subsections so that you can maintain the flow of the story you’re trying to tell. Be sure to systematically and consistently describe each portion of results. Try to adopt a standardised structure for each portion so that you achieve a high level of consistency throughout the chapter.

For qualitative studies, results chapters tend to be structured according to themes , which makes it easier for readers to follow. However, keep in mind that not all results chapters have to be structured in this manner. For example, if you’re conducting a longitudinal study, you may want to structure your chapter chronologically. Similarly, you might structure this chapter based on your theoretical framework . The exact structure of your chapter will depend on the nature of your study , especially your research questions.

As you work through the body of your chapter, make sure that you use quotes to substantiate every one of your claims . You can present these quotes in italics to differentiate them from your own words. A general rule of thumb is to use at least two pieces of evidence per claim, and these should be linked directly to your data. Also, remember that you need to include all relevant results , not just the ones that support your assumptions or initial leanings.

In addition to including quotes, you can also link your claims to the data by using appendices , which you should reference throughout your text. When you reference, make sure that you include both the name/number of the appendix , as well as the line(s) from which you drew your data.

As referencing styles can vary greatly, be sure to look up the appendix referencing conventions of your university’s prescribed style (e.g. APA , Harvard, etc) and keep this consistent throughout your chapter.

Section 3: Concluding summary

The concluding summary is very important because it summarises your key findings and lays the foundation for the discussion chapter . Keep in mind that some readers may skip directly to this section (from the introduction section), so make sure that it can be read and understood well in isolation.

In this section, you need to remind the reader of the key findings. That is, the results that directly relate to your research questions and that you will build upon in your discussion chapter. Remember, your reader has digested a lot of information in this chapter, so you need to use this section to remind them of the most important takeaways.

Importantly, the concluding summary should not present any new information and should only describe what you’ve already presented in your chapter. Keep it concise – you’re not summarising the whole chapter, just the essentials.

Tips for writing an A-grade results chapter

Now that you’ve got a clear picture of what the qualitative results chapter is all about, here are some quick tips and reminders to help you craft a high-quality chapter:

• Your results chapter should be written in the past tense . You’ve done the work already, so you want to tell the reader what you found , not what you are currently finding .
• Make sure that you review your work multiple times and check that every claim is adequately backed up by evidence . Aim for at least two examples per claim, and make use of an appendix to reference these.
• When writing up your results, make sure that you stick to only what is relevant . Don’t waste time on data that are not relevant to your research objectives and research questions.
• Use headings and subheadings to create an intuitive, easy to follow piece of writing. Make use of Microsoft Word’s “heading styles” and be sure to use them consistently.
• When referring to numerical data, tables and figures can provide a useful visual aid. When using these, make sure that they can be read and understood independent of your body text (i.e. that they can stand-alone). To this end, use clear, concise labels for each of your tables or figures and make use of colours to code indicate differences or hierarchy.
• Similarly, when you’re writing up your chapter, it can be useful to highlight topics and themes in different colours . This can help you to differentiate between your data if you get a bit overwhelmed and will also help you to ensure that your results flow logically and coherently.

If you have any questions, leave a comment below and we’ll do our best to help. If you’d like 1-on-1 help with your results chapter (or any chapter of your dissertation or thesis), check out our private dissertation coaching service here or book a free initial consultation to discuss how we can help you.

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

You Might Also Like:

20 Comments

This was extremely helpful. Thanks a lot guys

Hi, thanks for the great research support platform created by the gradcoach team!

I wanted to ask- While “suggests” or “implies” are interpretive terms, what terms could we use for the results chapter? Could you share some examples of descriptive terms?

I think that instead of saying, ‘The data suggested, or The data implied,’ you can say, ‘The Data showed or revealed, or illustrated or outlined’…If interview data, you may say Jane Doe illuminated or elaborated, or Jane Doe described… or Jane Doe expressed or stated.

I found this article very useful. Thank you very much for the outstanding work you are doing.

What if i have 3 different interviewees answering the same interview questions? Should i then present the results in form of the table with the division on the 3 perspectives or rather give a results in form of the text and highlight who said what?

I think this tabular representation of results is a great idea. I am doing it too along with the text. Thanks

That was helpful was struggling to separate the discussion from the findings

this was very useful, Thank you.

Very helpful, I am confident to write my results chapter now.

It is so helpful! It is a good job. Thank you very much!

Very useful, well explained. Many thanks.

Hello, I appreciate the way you provided a supportive comments about qualitative results presenting tips

I loved this! It explains everything needed, and it has helped me better organize my thoughts. What words should I not use while writing my results section, other than subjective ones.

Thanks a lot, it is really helpful

Thank you so much dear, i really appropriate your nice explanations about this.

Thank you so much for this! I was wondering if anyone could help with how to prproperly integrate quotations (Excerpts) from interviews in the finding chapter in a qualitative research. Please GradCoach, address this issue and provide examples.

what if I’m not doing any interviews myself and all the information is coming from case studies that have already done the research.

Very helpful thank you.

This was very helpful as I was wondering how to structure this part of my dissertation, to include the quotes… Thanks for this explanation

This is very helpful, thanks! I am required to write up my results chapters with the discussion in each of them – any tips and tricks for this strategy?

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Print Friendly

Chapter 20. Presentations

Introduction.

If a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If a qualitative study is conducted, but it is not presented (in words or text), did it really happen? Perhaps not. Findings from qualitative research are inextricably tied up with the way those findings are presented. These presentations do not always need to be in writing, but they need to happen. Think of ethnographies, for example, and their thick descriptions of a particular culture. Witnessing a culture, taking fieldnotes, talking to people—none of those things in and of themselves convey the culture. Or think about an interview-based phenomenological study. Boxes of interview transcripts might be interesting to read through, but they are not a completed study without the intervention of hours of analysis and careful selection of exemplary quotes to illustrate key themes and final arguments and theories. And unlike much quantitative research in the social sciences, where the final write-up neatly reports the results of analyses, the way the “write-up” happens is an integral part of the analysis in qualitative research. Once again, we come back to the messiness and stubborn unlinearity of qualitative research. From the very beginning, when designing the study, imagining the form of its ultimate presentation is helpful.

Because qualitative researchers are motivated by understanding and conveying meaning, effective communication is not only an essential skill but a fundamental facet of the entire research project. Ethnographers must be able to convey a certain sense of verisimilitude, the appearance of true reality. Those employing interviews must faithfully depict the key meanings of the people they interviewed in a way that rings true to those people, even if the end result surprises them. And all researchers must strive for clarity in their publications so that various audiences can understand what was found and why it is important. This chapter will address how to organize various kinds of presentations for different audiences so that your results can be appreciated and understood.

In the world of academic science, social or otherwise, the primary audience for a study’s results is usually the academic community, and the primary venue for communicating to this audience is the academic journal. Journal articles are typically fifteen to thirty pages in length (8,000 to 12,000 words). Although qualitative researchers often write and publish journal articles—indeed, there are several journals dedicated entirely to qualitative research [1] —the best writing by qualitative researchers often shows up in books. This is because books, running from 80,000 to 150,000 words in length, allow the researcher to develop the material fully. You have probably read some of these in various courses you have taken, not realizing what they are. I have used examples of such books throughout this text, beginning with the three profiles in the introductory chapter. In some instances, the chapters in these books began as articles in academic journals (another indication that the journal article format somewhat limits what can be said about the study overall).

While the article and the book are “final” products of qualitative research, there are actually a few other presentation formats that are used along the way. At the very beginning of a research study, it is often important to have a written research proposal not just to clarify to yourself what you will be doing and when but also to justify your research to an outside agency, such as an institutional review board (IRB; see chapter 12), or to a potential funder, which might be your home institution, a government funder (such as the National Science Foundation, or NSF), or a private foundation (such as the Gates Foundation). As you get your research underway, opportunities will arise to present preliminary findings to audiences, usually through presentations at academic conferences. These presentations can provide important feedback as you complete your analyses. Finally, if you are completing a degree and looking to find an academic job, you will be asked to provide a “job talk,” usually about your research. These job talks are similar to conference presentations but can run significantly longer.

All the presentations mentioned so far are (mostly) for academic audiences. But qualitative research is also unique in that many of its practitioners don’t want to confine their presentation only to other academics. Qualitative researchers who study particular contexts or cultures might want to report back to the people and places they observed. Those working in the critical tradition might want to raise awareness of a particular issue to as large an audience as possible. Many others simply want everyday, nonacademic people to read their work, because they think it is interesting and important. To reach a wide audience, the final product can look like almost anything—it can be a poem, a blog, a podcast, even a science fiction short story. And if you are very lucky, it can even be a national or international bestseller.

In this chapter, we are going to stick with the more basic quotidian presentations—the academic paper / research proposal, the conference slideshow presentation / job talk, and the conference poster. We’ll also spend a bit of time on incorporating universal design into your presentations and how to create some especially attractive and impactful visual displays.

Researcher Note

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given about conducting qualitative research?

The best advice I’ve received came from my adviser, Alford Young Jr. He told me to find the “Jessi Streib” answer to my research question, not the “Pierre Bourdieu” answer to my research question. In other words, don’t just say how a famous theorist would answer your question; say something original, something coming from you.

—Jessi Streib, author of The Power of the Past and Privilege Lost 

Writing about Your Research

The journal article and the research proposal.

Although the research proposal is written before you have actually done your research and the article is written after all data collection and analysis is complete, there are actually many similarities between the two in terms of organization and purpose. The final article will (probably—depends on how much the research question and focus have shifted during the research itself) incorporate a great deal of what was included in a preliminary research proposal. The average lengths of both a proposal and an article are quite similar, with the “front sections” of the article abbreviated to make space for the findings, discussion of findings, and conclusion.

Figure 20.1 shows one model for what to include in an article or research proposal, comparing the elements of each with a default word count for each section. Please note that you will want to follow whatever specific guidelines you have been provided by the venue you are submitting the article/proposal to: the IRB, the NSF, the Journal of Qualitative Research . In fact, I encourage you to adapt the default model as needed by swapping out expected word counts for each section and adding or varying the sections to match expectations for your particular publication venue. [2]

You will notice a few things about the default model guidelines. First, while half of the proposal is spent discussing the research design, this section is shortened (but still included) for the article. There are a few elements that only show up in the proposal (e.g., the limitations section is in the introductory section here—it will be more fully developed in the conclusory section in the article). Obviously, you don’t have findings in the proposal, so this is an entirely new section for the article. Note that the article does not include a data management plan or a timeline—two aspects that most proposals require.

It might be helpful to find and maintain examples of successfully written sections that you can use as models for your own writing. I have included a few of these throughout the textbook and have included a few more at the end of this chapter.

Make an Argument

Some qualitative researchers, particularly those engaged in deep ethnographic research, focus their attention primarily if not exclusively on describing the data. They might even eschew the notion that they should make an “argument” about the data, preferring instead to use thick descriptions to convey interpretations. Bracketing the contrast between interpretation and argument for the moment, most readers will expect you to provide an argument about your data, and this argument will be in answer to whatever research question you eventually articulate (remember, research questions are allowed to shift as you get further into data collection and analysis). It can be frustrating to read a well-developed study with clear and elegant descriptions and no argument. The argument is the point of the research, and if you do not have one, 99 percent of the time, you are not finished with your analysis. Calarco ( 2020 ) suggests you imagine a pyramid, with all of your data forming the basis and all of your findings forming the middle section; the top/point of the pyramid is your argument, “what the patterns in your data tell us about how the world works or ought to work” ( 181 ).

The academic community to which you belong will be looking for an argument that relates to or develops theory. This is the theoretical generalizability promise of qualitative research. An academic audience will want to know how your findings relate to previous findings, theories, and concepts (the literature review; see chapter 9). It is thus vitally important that you go back to your literature review (or develop a new one) and draw those connections in your discussion and/or conclusion. When writing to other audiences, you will still want an argument, although it may not be written as a theoretical one. What do I mean by that? Even if you are not referring to previous literature or developing new theories or adapting older ones, a simple description of your findings is like dumping a lot of leaves in the lap of your audience. They still deserve to know about the shape of the forest. Maybe provide them a road map through it. Do this by telling a clear and cogent story about the data. What is the primary theme, and why is it important? What is the point of your research? [3]

A beautifully written piece of research based on participant observation [and/or] interviews brings people to life, and helps the reader understand the challenges people face. You are trying to use vivid, detailed and compelling words to help the reader really understand the lives of the people you studied. And you are trying to connect the lived experiences of these people to a broader conceptual point—so that the reader can understand why it matters. ( Lareau 2021:259 )

Do not hide your argument. Make it the focal point of your introductory section, and repeat it as often as needed to ensure the reader remembers it. I am always impressed when I see researchers do this well (see, e.g., Zelizer 1996 ).

Here are a few other suggestions for writing your article: Be brief. Do not overwhelm the reader with too many words; make every word count. Academics are particularly prone to “overwriting” as a way of demonstrating proficiency. Don’t. When writing your methods section, think about it as a “recipe for your work” that allows other researchers to replicate if they so wish ( Calarco 2020:186 ). Convey all the necessary information clearly, succinctly, and accurately. No more, no less. [4] Do not try to write from “beginning to end” in that order. Certain sections, like the introductory section, may be the last ones you write. I find the methods section the easiest, so I often begin there. Calarco ( 2020 ) begins with an outline of the analysis and results section and then works backward from there to outline the contribution she is making, then the full introduction that serves as a road map for the writing of all sections. She leaves the abstract for the very end. Find what order best works for you.

Presenting at Conferences and Job Talks

Students and faculty are primarily called upon to publicly present their research in two distinct contexts—the academic conference and the “job talk.” By convention, conference presentations usually run about fifteen minutes and, at least in sociology and other social sciences, rely primarily on the use of a slideshow (PowerPoint Presentation or PPT) presentation. You are usually one of three or four presenters scheduled on the same “panel,” so it is an important point of etiquette to ensure that your presentation falls within the allotted time and does not crowd into that of the other presenters. Job talks, on the other hand, conventionally require a forty- to forty-five-minute presentation with a fifteen- to twenty-minute question and answer (Q&A) session following it. You are the only person presenting, so if you run over your allotted time, it means less time for the Q&A, which can disturb some audience members who have been waiting for a chance to ask you something. It is sometimes possible to incorporate questions during your presentation, which allows you to take the entire hour, but you might end up shorting your presentation this way if the questions are numerous. It’s best for beginners to stick to the “ask me at the end” format (unless there is a simple clarifying question that can easily be addressed and makes the presentation run more smoothly, as in the case where you simply forgot to include information on the number of interviews you conducted).

For slideshows, you should allot two or even three minutes for each slide, never less than one minute. And those slides should be clear, concise, and limited. Most of what you say should not be on those slides at all. The slides are simply the main points or a clear image of what you are speaking about. Include bulleted points (words, short phrases), not full sentences. The exception is illustrative quotations from transcripts or fieldnotes. In those cases, keep to one illustrative quote per slide, and if it is long, bold or otherwise, highlight the words or passages that are most important for the audience to notice. [5]

Figure 20.2 provides a possible model for sections to include in either a conference presentation or a job talk, with approximate times and approximate numbers of slides. Note the importance (in amount of time spent) of both the research design and the findings/results sections, both of which have been helpfully starred for you. Although you don’t want to short any of the sections, these two sections are the heart of your presentation.

Fig 20.2. Suggested Slideshow Times and Number of Slides

Should you write out your script to read along with your presentation? I have seen this work well, as it prevents presenters from straying off topic and keeps them to the time allotted. On the other hand, these presentations can seem stiff and wooden. Personally, although I have a general script in advance, I like to speak a little more informally and engagingly with each slide, sometimes making connections with previous panelists if I am at a conference. This means I have to pay attention to the time, and I sometimes end up breezing through one section more quickly than I would like. Whatever approach you take, practice in advance. Many times. With an audience. Ask for feedback, and pay attention to any presentation issues that arise (e.g., Do you speak too fast? Are you hard to hear? Do you stumble over a particular word or name?).

Even though there are rules and guidelines for what to include, you will still want to make your presentation as engaging as possible in the little amount of time you have. Calarco ( 2020:274 ) recommends trying one of three story structures to frame your presentation: (1) the uncertain explanation , where you introduce a phenomenon that has not yet been fully explained and then describe how your research is tackling this; (2) the uncertain outcome , where you introduce a phenomenon where the consequences have been unclear and then you reveal those consequences with your research; and (3) the evocative example , where you start with some interesting example from your research (a quote from the interview transcripts, for example) or the real world and then explain how that example illustrates the larger patterns you found in your research. Notice that each of these is a framing story. Framing stories are essential regardless of format!

A Word on Universal Design

Please consider accessibility issues during your presentation, and incorporate elements of universal design into your slideshow. The basic idea behind universal design in presentations is that to the greatest extent possible, all people should be able to view, hear, or otherwise take in your presentation without needing special individual adaptations. If you can make your presentation accessible to people with visual impairment or hearing loss, why not do so? For example, one in twelve men is color-blind, unable to differentiate between certain colors, red/green being the most common problem. So if you design a graphic that relies on red and green bars, some of your audience members may not be able to properly identify which bar means what. Simple contrasts of black and white are much more likely to be visible to all members of your audience. There are many other elements of good universal design, but the basic foundation of all of them is that you consider how to make your presentation as accessible as possible at the outset. For example, include captions whenever possible, both as descriptions on slides and as images on slides and for any audio or video clips you are including; keep font sizes large enough to read from the back of the room; and face the audience when you are.

Poster Design

Undergraduate students who present at conferences are often encouraged to present at “poster sessions.” This usually means setting up a poster version of your research in a large hall or convention space at a set period of time—ninety minutes is common. Your poster will be one of dozens, and conference-goers will wander through the space, stopping intermittently at posters that attract them. Those who stop by might ask you questions about your research, and you are expected to be able to talk intelligently for two or three minutes. It’s a fairly easy way to practice presenting at conferences, which is why so many organizations hold these special poster sessions.

A good poster design will be immediately attractive to passersby and clearly and succinctly describe your research methods, findings, and conclusions. Some students have simply shrunk down their research papers to manageable sizes and then pasted them on a poster, all twelve to fifteen pages of them. Don’t do that! Here are some better suggestions: State the main conclusion of your research in large bold print at the top of your poster, on brightly colored (contrasting) paper, and paste in a QR code that links to your full paper online ( Calarco 2020:280 ). Use the rest of the poster board to provide a couple of highlights and details of the study. For an interview-based study, for example, you will want to put in some details about your sample (including number of interviews) and setting and then perhaps one or two key quotes, also distinguished by contrasting color background.

Incorporating Visual Design in Your Presentations

In addition to ensuring that your presentation is accessible to as large an audience as possible, you also want to think about how to display your data in general, particularly how to use charts and graphs and figures. [6] The first piece of advice is, use them! As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. If you can cut to the chase with a visually stunning display, do so. But there are visual displays that are stunning, and then there are the tired, hard-to-see visual displays that predominate at conferences. You can do better than most presenters by simply paying attention here and committing yourself to a good design. As with model section passages, keep a file of visual displays that work as models for your own presentations. Find a good guidebook to presenting data effectively (Evergreen 2018 , 2019 ; Schwabisch 2021) , and refer to it often.

Let me make a few suggestions here to get you started. First, test every visual display on a friend or colleague to find out how quickly they can understand the point you are trying to convey. As with reading passages aloud to ensure that your writing works, showing someone your display is the quickest way to find out if it works. Second, put the point in the title of the display! When writing for an academic journal, there will be specific conventions of what to include in the title (full description including methods of analysis, sample, dates), but in a public presentation, there are no limiting rules. So you are free to write as your title “Working-Class College Students Are Three Times as Likely as Their Peers to Drop Out of College,” if that is the point of the graphic display. It certainly helps the communicative aspect. Third, use the themes available to you in Excel for creating graphic displays, but alter them to better fit your needs . Consider adding dark borders to bars and columns, for example, so that they appear crisper for your audience. Include data callouts and labels, and enlarge them so they are clearly visible. When duplicative or otherwise unnecessary, drop distracting gridlines and labels on the y-axis (the vertical one). Don’t go crazy adding different fonts, however—keep things simple and clear. Sans serif fonts (those without the little hooks on the ends of letters) read better from a distance. Try to use the same color scheme throughout, even if this means manually changing the colors of bars and columns. For example, when reporting on working-class college students, I use blue bars, while I reserve green bars for wealthy students and yellow bars for students in the middle. I repeat these colors throughout my presentations and incorporate different colors when talking about other items or factors. You can also try using simple grayscale throughout, with pops of color to indicate a bar or column or line that is of the most interest. These are just some suggestions. The point is to take presentation seriously and to pay attention to visual displays you are using to ensure they effectively communicate what you want them to communicate. I’ve included a data visualization checklist from Evergreen ( 2018 ) here.

Ethics of Presentation and Reliability

Until now, all the data you have collected have been yours alone. Once you present the data, however, you are sharing sometimes very intimate information about people with a broader public. You will find yourself balancing between protecting the privacy of those you’ve interviewed and observed and needing to demonstrate the reliability of the study. The more information you provide to your audience, the more they can understand and appreciate what you have found, but this also may pose risks to your participants. There is no one correct way to go about finding the right balance. As always, you have a duty to consider what you are doing and must make some hard decisions.

The most obvious place we see this paradox emerge is when you mask your data to protect the privacy of your participants. It is standard practice to provide pseudonyms, for example. It is such standard practice that you should always assume you are being given a pseudonym when reading a book or article based on qualitative research. When I was a graduate student, I tried to find information on how best to construct pseudonyms but found little guidance. There are some ethical issues here, I think. [7] Do you create a name that has the same kind of resonance as the original name? If the person goes by a nickname, should you use a nickname as a pseudonym? What about names that are ethnically marked (as in, almost all of them)? Is there something unethical about reracializing a person? (Yes!) In her study of adolescent subcultures, Wilkins ( 2008 ) noted, “Because many of the goths used creative, alternative names rather than their given names, I did my best to reproduce the spirit of their chosen names” ( 24 ).

Your reader or audience will want to know all the details about your participants so that they can gauge both your credibility and the reliability of your findings. But how many details are too many? What if you change the name but otherwise retain all the personal pieces of information about where they grew up, and how old they were when they got married, and how many children they have, and whether they made a splash in the news cycle that time they were stalked by their ex-boyfriend? At some point, those details are going to tip over into the zone of potential unmasking. When you are doing research at one particular field site that may be easily ascertained (as when you interview college students, probably at the institution at which you are a student yourself), it is even more important to be wary of providing too many details. You also need to think that your participants might read what you have written, know things about the site or the population from which you drew your interviews, and figure out whom you are talking about. This can all get very messy if you don’t do more than simply pseudonymize the people you interviewed or observed.

There are some ways to do this. One, you can design a study with all of these risks in mind. That might mean choosing to conduct interviews or observations at multiple sites so that no one person can be easily identified. Another is to alter some basic details about your participants to protect their identity or to refuse to provide all the information when selecting quotes . Let’s say you have an interviewee named “Anna” (a pseudonym), and she is a twenty-four-year-old Latina studying to be an engineer. You want to use a quote from Anna about racial discrimination in her graduate program. Instead of attributing the quote to Anna (whom your reader knows, because you’ve already told them, is a twenty-four-year-old Latina studying engineering), you might simply attribute the quote to “Latina student in STEM.” Taking this a step further, you might leave the quote unattributed, providing a list of quotes about racial discrimination by “various students.”

The problem with masking all the identifiers, of course, is that you lose some of the analytical heft of those attributes. If it mattered that Anna was twenty-four (not thirty-four) and that she was a Latina and that she was studying engineering, taking out any of those aspects of her identity might weaken your analysis. This is one of those “hard choices” you will be called on to make! A rather radical and controversial solution to this dilemma is to create composite characters , characters based on the reality of the interviews but fully masked because they are not identifiable with any one person. My students are often very queasy about this when I explain it to them. The more positivistic your approach and the more you see individuals rather than social relationships/structure as the “object” of your study, the more employing composites will seem like a really bad idea. But composites “allow researchers to present complex, situated accounts from individuals” without disclosing personal identities ( Willis 2019 ), and they can be effective ways of presenting theory narratively ( Hurst 2019 ). Ironically, composites permit you more latitude when including “dirty laundry” or stories that could harm individuals if their identities became known. Rather than squeezing out details that could identify a participant, the identities are permanently removed from the details. Great difficulty remains, however, in clearly explaining the theoretical use of composites to your audience and providing sufficient information on the reliability of the underlying data.

There are a host of other ethical issues that emerge as you write and present your data. This is where being reflective throughout the process will help. How and what you share of what you have learned will depend on the social relationships you have built, the audiences you are writing or speaking to, and the underlying animating goals of your study. Be conscious about all of your decisions, and then be able to explain them fully, both to yourself and to those who ask.

Our research is often close to us. As a Black woman who is a first-generation college student and a professional with a poverty/working-class origin, each of these pieces of my identity creates nuances in how I engage in my research, including how I share it out. Because of this, it’s important for us to have people in our lives who we trust who can help us, particularly, when we are trying to share our findings. As researchers, we have been steeped in our work, so we know all the details and nuances. Sometimes we take this for granted, and we might not have shared those nuances in conversation or writing or taken some of this information for granted. As I share my research with trusted friends and colleagues, I pay attention to the questions they ask me or the feedback they give when we talk or when they read drafts.

—Kim McAloney, PhD, College Student Services Administration Ecampus coordinator and instructor

Final Comments: Preparing for Being Challenged

Once you put your work out there, you must be ready to be challenged. Science is a collective enterprise and depends on a healthy give and take among researchers. This can be both novel and difficult as you get started, but the more you understand the importance of these challenges, the easier it will be to develop the kind of thick skin necessary for success in academia. Scientists’ authority rests on both the inherent strength of their findings and their ability to convince other scientists of the reliability and validity and value of those findings. So be prepared to be challenged, and recognize this as simply another important aspect of conducting research!

Considering what challenges might be made as you design and conduct your study will help you when you get to the writing and presentation stage. Address probable challenges in your final article, and have a planned response to probable questions in a conference presentation or job talk. The following is a list of common challenges of qualitative research and how you might best address them:

• Questions about generalizability . Although qualitative research is not statistically generalizable (and be prepared to explain why), qualitative research is theoretically generalizable. Discuss why your findings here might tell us something about related phenomena or contexts.
• Questions about reliability . You probably took steps to ensure the reliability of your findings. Discuss them! This includes explaining the use and value of multiple data sources and defending your sampling and case selections. It also means being transparent about your own position as researcher and explaining steps you took to ensure that what you were seeing was really there.
• Questions about replicability. Although qualitative research cannot strictly be replicated because the circumstances and contexts will necessarily be different (if only because the point in time is different), you should be able to provide as much detail as possible about how the study was conducted so that another researcher could attempt to confirm or disconfirm your findings. Also, be very clear about the limitations of your study, as this allows other researchers insight into what future research might be warranted.

None of this is easy, of course. Writing beautifully and presenting clearly and cogently require skill and practice. If you take anything from this chapter, it is to remember that presentation is an important and essential part of the research process and to allocate time for this as you plan your research.

Data Visualization Checklist for Slideshow (PPT) Presentations

Adapted from Evergreen ( 2018 )

Text checklist

• Short catchy, descriptive titles (e.g., “Working-class students are three times as likely to drop out of college”) summarize the point of the visual display
• Subtitled and annotations provide additional information (e.g., “note: male students also more likely to drop out”)
• Text size is hierarchical and readable (titles are largest; axes labels smallest, which should be at least 20points)
• Text is horizontal. Audience members cannot read vertical text!
• All data labeled directly and clearly: get rid of those “legends” and embed the data in your graphic display
• Labels are used sparingly; avoid redundancy (e.g., do not include both a number axis and a number label)

Arrangement checklist

• Proportions are accurate; bar charts should always start at zero; don’t mislead the audience!
• Data are intentionally ordered (e.g., by frequency counts). Do not leave ragged alphabetized bar graphs!
• Axis intervals are equidistant: spaces between axis intervals should be the same unit
• Graph is two-dimensional. Three-dimensional and “bevelled” displays are confusing
• There is no unwanted decoration (especially the kind that comes automatically through the PPT “theme”). This wastes your space and confuses.

Color checklist

• There is an intentional color scheme (do not use default theme)
• Color is used to identify key patterns (e.g., highlight one bar in red against six others in greyscale if this is the bar you want the audience to notice)
• Color is still legible when printed in black and white
• Color is legible for people with color blindness (do not use red/green or yellow/blue combinations)
• There is sufficient contrast between text and background (black text on white background works best; be careful of white on dark!)

Lines checklist

• Be wary of using gridlines; if you do, mute them (grey, not black)
• Allow graph to bleed into surroundings (don’t use border lines)
• Remove axis lines unless absolutely necessary (better to label directly)

Overall design checklist

• The display highlights a significant finding or conclusion that your audience can ‘”see” relatively quickly
• The type of graph (e.g., bar chart, pie chart, line graph) is appropriate for the data. Avoid pie charts with more than three slices!
• Graph has appropriate level of precision; if you don’t need decimal places
• All the chart elements work together to reinforce the main message

Universal Design Checklist for Slideshow (PPT) Presentations

• Include both verbal and written descriptions (e.g., captions on slides); consider providing a hand-out to accompany the presentation
• Microphone available (ask audience in back if they can clearly hear)
• Face audience; allow people to read your lips
• Turn on captions when presenting audio or video clips
• Adjust light settings for visibility
• Speak slowly and clearly; practice articulation; don’t mutter or speak under your breath (even if you have something humorous to say – say it loud!)
• Use Black/White contrasts for easy visibility; or use color contrasts that are real contrasts (do not rely on people being able to differentiate red from green, for example)
• Use easy to read font styles and avoid too small font sizes: think about what an audience member in the back row will be able to see and read.
• Keep your slides simple: do not overclutter them; if you are including quotes from your interviews, take short evocative snippets only, and bold key words and passages. You should also read aloud each passage, preferably with feeling!

Supplement: Models of Written Sections for Future Reference

Data collection section example.

Interviews were semi structured, lasted between one and three hours, and took place at a location chosen by the interviewee. Discussions centered on four general topics: (1) knowledge of their parent’s immigration experiences; (2) relationship with their parents; (3) understanding of family labor, including language-brokering experiences; and (4) experiences with school and peers, including any future life plans. While conducting interviews, I paid close attention to respondents’ nonverbal cues, as well as their use of metaphors and jokes. I conducted interviews until I reached a point of saturation, as indicated by encountering repeated themes in new interviews (Glaser and Strauss 1967). Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed with each interviewee’s permission, and conducted in accordance with IRB protocols. Minors received permission from their parents before participation in the interview. ( Kwon 2022:1832 )

Justification of Case Selection / Sample Description Section Example

Looking at one profession within one organization and in one geographic area does impose limitations on the generalizability of our findings. However, it also has advantages. We eliminate the problem of interorganizational heterogeneity. If multiple organizations are studied simultaneously, it can make it difficult to discern the mechanisms that contribute to racial inequalities. Even with a single occupation there is considerable heterogeneity, which may make understanding how organizational structure impacts worker outcomes difficult. By using the case of one group of professionals in one religious denomination in one geographic region of the United States, we clarify how individuals’ perceptions and experiences of occupational inequality unfold in relation to a variety of observed and unobserved occupational and contextual factors that might be obscured in a larger-scale study. Focusing on a specific group of professionals allows us to explore and identify ways that formal organizational rules combine with informal processes to contribute to the persistence of racial inequality. ( Eagle and Mueller 2022:1510–1511 )

Ethics Section Example

I asked everyone who was willing to sit for a formal interview to speak only for themselves and offered each of them a prepaid Visa Card worth $25–40. I also offered everyone the opportunity to keep the card and erase the tape completely at any time they were dissatisfied with the interview in any way. No one asked for the tape to be erased; rather, people remarked on the interview being a really good experience because they felt heard. Each interview was professionally transcribed and for the most part the excerpts are literal transcriptions. In a few places, the excerpts have been edited to reduce colloquial features of speech (e.g., you know, like, um) and some recursive elements common to spoken language. A few excerpts were placed into standard English for clarity. I made this choice for the benefit of readers who might otherwise find the insights and ideas harder to parse in the original. However, I have to acknowledge this as an act of class-based violence. I tried to keep the original phrasing whenever possible. ( Pascale 2021:235 )

Further Readings

Calarco, Jessica McCrory. 2020. A Field Guide to Grad School: Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Don’t let the unassuming title mislead you—there is a wealth of helpful information on writing and presenting data included here in a highly accessible manner. Every graduate student should have a copy of this book.

Edwards, Mark. 2012. Writing in Sociology . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. An excellent guide to writing and presenting sociological research by an Oregon State University professor. Geared toward undergraduates and useful for writing about either quantitative or qualitative research or both.

Evergreen, Stephanie D. H. 2018. Presenting Data Effectively: Communicating Your Findings for Maximum Impact . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. This is one of my very favorite books, and I recommend it highly for everyone who wants their presentations and publications to communicate more effectively than the boring black-and-white, ragged-edge tables and figures academics are used to seeing.

Evergreen, Stephanie D. H. 2019. Effective Data Visualization 2 . Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. This is an advanced primer for presenting clean and clear data using graphs, tables, color, font, and so on. Start with Evergreen (2018), and if you graduate from that text, move on to this one.

Schwabisch, Jonathan. 2021. Better Data Visualizations: A Guide for Scholars, Researchers, and Wonks . New York: Columbia University Press. Where Evergreen’s (2018, 2019) focus is on how to make the best visual displays possible for effective communication, this book is specifically geared toward visual displays of academic data, both quantitative and qualitative. If you want to know when it is appropriate to use a pie chart instead of a stacked bar chart, this is the reference to use.

• Some examples: Qualitative Inquiry , Qualitative Research , American Journal of Qualitative Research , Ethnography , Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research , Qualitative Report , Qualitative Sociology , and Qualitative Studies . ↵
• This is something I do with every article I write: using Excel, I write each element of the expected article in a separate row, with one column for “expected word count” and another column for “actual word count.” I fill in the actual word count as I write. I add a third column for “comments to myself”—how things are progressing, what I still need to do, and so on. I then use the “sum” function below each of the first two columns to keep a running count of my progress relative to the final word count. ↵
• And this is true, I would argue, even when your primary goal is to leave space for the voices of those who don’t usually get a chance to be part of the conversation. You will still want to put those voices in some kind of choir, with a clear direction (song) to be sung. The worst thing you can do is overwhelm your audience with random quotes or long passages with no key to understanding them. Yes, a lot of metaphors—qualitative researchers love metaphors! ↵
• To take Calarco’s recipe analogy further, do not write like those food bloggers who spend more time discussing the color of their kitchen or the experiences they had at the market than they do the actual cooking; similarly, do not write recipes that omit crucial details like the amount of flour or the size of the baking pan used or the temperature of the oven. ↵
• The exception is the “compare and contrast” of two or more quotes, but use caution here. None of the quotes should be very long at all (a sentence or two each). ↵
• Although this section is geared toward presentations, many of the suggestions could also be useful when writing about your data. Don’t be afraid to use charts and graphs and figures when writing your proposal, article, thesis, or dissertation. At the very least, you should incorporate a tabular display of the participants, sites, or documents used. ↵
• I was so puzzled by these kinds of questions that I wrote one of my very first articles on it ( Hurst 2008 ). ↵

The visual presentation of data or information through graphics such as charts, graphs, plots, infographics, maps, and animation.  Recall the best documentary you ever viewed, and there were probably excellent examples of good data visualization there (for me, this was An Inconvenient Truth , Al Gore’s film about climate change).  Good data visualization allows more effective communication of findings of research, particularly in public presentations (e.g., slideshows).

Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods Copyright © 2023 by Allison Hurst is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts
• Published: 26 April 2008

Analysing and presenting qualitative data

• P. Burnard 1 ,
• P. Gill 2 ,
• K. Stewart 3 ,
• E. Treasure 4 &
• B. Chadwick 5  

British Dental Journal volume  204 ,  pages 429–432 ( 2008 ) Cite this article

359k Accesses

646 Citations

27 Altmetric

Metrics details

Analysing and presenting qualitative data is one of the most confusing aspects of qualitative research.

This paper provides a pragmatic approach using a form of thematic content analysis. Approaches to presenting qualitative data are also discussed.

The process of qualitative data analysis is labour intensive and time consuming. Those who are unsure about this approach should seek appropriate advice.

This paper provides a pragmatic approach to analysing qualitative data, using actual data from a qualitative dental public health study for demonstration purposes. The paper also critically explores how computers can be used to facilitate this process, the debate about the verification (validation) of qualitative analyses and how to write up and present qualitative research studies.

You have full access to this article via your institution.

Similar content being viewed by others

Misunderstanding the harms of online misinformation

An overview of clinical decision support systems: benefits, risks, and strategies for success

Principal component analysis

Introduction.

Previous papers in this series have introduced readers to qualitative research and identified approaches to collecting qualitative data. However, for those new to this approach, one of the most bewildering aspects of qualitative research is, perhaps, how to analyse and present the data once it has been collected. This final paper therefore considers a method of analysing and presenting textual data gathered during qualitative work. boxed-text

Box 1: Qualitative research in dentistry

Qualitative research in dentistry

Methods of data collection in qualitative research: interviews and focus groups

Conducting qualitative interviews with school children in dental research

Approaches to analysing qualitative data

There are two fundamental approaches to analysing qualitative data (although each can be handled in a variety of different ways): the deductive approach and the inductive approach. 1 , 2 Deductive approaches involve using a structure or predetermined framework to analyse data. Essentially, the researcher imposes their own structure or theories on the data and then uses these to analyse the interview transcripts. 3

This approach is useful in studies where researchers are already aware of probable participant responses. For example, if a study explored patients' reasons for complaining about their dentist, the interview may explore common reasons for patients' complaints, such as trauma following treatment and communication problems. The data analysis would then consist of examining each interview to determine how many patients had complaints of each type and the extent to which complaints of each type co-occur. 3 However, while this approach is relatively quick and easy, it is inflexible and can potentially bias the whole analysis process as the coding framework has been decided in advance, which can severely limit theme and theory development.

Conversely, the inductive approach involves analysing data with little or no predetermined theory, structure or framework and uses the actual data itself to derive the structure of analysis. This approach is comprehensive and therefore time-consuming and is most suitable where little or nothing is known about the study phenomenon. Inductive analysis is the most common approach used to analyse qualitative data 2 and is, therefore, the focus of this paper.

Whilst a variety of inductive approaches to analysing qualitative data are available, the method of analysis described in this paper is that of thematic content analysis , and is, perhaps, the most common method of data analysis used in qualitative work. 4 , 5 This method arose out of the approach known as grounded theory, 6 although the method can be used in a range of other types of qualitative work, including ethnography and phenomenology (see the first paper in this series 7 for definitions). Indeed, the process of thematic content analysis is often very similar in all types of qualitative research, in that the process involves analysing transcripts, identifying themes within those data and gathering together examples of those themes from the text.

Data collection and data analysis

Interview transcripts, field notes and observations provide a descriptive account of the study, but they do not provide explanations. 4 It is the researcher who has to make sense of the data that have been collected by exploring and interpreting them.

Quantitative and qualitative research differ somewhat in their approach to data analysis. In quantitative research, data analysis often only occurs after all or much of data have been collected. However, in qualitative research, data analysis often begins during, or immediately after, the first data are collected, although this process continues and is modified throughout the study. Initial analysis of the data may also further inform subsequent data collection. For example, interview schedules may be slightly modified in light of emerging findings, where additional clarification may be required.

Computer software for data analysis

The method of analysis described in this paper involves managing the data 'by hand'. However, there are several computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) packages available that can be used to manage and help in the analysis of qualitative data. Common programmes include ATLAS. ti and NVivo. It should be noted, however, that such programs do not 'analyse' the data – that is the task of the researcher – they simply manage the data and make handling of them easier.

For example, computer packages can help to manage, sort and organise large volumes of qualitative data, store, annotate and retrieve text, locate words, phrases and segments of data, prepare diagrams and extract quotes. 8 However, whilst computer programmes can facilitate data analysis, making the process easier and, arguably, more flexible, accurate and comprehensive, they do not confirm or deny the scientific value or quality of qualitative research, as they are merely instruments, as good or as bad as the researcher using them.

Stages in the process

Regardless of whether data are analysed by hand or using computer software, the process of thematic content analysis is essentially the same, in that it involves identifying themes and categories that 'emerge from the data'. This involves discovering themes in the interview transcripts and attempting to verify, confirm and qualify them by searching through the data and repeating the process to identify further themes and categories. 4

In order to do this, once the interviews have been transcribed verbatim, the researcher reads each transcript and makes notes in the margins of words, theories or short phrases that sum up what is being said in the text. This is usually known as open coding. The aim, however, is to offer a summary statement or word for each element that is discussed in the transcript. The exception to this is when the respondent has clearly gone off track and begun to move away from the topic under discussion. Such deviations (as long as they really are deviations) can simply be uncoded. Such 'off the topic' material is sometimes known as 'dross'. 9

Table 1 is an example of the initial coding framework used in the data generated from an actual interview with a child in a qualitative dental public health study, exploring primary school children's understanding of food. 10

In the second stage, the researcher collects together all of the words and phrases from all of the interviews onto a clean set of pages. These can then be worked through and all duplications crossed out. This will have the effect of reducing the numbers of 'categories' quite considerably. 11 , 12 Using a section of the initial coding framework from the above study, 10 such a list of categories might read as follows:

Children's perception of food

Positive notions of food and their consequences

Negative notions of food and their consequences

Peer influence

Healthy/unhealthy foods

Effects of sweets and chocolates

Effects of 'junk food'

Food choices in school

Diet in childhood

Food preferences

Expected diet as a 'grown up'

Food choices and preferences of friendship groups

Effects of fizzy drinks

Perceptions of adult/child diets

The need to be 'healthy' as an adult.

Once this second, shorter list of categories has been compiled, the researcher goes a stage further and looks for overlapping or similar categories. Informed by the analytical and theoretical ideas developed during the research, these categories are further refined and reduced in number by grouping them together. 4 A list of several categories (perhaps up to a maximum of twelve) can then be compiled. If we consider the above example, we might eventually come up with the reduced list shown in Table 2 .

This reduced list forms the final category system that can be used to divide up all of the interviews. 12 The next stage is to allocate each of the categories its own coloured marking pen and then each transcript is worked through and data that fit under a particular category are marked with the according colour. Finally, all of the sections of data, under each of the categories (and thus assigned a particular colour) are cut out and pasted onto the A4 sheets. Subject dividers can then be labelled with each category label and the corresponding coloured snippets, on each of the pages, are filed in a lever arch file. What the researcher has achieved is an organised dataset, filed in one folder. It is from this folder that the report of the findings can be written.

As discussed earlier, computer programmes can be used to manage this process and may be particularly useful in qualitative studies with larger datasets. However, researchers wishing to use such software should first undertake appropriate training and should be aware that most programmes often do not abide by normal MS Windows conventions (eg, most interview transcripts have to be converted from MS Word into rich text format before they can be imported into the programme for analysis).

Verification

The analysis of qualitative data does, of course, involve interpreting the study findings. However, this process is arguably more subjective than the process normally associated with quantitative data analysis, since a common belief amongst social scientists is that a definitive, objective view of social reality does not exist. For example, some quantitative researchers claim that qualitative accounts cannot be held straightforwardly to represent the social world, thus different researchers may interpret the same data somewhat differently. 4 Consequently, this leads to the issue of the verifiability of qualitative data analysis.

There is, therefore, a debate as to whether qualitative researchers should have their analyses verified or validated by a third party. 13 , 14 It has been argued that this process can make the analysis more rigorous and reduce the element bias. There are two key ways of having data analyses validated by others: respondent validation (or member check) – returning to the study participants and asking them to validate analyses – and peer review (or peer debrief, also referred to as inter-rater reliability) – whereby another qualitative researcher analyses the data independently. 13 , 14 , 15

Participant validation involves returning to respondents and asking them to carefully read through their interview transcripts and/or data analysis for them to validate, or refute, the researcher's interpretation of the data. Whilst this can arguably help to refine theme and theory development, the process is hugely time consuming and, if it does not occur relatively soon after data collection and analysis, participants may have also changed their perceptions and views because of temporal effects and potential changes in their situation, health, and perhaps even as a result of participation in the study. 15

Some respondents may also want to modify their opinions on re-presentation of the data if they now feel that, on reflection, their original comments are not 'socially desirable'. There is also the problem of how to present such information to people who are likely to be non-academics. Furthermore, it is possible that some participants will not recognise some of the emerging theories, as each of them will probably have contributed only a portion of the data. 16

The process of peer review involves at least one other suitably experienced researcher independently reviewing and exploring interview transcripts, data analysis and emerging themes. It has been argued that this process may help to guard against the potential for lone researcher bias and help to provide additional insights into theme and theory development. 14 , 16 , 17 However, many researchers also feel that the value of this approach is questionable, since it is possible that each researcher may interpret the data, or parts of it, differently. 8 Also, if both perspectives are grounded in and supported by the data, is one interpretation necessarily stronger or more valid than the other?

Unfortunately, despite perpetual debate, there is no definitive answer to the issue of validity in qualitative analysis. However, to ensure that the analysis process is systematic and rigorous, the whole corpus of collected data must be thoroughly analysed. Therefore, where appropriate, this should also include the search for and identification of relevant 'deviant or contrary cases' – ie, findings that are different or contrary to the main findings, or are simply unique to some or even just one respondent. Qualitative researchers should also utilise a process of 'constant comparison' when analysing data. This essentially involves reading and re-reading data to search for and identify emerging themes in the constant search for understanding and the meaning of the data. 18 , 19 Where appropriate, researchers should also provide a detailed explication in published reports of how data was collected and analysed, as this helps the reader to critically assess the value of the study.

It should also be noted that qualitative data cannot be usefully quantified given the nature, composition and size of the sample group, and ultimately the epistemological aim of the methodology.

Writing and presenting qualitative research

There are two main approaches to writing up the findings of qualitative research. 20 The first is to simply report key findings under each main theme or category, using appropriate verbatim quotes to illustrate those findings. This is then accompanied by a linking, separate discussion chapter in which the findings are discussed in relation to existing research (as in quantitative studies). The second is to do the same but to incorporate the discussion into the findings chapter. Below are brief examples of the two approaches, using actual data from a qualitative dental public health study that explored primary school children's understanding of food. 10

Example a (the traditional approach):

Contrasts and contradictions

The interviews demonstrated that children are able to operate contrasts and contradictions about food effortlessly. These contradictions are both sophisticated and complex, incorporating positive and negative notions relating to food and its health and social consequences, which they are able to fluently adopt when talking about food:

'My mother says drink juice because it's healthy and she says if you don't drink it you won't get healthy and you won't have any sweets and you'll end up having to go to hospital if you don't eat anything like vegetables because you'll get weak' . (Girl, school 3, age 11 years).

If this approach was used, the findings chapter would subsequently be followed by a separate supporting discussion and conclusion section in which the findings would be critically discussed and compared to the appropriate existing research. As in quantitative research, these supporting chapters would also be used to develop theories or hypothesise about the data and, if appropriate, to make realistic conclusions and recommendations for practice and further research.

Example b (combined findings and discussion chapter):

Copying friends

In this study, as with others (eg Ludvigsen & Sharma 21 and Watt & Sheiham 22 ), peer influence is a strong factor, with children copying each other's food choices at school meal times:

Girl: 'They say “copy me and what I have.”'

Interviewer: 'And do you copy them if they say that?'

Girl: 'Yes.'

Interviewer: 'Why do you copy them if they say that?'

Girl: 'Because they are my friends.'

(Girl, school 1, age 7).

Children also identified friendship groups according to the school meal type they have. Children have been known to have school dinners, or packed lunches if their friends also have the same. 21

If this approach was used, the combined findings and discussion section would simply be followed by a concluding chapter. Further guidance on writing up qualitative reports can be found in the literature. 20

This paper has described a pragmatic process of thematic content analysis as a method of analysing qualitative data generated by interviews or focus groups. Other approaches to analysis are available and are discussed in the literature. 23 , 24 , 25 The method described here offers a method of generating categories under which similar themes or categories can be collated. The paper also briefly illustrates two different ways of presenting qualitative reports, having analysed the data.

This analysis process, when done properly, is systematic and rigorous and therefore labour-intensive and time consuming. 4 Consequently, for those undertaking this process for the first time, we recommend seeking advice from experienced qualitative researchers.

Spencer L, Ritchie J, O'Connor W . Analysis: practices, principles and processes. In Ritchie J, Lewis J (eds) Qualitative research practice . pp 199–218. London: Sage Publications, 2004.

Google Scholar  

Lathlean J . Qualitative analysis. In Gerrish K, Lacy A (eds) The research process in nursing . pp 417–433. Oxford: Blackwell Science, 2006.

Williams C, Bower E J, Newton J T . Research in primary dental care part 6: data analysis. Br Dent J 2004; 197 : 67–73.

Article   Google Scholar  

Pope C, Ziebland S, Mays N . Analysing qualitative data. In Pope C, Mays N (eds) Qualitative research in health care . 2nd ed. pp 75–88. London: BMJ Books, 1999.

Ritchie J, Spencer L, O'Connor W . Carrying out qualitative analysis. In Ritchie J, Lewis J (eds) Qualitative research practice . pp 219–262. London: Sage Publications, 2004.

Glaser B G, Strauss A L . The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research . Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, 1967.

Stewart K, Gill P, Chadwick B, Treasure E . Qualitative research in dentistry. Br Dent J 2008; 204 : 235–239.

Seale C . Analysing your data. In Silverman D (ed) Doing qualitative research . pp 154–174. London: Sage Publications, 2000.

Morse J M, Field P . Nursing research: the application of qualitative approaches . Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes, 1996.

Book   Google Scholar  

Stewart K, Gill P, Treasure E, Chadwick B . Understanding about food among 6-11 year olds in South Wales. Food Cult Soc 2006; 9 : 317–333.

Burnard P . A method of analysing interview transcripts in qualitative research. Nurse Educ Today 1991; 11 : 461–466.

Burnard P . A pragmatic approach to qualitative data analysis. In Newell R, Burnard P (eds). Research for evidence based practice . pp 97–107. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006.

Mays N, Pope C . Rigour and qualitative research. BMJ 1995; 311 : 109–112.

Barbour R S . Checklists for improving rigour in qualitative research: a case of the tail wagging the dog? BMJ 2001; 322 : 1115–1117.

Long T, Johnson M . Rigour, reliability and validity in qualitative research. Clin Eff Nurs 2000; 4 : 30–37.

Cutcliffe J R, McKenna H P . Establishing the credibility of qualitative research findings: the plot thickens. J Adv Nurs 1999; 30 : 374–380.

Andrews M, Lyne P, Riley E . Validity in qualitative health care research: an exploration of the impact of individual researcher perspectives within collaborative enquiry. J Adv Nurs 1996; 23 : 441–447.

Silverman D . Doing qualitative research . London: Sage Publications, 2000.

Polit D F, Beck C T . Essentials of nursing research: methods, appraisal, and utilization . 6th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2006.

Burnard P . Writing a qualitative research report. Nurse Educ Today 2004; 24 : 174–179.

Ludvigsen A, Sharma N . Burger boy and sporty girl; children and young people's attitudes towards food in school . Barkingside: Barnardo's, 2004.

Watt R G, Sheiham A . Towards an understanding of young people's conceptualisation of food and eating. Health Educ J 1997; 56 : 340–349.

Bryman A, Burgess R (eds). Analysing qualitative data . London: Routledge, 1993.

Miles M, Huberman A . Qualitative data analysis . 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1994.

Silverman D . Interpreting qualitative data: methods for analysing talk, text and interaction . 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2006.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Professor of Nursing, Cardiff School of Nursing and Midwifery Studies, Ty Dewi Sant, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XY,

Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Health, Sport and Science, University of Glamorgan, Pontypridd, CF37 1DL,

Research Fellow, Academic Unit of Primary Care, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 2AA,

Dean, School of Dentistry/Professor of Dental Public Health, Cardiff University, Heath Park, CF14 4XY, Cardiff

E. Treasure

Professor of Paediatric Dentistry, Dental Health and Biological Sciences, School of Dentistry, Cardiff University, Heath Park, Cardiff, CF14 4XY,

B. Chadwick

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. Gill .

Additional information

Refereed paper

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Burnard, P., Gill, P., Stewart, K. et al. Analysing and presenting qualitative data. Br Dent J 204 , 429–432 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2008.292

Download citation

Published : 26 April 2008

Issue Date : 26 April 2008

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2008.292

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

This article is cited by

Oral health knowledge, literacy and behavior of pregnant women: a qualitative study in a northeastern province of thailand.

• Nitikorn Phoosuwan
• Pimchanok Bunnatee
• Pranee C. Lundberg

BMC Oral Health (2024)

Primary-school-aged children inspire their peers and families to eat more vegetables in the KiiDSAY project: a qualitative descriptive study

• Karpouzis F.
• Lindberg R.

BMC Pediatrics (2024)

Nurse assistants’ perception of caring for older persons who are dying in their own home

• Magdalena Annersten Gershater
• Josefin Brenner

BMC Palliative Care (2024)

COVID-19 and Challenging Working Environments: Experiences of Black Sub-Saharan African (BSSA) Front-Line Health Care Professionals Amid of COVID-19 Pandemic in the English Midlands Region

• Nyashanu Mathew
• Pfende Farai
• Mandu Stephen Ekpenyong

Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2024)

Ethical and Regulatory Gaps in Aesthetic Medical Practice in Top Asian Medical Tourism Destinations

• Nishakanthi Gopalan

Asian Bioethics Review (2024)

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• Can J Hosp Pharm
• v.68(3); May-Jun 2015

Qualitative Research: Data Collection, Analysis, and Management

Introduction.

In an earlier paper, 1 we presented an introduction to using qualitative research methods in pharmacy practice. In this article, we review some principles of the collection, analysis, and management of qualitative data to help pharmacists interested in doing research in their practice to continue their learning in this area. Qualitative research can help researchers to access the thoughts and feelings of research participants, which can enable development of an understanding of the meaning that people ascribe to their experiences. Whereas quantitative research methods can be used to determine how many people undertake particular behaviours, qualitative methods can help researchers to understand how and why such behaviours take place. Within the context of pharmacy practice research, qualitative approaches have been used to examine a diverse array of topics, including the perceptions of key stakeholders regarding prescribing by pharmacists and the postgraduation employment experiences of young pharmacists (see “Further Reading” section at the end of this article).

In the previous paper, 1 we outlined 3 commonly used methodologies: ethnography 2 , grounded theory 3 , and phenomenology. 4 Briefly, ethnography involves researchers using direct observation to study participants in their “real life” environment, sometimes over extended periods. Grounded theory and its later modified versions (e.g., Strauss and Corbin 5 ) use face-to-face interviews and interactions such as focus groups to explore a particular research phenomenon and may help in clarifying a less-well-understood problem, situation, or context. Phenomenology shares some features with grounded theory (such as an exploration of participants’ behaviour) and uses similar techniques to collect data, but it focuses on understanding how human beings experience their world. It gives researchers the opportunity to put themselves in another person’s shoes and to understand the subjective experiences of participants. 6 Some researchers use qualitative methodologies but adopt a different standpoint, and an example of this appears in the work of Thurston and others, 7 discussed later in this paper.

Qualitative work requires reflection on the part of researchers, both before and during the research process, as a way of providing context and understanding for readers. When being reflexive, researchers should not try to simply ignore or avoid their own biases (as this would likely be impossible); instead, reflexivity requires researchers to reflect upon and clearly articulate their position and subjectivities (world view, perspectives, biases), so that readers can better understand the filters through which questions were asked, data were gathered and analyzed, and findings were reported. From this perspective, bias and subjectivity are not inherently negative but they are unavoidable; as a result, it is best that they be articulated up-front in a manner that is clear and coherent for readers.

THE PARTICIPANT’S VIEWPOINT

What qualitative study seeks to convey is why people have thoughts and feelings that might affect the way they behave. Such study may occur in any number of contexts, but here, we focus on pharmacy practice and the way people behave with regard to medicines use (e.g., to understand patients’ reasons for nonadherence with medication therapy or to explore physicians’ resistance to pharmacists’ clinical suggestions). As we suggested in our earlier article, 1 an important point about qualitative research is that there is no attempt to generalize the findings to a wider population. Qualitative research is used to gain insights into people’s feelings and thoughts, which may provide the basis for a future stand-alone qualitative study or may help researchers to map out survey instruments for use in a quantitative study. It is also possible to use different types of research in the same study, an approach known as “mixed methods” research, and further reading on this topic may be found at the end of this paper.

The role of the researcher in qualitative research is to attempt to access the thoughts and feelings of study participants. This is not an easy task, as it involves asking people to talk about things that may be very personal to them. Sometimes the experiences being explored are fresh in the participant’s mind, whereas on other occasions reliving past experiences may be difficult. However the data are being collected, a primary responsibility of the researcher is to safeguard participants and their data. Mechanisms for such safeguarding must be clearly articulated to participants and must be approved by a relevant research ethics review board before the research begins. Researchers and practitioners new to qualitative research should seek advice from an experienced qualitative researcher before embarking on their project.

DATA COLLECTION

Whatever philosophical standpoint the researcher is taking and whatever the data collection method (e.g., focus group, one-to-one interviews), the process will involve the generation of large amounts of data. In addition to the variety of study methodologies available, there are also different ways of making a record of what is said and done during an interview or focus group, such as taking handwritten notes or video-recording. If the researcher is audio- or video-recording data collection, then the recordings must be transcribed verbatim before data analysis can begin. As a rough guide, it can take an experienced researcher/transcriber 8 hours to transcribe one 45-minute audio-recorded interview, a process than will generate 20–30 pages of written dialogue.

Many researchers will also maintain a folder of “field notes” to complement audio-taped interviews. Field notes allow the researcher to maintain and comment upon impressions, environmental contexts, behaviours, and nonverbal cues that may not be adequately captured through the audio-recording; they are typically handwritten in a small notebook at the same time the interview takes place. Field notes can provide important context to the interpretation of audio-taped data and can help remind the researcher of situational factors that may be important during data analysis. Such notes need not be formal, but they should be maintained and secured in a similar manner to audio tapes and transcripts, as they contain sensitive information and are relevant to the research. For more information about collecting qualitative data, please see the “Further Reading” section at the end of this paper.

DATA ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT

If, as suggested earlier, doing qualitative research is about putting oneself in another person’s shoes and seeing the world from that person’s perspective, the most important part of data analysis and management is to be true to the participants. It is their voices that the researcher is trying to hear, so that they can be interpreted and reported on for others to read and learn from. To illustrate this point, consider the anonymized transcript excerpt presented in Appendix 1 , which is taken from a research interview conducted by one of the authors (J.S.). We refer to this excerpt throughout the remainder of this paper to illustrate how data can be managed, analyzed, and presented.

Interpretation of Data

Interpretation of the data will depend on the theoretical standpoint taken by researchers. For example, the title of the research report by Thurston and others, 7 “Discordant indigenous and provider frames explain challenges in improving access to arthritis care: a qualitative study using constructivist grounded theory,” indicates at least 2 theoretical standpoints. The first is the culture of the indigenous population of Canada and the place of this population in society, and the second is the social constructivist theory used in the constructivist grounded theory method. With regard to the first standpoint, it can be surmised that, to have decided to conduct the research, the researchers must have felt that there was anecdotal evidence of differences in access to arthritis care for patients from indigenous and non-indigenous backgrounds. With regard to the second standpoint, it can be surmised that the researchers used social constructivist theory because it assumes that behaviour is socially constructed; in other words, people do things because of the expectations of those in their personal world or in the wider society in which they live. (Please see the “Further Reading” section for resources providing more information about social constructivist theory and reflexivity.) Thus, these 2 standpoints (and there may have been others relevant to the research of Thurston and others 7 ) will have affected the way in which these researchers interpreted the experiences of the indigenous population participants and those providing their care. Another standpoint is feminist standpoint theory which, among other things, focuses on marginalized groups in society. Such theories are helpful to researchers, as they enable us to think about things from a different perspective. Being aware of the standpoints you are taking in your own research is one of the foundations of qualitative work. Without such awareness, it is easy to slip into interpreting other people’s narratives from your own viewpoint, rather than that of the participants.

To analyze the example in Appendix 1 , we will adopt a phenomenological approach because we want to understand how the participant experienced the illness and we want to try to see the experience from that person’s perspective. It is important for the researcher to reflect upon and articulate his or her starting point for such analysis; for example, in the example, the coder could reflect upon her own experience as a female of a majority ethnocultural group who has lived within middle class and upper middle class settings. This personal history therefore forms the filter through which the data will be examined. This filter does not diminish the quality or significance of the analysis, since every researcher has his or her own filters; however, by explicitly stating and acknowledging what these filters are, the researcher makes it easer for readers to contextualize the work.

Transcribing and Checking

For the purposes of this paper it is assumed that interviews or focus groups have been audio-recorded. As mentioned above, transcribing is an arduous process, even for the most experienced transcribers, but it must be done to convert the spoken word to the written word to facilitate analysis. For anyone new to conducting qualitative research, it is beneficial to transcribe at least one interview and one focus group. It is only by doing this that researchers realize how difficult the task is, and this realization affects their expectations when asking others to transcribe. If the research project has sufficient funding, then a professional transcriber can be hired to do the work. If this is the case, then it is a good idea to sit down with the transcriber, if possible, and talk through the research and what the participants were talking about. This background knowledge for the transcriber is especially important in research in which people are using jargon or medical terms (as in pharmacy practice). Involving your transcriber in this way makes the work both easier and more rewarding, as he or she will feel part of the team. Transcription editing software is also available, but it is expensive. For example, ELAN (more formally known as EUDICO Linguistic Annotator, developed at the Technical University of Berlin) 8 is a tool that can help keep data organized by linking media and data files (particularly valuable if, for example, video-taping of interviews is complemented by transcriptions). It can also be helpful in searching complex data sets. Products such as ELAN do not actually automatically transcribe interviews or complete analyses, and they do require some time and effort to learn; nonetheless, for some research applications, it may be a valuable to consider such software tools.

All audio recordings should be transcribed verbatim, regardless of how intelligible the transcript may be when it is read back. Lines of text should be numbered. Once the transcription is complete, the researcher should read it while listening to the recording and do the following: correct any spelling or other errors; anonymize the transcript so that the participant cannot be identified from anything that is said (e.g., names, places, significant events); insert notations for pauses, laughter, looks of discomfort; insert any punctuation, such as commas and full stops (periods) (see Appendix 1 for examples of inserted punctuation), and include any other contextual information that might have affected the participant (e.g., temperature or comfort of the room).

Dealing with the transcription of a focus group is slightly more difficult, as multiple voices are involved. One way of transcribing such data is to “tag” each voice (e.g., Voice A, Voice B). In addition, the focus group will usually have 2 facilitators, whose respective roles will help in making sense of the data. While one facilitator guides participants through the topic, the other can make notes about context and group dynamics. More information about group dynamics and focus groups can be found in resources listed in the “Further Reading” section.

Reading between the Lines

During the process outlined above, the researcher can begin to get a feel for the participant’s experience of the phenomenon in question and can start to think about things that could be pursued in subsequent interviews or focus groups (if appropriate). In this way, one participant’s narrative informs the next, and the researcher can continue to interview until nothing new is being heard or, as it says in the text books, “saturation is reached”. While continuing with the processes of coding and theming (described in the next 2 sections), it is important to consider not just what the person is saying but also what they are not saying. For example, is a lengthy pause an indication that the participant is finding the subject difficult, or is the person simply deciding what to say? The aim of the whole process from data collection to presentation is to tell the participants’ stories using exemplars from their own narratives, thus grounding the research findings in the participants’ lived experiences.

Smith 9 suggested a qualitative research method known as interpretative phenomenological analysis, which has 2 basic tenets: first, that it is rooted in phenomenology, attempting to understand the meaning that individuals ascribe to their lived experiences, and second, that the researcher must attempt to interpret this meaning in the context of the research. That the researcher has some knowledge and expertise in the subject of the research means that he or she can have considerable scope in interpreting the participant’s experiences. Larkin and others 10 discussed the importance of not just providing a description of what participants say. Rather, interpretative phenomenological analysis is about getting underneath what a person is saying to try to truly understand the world from his or her perspective.

Once all of the research interviews have been transcribed and checked, it is time to begin coding. Field notes compiled during an interview can be a useful complementary source of information to facilitate this process, as the gap in time between an interview, transcribing, and coding can result in memory bias regarding nonverbal or environmental context issues that may affect interpretation of data.

Coding refers to the identification of topics, issues, similarities, and differences that are revealed through the participants’ narratives and interpreted by the researcher. This process enables the researcher to begin to understand the world from each participant’s perspective. Coding can be done by hand on a hard copy of the transcript, by making notes in the margin or by highlighting and naming sections of text. More commonly, researchers use qualitative research software (e.g., NVivo, QSR International Pty Ltd; www.qsrinternational.com/products_nvivo.aspx ) to help manage their transcriptions. It is advised that researchers undertake a formal course in the use of such software or seek supervision from a researcher experienced in these tools.

Returning to Appendix 1 and reading from lines 8–11, a code for this section might be “diagnosis of mental health condition”, but this would just be a description of what the participant is talking about at that point. If we read a little more deeply, we can ask ourselves how the participant might have come to feel that the doctor assumed he or she was aware of the diagnosis or indeed that they had only just been told the diagnosis. There are a number of pauses in the narrative that might suggest the participant is finding it difficult to recall that experience. Later in the text, the participant says “nobody asked me any questions about my life” (line 19). This could be coded simply as “health care professionals’ consultation skills”, but that would not reflect how the participant must have felt never to be asked anything about his or her personal life, about the participant as a human being. At the end of this excerpt, the participant just trails off, recalling that no-one showed any interest, which makes for very moving reading. For practitioners in pharmacy, it might also be pertinent to explore the participant’s experience of akathisia and why this was left untreated for 20 years.

One of the questions that arises about qualitative research relates to the reliability of the interpretation and representation of the participants’ narratives. There are no statistical tests that can be used to check reliability and validity as there are in quantitative research. However, work by Lincoln and Guba 11 suggests that there are other ways to “establish confidence in the ‘truth’ of the findings” (p. 218). They call this confidence “trustworthiness” and suggest that there are 4 criteria of trustworthiness: credibility (confidence in the “truth” of the findings), transferability (showing that the findings have applicability in other contexts), dependability (showing that the findings are consistent and could be repeated), and confirmability (the extent to which the findings of a study are shaped by the respondents and not researcher bias, motivation, or interest).

One way of establishing the “credibility” of the coding is to ask another researcher to code the same transcript and then to discuss any similarities and differences in the 2 resulting sets of codes. This simple act can result in revisions to the codes and can help to clarify and confirm the research findings.

Theming refers to the drawing together of codes from one or more transcripts to present the findings of qualitative research in a coherent and meaningful way. For example, there may be examples across participants’ narratives of the way in which they were treated in hospital, such as “not being listened to” or “lack of interest in personal experiences” (see Appendix 1 ). These may be drawn together as a theme running through the narratives that could be named “the patient’s experience of hospital care”. The importance of going through this process is that at its conclusion, it will be possible to present the data from the interviews using quotations from the individual transcripts to illustrate the source of the researchers’ interpretations. Thus, when the findings are organized for presentation, each theme can become the heading of a section in the report or presentation. Underneath each theme will be the codes, examples from the transcripts, and the researcher’s own interpretation of what the themes mean. Implications for real life (e.g., the treatment of people with chronic mental health problems) should also be given.

DATA SYNTHESIS

In this final section of this paper, we describe some ways of drawing together or “synthesizing” research findings to represent, as faithfully as possible, the meaning that participants ascribe to their life experiences. This synthesis is the aim of the final stage of qualitative research. For most readers, the synthesis of data presented by the researcher is of crucial significance—this is usually where “the story” of the participants can be distilled, summarized, and told in a manner that is both respectful to those participants and meaningful to readers. There are a number of ways in which researchers can synthesize and present their findings, but any conclusions drawn by the researchers must be supported by direct quotations from the participants. In this way, it is made clear to the reader that the themes under discussion have emerged from the participants’ interviews and not the mind of the researcher. The work of Latif and others 12 gives an example of how qualitative research findings might be presented.

Planning and Writing the Report

As has been suggested above, if researchers code and theme their material appropriately, they will naturally find the headings for sections of their report. Qualitative researchers tend to report “findings” rather than “results”, as the latter term typically implies that the data have come from a quantitative source. The final presentation of the research will usually be in the form of a report or a paper and so should follow accepted academic guidelines. In particular, the article should begin with an introduction, including a literature review and rationale for the research. There should be a section on the chosen methodology and a brief discussion about why qualitative methodology was most appropriate for the study question and why one particular methodology (e.g., interpretative phenomenological analysis rather than grounded theory) was selected to guide the research. The method itself should then be described, including ethics approval, choice of participants, mode of recruitment, and method of data collection (e.g., semistructured interviews or focus groups), followed by the research findings, which will be the main body of the report or paper. The findings should be written as if a story is being told; as such, it is not necessary to have a lengthy discussion section at the end. This is because much of the discussion will take place around the participants’ quotes, such that all that is needed to close the report or paper is a summary, limitations of the research, and the implications that the research has for practice. As stated earlier, it is not the intention of qualitative research to allow the findings to be generalized, and therefore this is not, in itself, a limitation.

Planning out the way that findings are to be presented is helpful. It is useful to insert the headings of the sections (the themes) and then make a note of the codes that exemplify the thoughts and feelings of your participants. It is generally advisable to put in the quotations that you want to use for each theme, using each quotation only once. After all this is done, the telling of the story can begin as you give your voice to the experiences of the participants, writing around their quotations. Do not be afraid to draw assumptions from the participants’ narratives, as this is necessary to give an in-depth account of the phenomena in question. Discuss these assumptions, drawing on your participants’ words to support you as you move from one code to another and from one theme to the next. Finally, as appropriate, it is possible to include examples from literature or policy documents that add support for your findings. As an exercise, you may wish to code and theme the sample excerpt in Appendix 1 and tell the participant’s story in your own way. Further reading about “doing” qualitative research can be found at the end of this paper.

CONCLUSIONS

Qualitative research can help researchers to access the thoughts and feelings of research participants, which can enable development of an understanding of the meaning that people ascribe to their experiences. It can be used in pharmacy practice research to explore how patients feel about their health and their treatment. Qualitative research has been used by pharmacists to explore a variety of questions and problems (see the “Further Reading” section for examples). An understanding of these issues can help pharmacists and other health care professionals to tailor health care to match the individual needs of patients and to develop a concordant relationship. Doing qualitative research is not easy and may require a complete rethink of how research is conducted, particularly for researchers who are more familiar with quantitative approaches. There are many ways of conducting qualitative research, and this paper has covered some of the practical issues regarding data collection, analysis, and management. Further reading around the subject will be essential to truly understand this method of accessing peoples’ thoughts and feelings to enable researchers to tell participants’ stories.

Appendix 1. Excerpt from a sample transcript

The participant (age late 50s) had suffered from a chronic mental health illness for 30 years. The participant had become a “revolving door patient,” someone who is frequently in and out of hospital. As the participant talked about past experiences, the researcher asked:

• What was treatment like 30 years ago?
• Umm—well it was pretty much they could do what they wanted with you because I was put into the er, the er kind of system er, I was just on
• endless section threes.
• Really…
• But what I didn’t realize until later was that if you haven’t actually posed a threat to someone or yourself they can’t really do that but I didn’t know
• that. So wh-when I first went into hospital they put me on the forensic ward ’cause they said, “We don’t think you’ll stay here we think you’ll just
• run-run away.” So they put me then onto the acute admissions ward and – er – I can remember one of the first things I recall when I got onto that
• ward was sitting down with a er a Dr XXX. He had a book this thick [gestures] and on each page it was like three questions and he went through
• all these questions and I answered all these questions. So we’re there for I don’t maybe two hours doing all that and he asked me he said “well
• when did somebody tell you then that you have schizophrenia” I said “well nobody’s told me that” so he seemed very surprised but nobody had
• actually [pause] whe-when I first went up there under police escort erm the senior kind of consultants people I’d been to where I was staying and
• ermm so er [pause] I . . . the, I can remember the very first night that I was there and given this injection in this muscle here [gestures] and just
• having dreadful side effects the next day I woke up [pause]
• . . . and I suffered that akathesia I swear to you, every minute of every day for about 20 years.
• Oh how awful.
• And that side of it just makes life impossible so the care on the wards [pause] umm I don’t know it’s kind of, it’s kind of hard to put into words
• [pause]. Because I’m not saying they were sort of like not friendly or interested but then nobody ever seemed to want to talk about your life [pause]
• nobody asked me any questions about my life. The only questions that came into was they asked me if I’d be a volunteer for these student exams
• and things and I said “yeah” so all the questions were like “oh what jobs have you done,” er about your relationships and things and er but
• nobody actually sat down and had a talk and showed some interest in you as a person you were just there basically [pause] um labelled and you
• know there was there was [pause] but umm [pause] yeah . . .

This article is the 10th in the CJHP Research Primer Series, an initiative of the CJHP Editorial Board and the CSHP Research Committee. The planned 2-year series is intended to appeal to relatively inexperienced researchers, with the goal of building research capacity among practising pharmacists. The articles, presenting simple but rigorous guidance to encourage and support novice researchers, are being solicited from authors with appropriate expertise.

Previous articles in this series:

Bond CM. The research jigsaw: how to get started. Can J Hosp Pharm . 2014;67(1):28–30.

Tully MP. Research: articulating questions, generating hypotheses, and choosing study designs. Can J Hosp Pharm . 2014;67(1):31–4.

Loewen P. Ethical issues in pharmacy practice research: an introductory guide. Can J Hosp Pharm. 2014;67(2):133–7.

Tsuyuki RT. Designing pharmacy practice research trials. Can J Hosp Pharm . 2014;67(3):226–9.

Bresee LC. An introduction to developing surveys for pharmacy practice research. Can J Hosp Pharm . 2014;67(4):286–91.

Gamble JM. An introduction to the fundamentals of cohort and case–control studies. Can J Hosp Pharm . 2014;67(5):366–72.

Austin Z, Sutton J. Qualitative research: getting started. C an J Hosp Pharm . 2014;67(6):436–40.

Houle S. An introduction to the fundamentals of randomized controlled trials in pharmacy research. Can J Hosp Pharm . 2014; 68(1):28–32.

Charrois TL. Systematic reviews: What do you need to know to get started? Can J Hosp Pharm . 2014;68(2):144–8.

Competing interests: None declared.

Further Reading

Examples of qualitative research in pharmacy practice.

• Farrell B, Pottie K, Woodend K, Yao V, Dolovich L, Kennie N, et al. Shifts in expectations: evaluating physicians’ perceptions as pharmacists integrated into family practice. J Interprof Care. 2010; 24 (1):80–9. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Gregory P, Austin Z. Postgraduation employment experiences of new pharmacists in Ontario in 2012–2013. Can Pharm J. 2014; 147 (5):290–9. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Marks PZ, Jennnings B, Farrell B, Kennie-Kaulbach N, Jorgenson D, Pearson-Sharpe J, et al. “I gained a skill and a change in attitude”: a case study describing how an online continuing professional education course for pharmacists supported achievement of its transfer to practice outcomes. Can J Univ Contin Educ. 2014; 40 (2):1–18. [ Google Scholar ]
• Nair KM, Dolovich L, Brazil K, Raina P. It’s all about relationships: a qualitative study of health researchers’ perspectives on interdisciplinary research. BMC Health Serv Res. 2008; 8 :110. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Pojskic N, MacKeigan L, Boon H, Austin Z. Initial perceptions of key stakeholders in Ontario regarding independent prescriptive authority for pharmacists. Res Soc Adm Pharm. 2014; 10 (2):341–54. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]

Qualitative Research in General

• Breakwell GM, Hammond S, Fife-Schaw C. Research methods in psychology. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publications; 1995. [ Google Scholar ]
• Given LM. 100 questions (and answers) about qualitative research. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publications; 2015. [ Google Scholar ]
• Miles B, Huberman AM. Qualitative data analysis. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publications; 2009. [ Google Scholar ]
• Patton M. Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publications; 2002. [ Google Scholar ]
• Willig C. Introducing qualitative research in psychology. Buckingham (UK): Open University Press; 2001. [ Google Scholar ]

Group Dynamics in Focus Groups

• Farnsworth J, Boon B. Analysing group dynamics within the focus group. Qual Res. 2010; 10 (5):605–24. [ Google Scholar ]

Social Constructivism

• Social constructivism. Berkeley (CA): University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley Graduate Division, Graduate Student Instruction Teaching & Resource Center; [cited 2015 June 4]. Available from: http://gsi.berkeley.edu/gsi-guide-contents/learning-theory-research/social-constructivism/ [ Google Scholar ]

Mixed Methods

• Creswell J. Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publications; 2009. [ Google Scholar ]

Collecting Qualitative Data

• Arksey H, Knight P. Interviewing for social scientists: an introductory resource with examples. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publications; 1999. [ Google Scholar ]
• Guest G, Namey EE, Mitchel ML. Collecting qualitative data: a field manual for applied research. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publications; 2013. [ Google Scholar ]

Constructivist Grounded Theory

• Charmaz K. Grounded theory: objectivist and constructivist methods. In: Denzin N, Lincoln Y, editors. Handbook of qualitative research. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage Publications; 2000. pp. 509–35. [ Google Scholar ]

[Guide] How to Present Qualitative Research Findings in PowerPoint?

By: Author Shrot Katewa

As a researcher, it is quite pointless to do the research if we are unable to share the findings with our audience appropriately! Using PowerPoint is one of the best ways to present research outcomes. But, how does one present qualitative research findings using PowerPoint?

In order to present the qualitative research findings using PowerPoint, you need to create a robust structure for your presentation, make it engaging and visually appealing, present the patterns with explanations for it and highlight the conclusion of your research findings.

In this article, we will help you understand the structure of your presentation. Plus, we’ll share some handy tips that will make your qualitative research presentation really effective!

How to Create a Structure for your Qualitative Research Presentation?

Creating the right structure for your presentation is key to ensuring that it is correctly understood by your audience.

The structure of your Research Presentation not only makes it easier for you to create the document, it also makes it simple for the audience to understand what all will be covered in the presentation at the time of presenting it to your audience.

Furthermore, having a robust structure is a great way to ensure that you don’t miss out on any of the points while working on creating the presentation.

But, what structure should one follow?

Creating a good structure can be tricky for some. Thus, I’m sharing what has worked well for me during my previous research projects.

NOTE – It is important to note that although the following structure is highly effective for most research findings presentation, it has been generalized in order to serve a wide range of research projects. You may want to take a look at points that are very specific to the nature of your research project and include them at your discretion.

Here’s my recommended structure to create your Research Findings presentation –

1. Objective of the Research

A great way to start your presentation is to highlight the objective of your research project.

It is important to remember that merely sharing the objective may sometimes not be enough. A short backstory along with the purpose of your research project can pack a powerful punch ! It not only validates the reasoning for your project but also subtly establishes trust with your audience.

However, do make sure that you’re not reading the backstory from the slide. Let it flow naturally when you are delivering the presentation. Keep the presentation as minimalistic as possible.

2. Key Parameters Considered for Measurement

Once you’ve established the objective, the next thing that you may want to do is perhaps share the key parameters considered for the success of your project.

Every research project, including qualitative research, needs to have a few key parameters to measure against the objective of the research.

For example – If the goal of your project is to gather the sentiments of a certain group of people for a particular product, you may need to measure their feelings. Are they happy or unhappy using the product? How do they perceive the branding of the product? Is it affordable?

Make sure that you list down all such key parameters that were considered while conducting the qualitative research.

In general, laying these out before sharing the outcome can help your audience think from your perspective and look at the findings from the correct lens.

3. Research Methodology Adopted

The next thing that you may want to include in your presentation is the methodology that you adopted for conducting the research.

By knowing your approach, the audience can be better prepared for the outcome of your project. Ensure that you provide sound reasoning for the chosen methodology.

This section of your presentation can also showcase some pictures of the research being conducted. If you have captured a video, include that. Doing this provides further validation of your project.

4. Research Outcomes (Presenting Descriptive Analysis)

This is the section that will constitute the bulk of the your presentation.

Use the slides in this section to describe the observations, and the resulting outcomes on each of the key parameters that were considered for the research project.

It is usually a good idea to dedicate at least 1 or more slides for each parameter . Make sure that you present data wherever possible. However, ensure that the data presented can be easily comprehended.

Provide key learnings from the data, highlight any outliers, and possible reasoning for it. Try not to go too in-depth with the stats as this can overwhelm the audience. Remember, a presentation is most helpful when it is used to provide key highlights of the research !

Apart from using the data, make sure that you also include a few quotes from the participants.

5. Summary and Learnings from the Research

Once you’ve taken the audience through the core part of your research findings, it is a good practice to summarize the key learnings from each of the section of your project.

Make sure your touch upon some of the key learnings covered in the research outcome of your presentation.

Furthermore, include any additional observations and key points that you may have had which were previously not covered.

The summary slide also often acts as “Key Takeaways” from the research for your audience. Thus, make sure that you maintain brevity and highlight only the points that you want your audience to remember even after the presentation.

6. Inclusions and Exclusions (if any)

While this can be an optional section for some of the researchers.

However, dedicating a section on inclusions and exclusions in your presentation can be a great value add! This section helps your audience understand the key factors that were excluded (or included) on purpose!

Moreover, it creates a sense of thoroughness in the minds of your audience.

7. Conclusion of the Research

The purpose of the conclusion slide of your research findings presentation is to revisit the objective, and present a conclusion.

A conclusion may simply validate or nullify the objective. It may sometimes do neither. Nevertheless, having a conclusion slide makes your presentation come a full circle. It creates this sense of completion in the minds of your audience.

8. Questions

Finally, since your audience did not spend as much time as you did on the research project, people are bound to have a few questions.

Thus, the last part of your presentation structure should be dedicated to allowing your audience to ask questions.

Tips for Effectively Presenting Qualitative Research Findings using PowerPoint

For a presentation to be effective, it is important that the presentation is not only well structured but also that it is well created and nicely delivered!

While we have already covered the structure, let me share with you some tips that you can help you create and deliver the presentation effectively.

Tip 1 – Use Visuals

Using visuals in your presentation is a great way to keep the presentations engaging!

Visual aids not only help make the presentation less boring, but it also helps your audience in retaining the information better!

So, use images and videos of the actual research wherever possible. If these do not suffice or do not give a professional feel, there are a number of resources online from where you can source royalty-free images.

My recommendation for high-quality royalty-free images would be either Unsplash or Pexels . Both are really good. The only downside is that they often do not provide the perfect image that can be used. That said, it can get the job done for at least half the time.

If you are unable to find the perfect free image, I recommend checking out Dreamstime . They have a huge library of images and are much cheaper than most of the other image banks. I personally use Dreamstime for my presentation projects!

Tip 2 – Tell a Story (Don’t Show Just Data!)

I cannot stress enough on how important it is to give your presentation a human touch. Delivering a presentation in the form of a story does just that! Furthermore, storytelling is also a great tool for visualization .

Data can be hard-hitting, whereas a touching story can tickle the emotions of your audience on various levels!

One of the best ways to present a story with your research project is to start with the backstory of the objective. We’ve already talked about this in the earlier part of this article.

Start with why is this research project is so important. Follow a story arc that provides an exciting experience of the beginning, the middle, and a progression towards a climax; much like a plot of a soap opera.

Tip 3 – Include Quotes of the Participants

Including quotes of the participants in your research findings presentation not only provides evidence but also demonstrates authenticity!

Quotes function as a platform to include the voice of the target group and provide a peek into the mindset of the target audience.

When using quotes, keep these things in mind –

1. Use Quotes in their Unedited Form

When using quotes in your presentation, make sure that you use them in their raw unedited form.

The need to edit quotes should be only restricted to aid comprehension and sometimes coherence.

Furthermore, when editing the quotes, make sure that you use brackets to insert clarifying words. The standard format for using the brackets is to use square brackets for clarifying words and normal brackets for adding a missing explanation.

2. How to Decide which Quotes to Consider?

It is important to know which quotes to include in your presentation. I use the following 3 criteria when selecting the quote –

• Relevance – Consider the quotes that are relevant, and trying to convey the point that you want to establish.
• Length – an ideal quote should be not more than 1-2 sentences long.
• Choose quotes that are well-expressed and striking in nature.

3. Preserve Identity of the Participant

It is important to preserve and protect the identity of the participant. This can be done by maintaining confidentiality and anonymity.

Thus, refrain from using the name of the participant. An alternative could be using codes, using pseudonyms (made up names) or simply using other general non-identifiable parameters.

Do note, when using pseudonyms, remember to highlight it in the presentation.

If, however, you do need to use the name of the respondent, make sure that the participant is okay with it and you have adequate permissions to use their name.

Tip 4 – Make your Presentation Visually Appealing and Engaging

It is quite obvious for most of us that we need to create a visually appealing presentation. But, making it pleasing to the eye can be a bit challenging.

Fortunately, we wrote a detailed blog post with tips on how to make your presentation attractive. It provides you with easy and effective tips that you can use even as a beginner! Make sure you check that article.

7 EASY tips that ALWAYS make your PPT presentation attractive (even for beginners)

In addition to the tips mentioned in the article, let me share a few things that you can do which are specific to research outcome presentations.

4.1 Use a Simple Color Scheme

Using the right colors are key to make a presentation look good.

One of the most common mistakes that people make is use too many colors in their presentation!

My recommendation would be to go with a monochromatic color scheme in PowerPoint .

4.2 Make the Data Tables Simple and Visually Appealing

When making a presentation on research outcomes, you are bound to present some data.

But, when data is not presented in a proper manner, it can easily and quickly make your presentation look displeasing! The video below can be a good starting point.

Using neat looking tables can simply transform the way your presentation looks. So don’t just dump the data from excel on your PowerPoint presentation. Spend a few minutes on fixing it!

4.3 Use Graphs and Charts (wherever necessary)

When presenting data, my recommendation would be that graphs and charts should be your first preference.

Using graphs or charts make it easier to read the data, takes less time for the audience to comprehend, and it also helps to identify a trend.

However, make sure that the correct chart type is used when representing the data. The last thing that you want is to poorly represent a key piece of information.

4.4 Use Icons instead of Bullet Points

Consider the following example –

This slide could have been created just as easily using bullet points. However, using icons and representing the information in a different format makes the slide pleasing on the eye.

Thus, always try to use icons wherever possible instead of bullet points.

Tip 5 – Include the Outliers

Many times, as a research project manager, we tend to focus on the trends extracted from a data set.

While it is important to identify patterns in the data and provide an adequate explanation for the pattern, it is equally important sometimes to highlight the outliers prominently.

It is easy to forget that there may be hidden learnings even in the outliers. At times, the data trend may be re-iterating the common wisdom. However, upon analyzing the outlier data points, you may get insight into how a few participants are doing things successfully despite not following the common knowledge.

That said, not every outlier will reveal hidden information. So, do verify what to include and what to exclude.

Tip 6 – Take Inspiration from other Presentations

I admit, making any presentation can be a tough ask let alone making a presentation for showcasing qualitative research findings. This is especially hard when we don’t have the necessary skills for creating a presentation.

One quick way to overcome this challenge could be take inspiration from other similar presentations that we may have liked.

There is no shame in being inspired from others. If you don’t have any handy references, you can surely Google it to find a few examples.

One trick that almost always works for me is using Pinterest .

But, don’t just directly search for a research presentation. You will have little to no success with it. The key is to look for specific examples for inspiration. For eg. search for Title Slide examples, or Image Layout Examples in Presentation.

Tip 7 – Ask Others to Critic your Presentation

The last tip that I would want to provide is to make sure that you share the presentation with supportive colleagues or mentors to attain feedback.

This step can be critical to iron out the chinks in the armor. As research project manager, it is common for you to get a bit too involved with the project. This can lead to possibilities wherein you miss out on things.

A good way to overcome this challenge is to get a fresh perspective on your project and the presentation once it has been prepared.

Taking critical feedback before your final presentation can also prepare you to handle tough questions in an adept manner.

Final Thoughts

It is quite important to ensure that we get it right when working on a presentation that showcases the findings of our research project. After all, we don’t want to be in a situation wherein we put in all the hard-work in the project, but we fail to deliver the outcome appropriately.

I hope you will find the aforementioned tips and structure useful, and if you do, make sure that you bookmark this page and spread the word. Wishing you all the very best for your project!

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Dissertation
• How to Write a Results Section | Tips & Examples

How to Write a Results Section | Tips & Examples

Published on August 30, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on July 18, 2023.

A results section is where you report the main findings of the data collection and analysis you conducted for your thesis or dissertation . You should report all relevant results concisely and objectively, in a logical order. Don’t include subjective interpretations of why you found these results or what they mean—any evaluation should be saved for the discussion section .

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

How to write a results section, reporting quantitative research results, reporting qualitative research results, results vs. discussion vs. conclusion, checklist: research results, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about results sections.

When conducting research, it’s important to report the results of your study prior to discussing your interpretations of it. This gives your reader a clear idea of exactly what you found and keeps the data itself separate from your subjective analysis.

Here are a few best practices:

• Your results should always be written in the past tense.
• While the length of this section depends on how much data you collected and analyzed, it should be written as concisely as possible.
• Only include results that are directly relevant to answering your research questions . Avoid speculative or interpretative words like “appears” or “implies.”
• If you have other results you’d like to include, consider adding them to an appendix or footnotes.
• Always start out with your broadest results first, and then flow into your more granular (but still relevant) ones. Think of it like a shoe store: first discuss the shoes as a whole, then the sneakers, boots, sandals, etc.

Here's why students love Scribbr's proofreading services

Discover proofreading & editing

If you conducted quantitative research , you’ll likely be working with the results of some sort of statistical analysis .

Your results section should report the results of any statistical tests you used to compare groups or assess relationships between variables . It should also state whether or not each hypothesis was supported.

The most logical way to structure quantitative results is to frame them around your research questions or hypotheses. For each question or hypothesis, share:

• A reminder of the type of analysis you used (e.g., a two-sample t test or simple linear regression ). A more detailed description of your analysis should go in your methodology section.
• A concise summary of each relevant result, both positive and negative. This can include any relevant descriptive statistics (e.g., means and standard deviations ) as well as inferential statistics (e.g., t scores, degrees of freedom , and p values ). Remember, these numbers are often placed in parentheses.
• A brief statement of how each result relates to the question, or whether the hypothesis was supported. You can briefly mention any results that didn’t fit with your expectations and assumptions, but save any speculation on their meaning or consequences for your discussion  and conclusion.

A note on tables and figures

In quantitative research, it’s often helpful to include visual elements such as graphs, charts, and tables , but only if they are directly relevant to your results. Give these elements clear, descriptive titles and labels so that your reader can easily understand what is being shown. If you want to include any other visual elements that are more tangential in nature, consider adding a figure and table list .

As a rule of thumb:

• Tables are used to communicate exact values, giving a concise overview of various results
• Graphs and charts are used to visualize trends and relationships, giving an at-a-glance illustration of key findings

Don’t forget to also mention any tables and figures you used within the text of your results section. Summarize or elaborate on specific aspects you think your reader should know about rather than merely restating the same numbers already shown.

A two-sample t test was used to test the hypothesis that higher social distance from environmental problems would reduce the intent to donate to environmental organizations, with donation intention (recorded as a score from 1 to 10) as the outcome variable and social distance (categorized as either a low or high level of social distance) as the predictor variable.Social distance was found to be positively correlated with donation intention, t (98) = 12.19, p < .001, with the donation intention of the high social distance group 0.28 points higher, on average, than the low social distance group (see figure 1). This contradicts the initial hypothesis that social distance would decrease donation intention, and in fact suggests a small effect in the opposite direction.

Figure 1: Intention to donate to environmental organizations based on social distance from impact of environmental damage.

In qualitative research , your results might not all be directly related to specific hypotheses. In this case, you can structure your results section around key themes or topics that emerged from your analysis of the data.

For each theme, start with general observations about what the data showed. You can mention:

• Recurring points of agreement or disagreement
• Patterns and trends
• Particularly significant snippets from individual responses

Next, clarify and support these points with direct quotations. Be sure to report any relevant demographic information about participants. Further information (such as full transcripts , if appropriate) can be included in an appendix .

When asked about video games as a form of art, the respondents tended to believe that video games themselves are not an art form, but agreed that creativity is involved in their production. The criteria used to identify artistic video games included design, story, music, and creative teams.One respondent (male, 24) noted a difference in creativity between popular video game genres:

“I think that in role-playing games, there’s more attention to character design, to world design, because the whole story is important and more attention is paid to certain game elements […] so that perhaps you do need bigger teams of creative experts than in an average shooter or something.”

Responses suggest that video game consumers consider some types of games to have more artistic potential than others.

Your results section should objectively report your findings, presenting only brief observations in relation to each question, hypothesis, or theme.

It should not  speculate about the meaning of the results or attempt to answer your main research question . Detailed interpretation of your results is more suitable for your discussion section , while synthesis of your results into an overall answer to your main research question is best left for your conclusion .

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

I have completed my data collection and analyzed the results.

I have included all results that are relevant to my research questions.

I have concisely and objectively reported each result, including relevant descriptive statistics and inferential statistics .

I have stated whether each hypothesis was supported or refuted.

I have used tables and figures to illustrate my results where appropriate.

All tables and figures are correctly labelled and referred to in the text.

There is no subjective interpretation or speculation on the meaning of the results.

You've finished writing up your results! Use the other checklists to further improve your thesis.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

Research bias

• Survivorship bias
• Self-serving bias
• Availability heuristic
• Halo effect
• Hindsight bias
• Deep learning
• Generative AI
• Machine learning
• Reinforcement learning
• Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
• Plagiarism Checker
• Citation Generator

The results chapter of a thesis or dissertation presents your research results concisely and objectively.

In quantitative research , for each question or hypothesis , state:

• The type of analysis used
• Relevant results in the form of descriptive and inferential statistics
• Whether or not the alternative hypothesis was supported

In qualitative research , for each question or theme, describe:

• Recurring patterns
• Significant or representative individual responses
• Relevant quotations from the data

Don’t interpret or speculate in the results chapter.

Results are usually written in the past tense , because they are describing the outcome of completed actions.

The results chapter or section simply and objectively reports what you found, without speculating on why you found these results. The discussion interprets the meaning of the results, puts them in context, and explains why they matter.

In qualitative research , results and discussion are sometimes combined. But in quantitative research , it’s considered important to separate the objective results from your interpretation of them.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2023, July 18). How to Write a Results Section | Tips & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/results/

Is this article helpful?

Tegan George

Other students also liked, what is a research methodology | steps & tips, how to write a discussion section | tips & examples, how to write a thesis or dissertation conclusion, get unlimited documents corrected.

✔ Free APA citation check included ✔ Unlimited document corrections ✔ Specialized in correcting academic texts

Three principles for writing an effective qualitative results section

• Sayra Cristancho Centre for Education Research & Innovation. Western University
• Christopher Watling Centre for Education Research & Innovation. Western University
• Lorelei Lingard Centre for Education Research & Innovation. Western University

Apramian, T., Cristancho, S., Watling, C., Ott, M., & Lingard, L. (2015). Thresholds of principle and preference: Exploring procedural variation in postgraduate surgical education. Academic Medicine, 90, S70–S76. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000000909

Bynum, W. E., Varpio, L., Lagoo, J., & Teunissen, P. W. (2021). "I’m unworthy of being in this space": The origins of shame in medical students. Medical Education, 55(2), 185–197. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14354

Corden, A., & Sainsbury, R. (2006). Using verbatim quotations in reporting qualitative social research: Researchers’ views. University of York. http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/spru/pubs/pdf/verbquotresearch.pdf

Emmerton-Coughlin, H., Schlachta, C., & Lingard, L. (2017). "The other right": Control strategies and the role of language use in laparoscopic training. Medical Education, 51(12), 1269–1276. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.13420

Ginsburg, S., Regehr, G., Lingard, L., & Eva, K. W. (2015). Reading between the lines: Faculty interpretations of narrative evaluation comments. Medical Education, 49(3), 296–306. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.12637

Graff, G., & Birkenstein, C. (2018). “They say/I say”: The moves that matter in academic writing (4th ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.

Greenhalgh, T., Seyan, K., & Boynton, P. (2004). “Not a university type”: Focus group study of social class, ethnic, and sex differences in school pupils’ perceptions about medical school. BMJ, 328(7455), 1541. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.328.7455.1541

Lingard, L. (2004). Communication failures in the operating room: An observational classification of recurrent types and effects. Quality and Safety in Health Care, 13(5), 330–334. https://doi.org/10.1136/qshc.2003.008425

Lingard, L. (2019). Beyond the default colon: Effective use of quotes in qualitative research. Perspectives on Medical Education, 8, 360–364. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40037-019-00550-7

Lingard, L., & Watling, C. (2016). It’s a story, not a study: Writing an effective research paper. Academic Medicine, 91(12), e12. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000001389

McElhinney, Z., & Kennedy, C. (2021). By accident or design? An exploration of the career pathways, experiences and identities of academic GPs using composite narratives. Education for Primary Care, 32(5), 266–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/14739879.2021.1894991

Morrow, S. L. (2005). Quality and trustworthiness in qualitative research in counseling psychology. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(2), 250–260. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.52.2.250

Pack, R., Lingard, L., Watling, C., & Cristancho, S. (2020). Beyond summative decision making: Illuminating the broader roles of competence committees. Medical Education, 54(6), 517–527. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14072

Pratt, M. G. (2008). Fitting oval pegs into round holes: Tensions in evaluating and publishing qualitative research in top-tier North American journals. Organizational Research Methods, 11(3), 481–509. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094428107303349

Pratt, M. G. (2009). From the editors: For the lack of a boilerplate: Tips on writing up (and reviewing) qualitative research. Academy of Management Journal, 52(5), 856–862. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2009.44632557

Should scientists tell stories? (2013). Nature Methods, 10(11), 1037–1037. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2726

Simmons, A. (2019). The story factor: Inspiration, influence, and persuasion through the art of storytelling (Revised ed.). Basic Books.

Tottie, G. (2016). Planning what to say: Uh and um among the pragmatic markers. In G. Kaltenböck, E. Keizer, & A. Lohmann (Eds.), Studies in language companion series (Vol. 178, pp. 97–122). John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.178.04tot

Varpio, L., Ajjawi, R., Monrouxe, L. V., O’Brien, B. C., & Rees, C. E. (2017). Shedding the cobra effect: Problematising thematic emergence, triangulation, saturation and member checking. Medical Education, 51(1), 40–50. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.13124

Watling, C., Driessen, E., van der Vleuten, C. P. M., & Lingard, L. (2012). Learning from clinical work: The roles of learning cues and credibility judgements. Medical Education, 46(2), 192–200. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2923.2011.04126.x

Willis, R. (2019). The use of composite narratives to present interview findings. Qualitative Research, 19(4), 471–480. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468794118787711

How to Cite

• Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)

On acceptance for publication in  FoHPE the copyright of the manuscript is signed over to ANZAHPE, the publisher of  FoHPE.

Make a Submission

Anzahpe logo.

Tweets by fohpe_journal

The Australian & New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE), is the peak organisation for practitioners who educate and train health professionals in Australia and New Zealand.

How to Present Results in a Research Paper

• First Online: 01 October 2023

Cite this chapter

• Aparna Mukherjee 4 ,
• Gunjan Kumar 4 &
• Rakesh Lodha 5  

886 Accesses

The results section is the core of a research manuscript where the study data and analyses are presented in an organized, uncluttered manner such that the reader can easily understand and interpret the findings. This section is completely factual; there is no place for opinions or explanations from the authors. The results should correspond to the objectives of the study in an orderly manner. Self-explanatory tables and figures add value to this section and make data presentation more convenient and appealing. The results presented in this section should have a link with both the preceding methods section and the following discussion section. A well-written, articulate results section lends clarity and credibility to the research paper and the study as a whole. This chapter provides an overview and important pointers to effective drafting of the results section in a research manuscript and also in theses.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Durable hardcover edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Kallestinova ED (2011) How to write your first research paper. Yale J Biol Med 84(3):181–190

PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

STROBE. STROBE. [cited 2022 Nov 10]. https://www.strobe-statement.org/

Consort—Welcome to the CONSORT Website. http://www.consort-statement.org/ . Accessed 10 Nov 2022

Korevaar DA, Cohen JF, Reitsma JB, Bruns DE, Gatsonis CA, Glasziou PP et al (2016) Updating standards for reporting diagnostic accuracy: the development of STARD 2015. Res Integr Peer Rev 1(1):7

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Page MJ, McKenzie JE, Bossuyt PM, Boutron I, Hoffmann TC, Mulrow CD et al (2021) The PRISMA 2020 statement: an updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ 372:n71

Page MJ, Moher D, Bossuyt PM, Boutron I, Hoffmann TC, Mulrow CD et al (2021) PRISMA 2020 explanation and elaboration: updated guidance and exemplars for reporting systematic reviews. BMJ 372:n160

Consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ): a 32-item checklist for interviews and focus groups | EQUATOR Network. https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/coreq/ . Accessed 10 Nov 2022

Aggarwal R, Sahni P (2015) The results section. In: Aggarwal R, Sahni P (eds) Reporting and publishing research in the biomedical sciences, 1st edn. National Medical Journal of India, Delhi, pp 24–44

Google Scholar  

Mukherjee A, Lodha R (2016) Writing the results. Indian Pediatr 53(5):409–415

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Lodha R, Randev S, Kabra SK (2016) Oral antibiotics for community acquired pneumonia with chest indrawing in children aged below five years: a systematic review. Indian Pediatr 53(6):489–495

Anderson C (2010) Presenting and evaluating qualitative research. Am J Pharm Educ 74(8):141

Roberts C, Kumar K, Finn G (2020) Navigating the qualitative manuscript writing process: some tips for authors and reviewers. BMC Med Educ 20:439

Bigby C (2015) Preparing manuscripts that report qualitative research: avoiding common pitfalls and illegitimate questions. Aust Soc Work 68(3):384–391

Article   Google Scholar  

Vincent BP, Kumar G, Parameswaran S, Kar SS (2019) Barriers and suggestions towards deceased organ donation in a government tertiary care teaching hospital: qualitative study using socio-ecological model framework. Indian J Transplant 13(3):194

McCormick JB, Hopkins MA (2021) Exploring public concerns for sharing and governance of personal health information: a focus group study. JAMIA Open 4(4):ooab098

Groenland -emeritus professor E. Employing the matrix method as a tool for the analysis of qualitative research data in the business domain. Rochester, NY; 2014. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2495330 . Accessed 10 Nov 2022

Download references

Acknowledgments

The book chapter is derived in part from our article “Mukherjee A, Lodha R. Writing the Results. Indian Pediatr. 2016 May 8;53(5):409-15.” We thank the Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Indian Pediatrics” for the permission for the same.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Clinical Studies, Trials and Projection Unit, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India

Aparna Mukherjee & Gunjan Kumar

Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

Rakesh Lodha

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rakesh Lodha .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Retired Senior Expert Pharmacologist at the Office of Cardiology, Hematology, Endocrinology, and Nephrology, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA

Gowraganahalli Jagadeesh

Professor & Director, Research Training and Publications, The Office of Research and Development, Periyar Maniammai Institute of Science & Technology (Deemed to be University), Vallam, Tamil Nadu, India

Pitchai Balakumar

Division Cardiology & Nephrology, Office of Cardiology, Hematology, Endocrinology and Nephrology, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA

Fortunato Senatore

Ethics declarations

Rights and permissions.

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Mukherjee, A., Kumar, G., Lodha, R. (2023). How to Present Results in a Research Paper. In: Jagadeesh, G., Balakumar, P., Senatore, F. (eds) The Quintessence of Basic and Clinical Research and Scientific Publishing. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1284-1_44

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1284-1_44

Published : 01 October 2023

Publisher Name : Springer, Singapore

Print ISBN : 978-981-99-1283-4

Online ISBN : 978-981-99-1284-1

eBook Packages : Biomedical and Life Sciences Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

blog @ precision

Presenting your qualitative analysis findings: tables to include in chapter 4.

The earliest stages of developing a doctoral dissertation—most specifically the topic development  and literature review  stages—require that you immerse yourself in a ton of existing research related to your potential topic. If you have begun writing your dissertation proposal, you have undoubtedly reviewed countless results and findings sections of studies in order to help gain an understanding of what is currently known about your topic. 

In this process, we’re guessing that you observed a distinct pattern: Results sections are full of tables. Indeed, the results chapter for your own dissertation will need to be similarly packed with tables. So, if you’re preparing to write up the results of your statistical analysis or qualitative analysis, it will probably help to review your APA editing  manual to brush up on your table formatting skills. But, aside from formatting, how should you develop the tables in your results chapter?

In quantitative studies, tables are a handy way of presenting the variety of statistical analysis results in a form that readers can easily process. You’ve probably noticed that quantitative studies present descriptive results like mean, mode, range, standard deviation, etc., as well the inferential results that indicate whether significant relationships or differences were found through the statistical analysis . These are pretty standard tables that you probably learned about in your pre-dissertation statistics courses.

But, what if you are conducting qualitative analysis? What tables are appropriate for this type of study? This is a question we hear often from our dissertation assistance  clients, and with good reason. University guidelines for results chapters often contain vague instructions that guide you to include “appropriate tables” without specifying what exactly those are. To help clarify on this point, we asked our qualitative analysis experts to share their recommendations for tables to include in your Chapter 4.

Demographics Tables

As with studies using quantitative methods , presenting an overview of your sample demographics is useful in studies that use qualitative research methods. The standard demographics table in a quantitative study provides aggregate information for what are often large samples. In other words, such tables present totals and percentages for demographic categories within the sample that are relevant to the study (e.g., age, gender, job title). 

If conducting qualitative research  for your dissertation, however, you will use a smaller sample and obtain richer data from each participant than in quantitative studies. To enhance thick description—a dimension of trustworthiness—it will help to present sample demographics in a table that includes information on each participant. Remember that ethical standards of research require that all participant information be deidentified, so use participant identification numbers or pseudonyms for each participant, and do not present any personal information that would allow others to identify the participant (Blignault & Ritchie, 2009). Table 1 provides participant demographics for a hypothetical qualitative research study exploring the perspectives of persons who were formerly homeless regarding their experiences of transitioning into stable housing and obtaining employment.

Participant Demographics

Tables to Illustrate Initial Codes

Most of our dissertation consulting clients who are conducting qualitative research choose a form of thematic analysis . Qualitative analysis to identify themes in the data typically involves a progression from (a) identifying surface-level codes to (b) developing themes by combining codes based on shared similarities. As this process is inherently subjective, it is important that readers be able to evaluate the correspondence between the data and your findings (Anfara et al., 2002). This supports confirmability, another dimension of trustworthiness .

A great way to illustrate the trustworthiness of your qualitative analysis is to create a table that displays quotes from the data that exemplify each of your initial codes. Providing a sample quote for each of your codes can help the reader to assess whether your coding was faithful to the meanings in the data, and it can also help to create clarity about each code’s meaning and bring the voices of your participants into your work (Blignault & Ritchie, 2009).

Table 2 is an example of how you might present information regarding initial codes. Depending on your preference or your dissertation committee’s preference, you might also present percentages of the sample that expressed each code. Another common piece of information to include is which actual participants expressed each code. Note that if your qualitative analysis yields a high volume of codes, it may be appropriate to present the table as an appendix.

Initial Codes

Tables to Present the Groups of Codes That Form Each Theme

As noted previously, most of our dissertation assistance clients use a thematic analysis approach, which involves multiple phases of qualitative analysis  that eventually result in themes that answer the dissertation’s research questions. After initial coding is completed, the analysis process involves (a) examining what different codes have in common and then (b) grouping similar codes together in ways that are meaningful given your research questions. In other words, the common threads that you identify across multiple codes become the theme that holds them all together—and that theme answers one of your research questions.

As with initial coding, grouping codes together into themes involves your own subjective interpretations, even when aided by qualitative analysis software such as NVivo  or MAXQDA. In fact, our dissertation assistance clients are often surprised to learn that qualitative analysis software does not complete the analysis in the same ways that statistical analysis software such as SPSS does. While statistical analysis software completes the computations for you, qualitative analysis software does not have such analysis capabilities. Software such as NVivo provides a set of organizational tools that make the qualitative analysis far more convenient, but the analysis itself is still a very human process (Burnard et al., 2008).

Because of the subjective nature of qualitative analysis, it is important to show the underlying logic behind your thematic analysis in tables—such tables help readers to assess the trustworthiness of your analysis. Table 3 provides an example of how to present the codes that were grouped together to create themes, and you can modify the specifics of the table based on your preferences or your dissertation committee’s requirements. For example, this type of table might be presented to illustrate the codes associated with themes that answer each research question. 

Grouping of Initial Codes to Form Themes

Tables to Illustrate the Themes That Answer Each Research Question

Creating alignment throughout your dissertation is an important objective, and to maintain alignment in your results chapter, the themes you present must clearly answer your research questions. Conducting qualitative analysis is an in-depth process of immersion in the data, and many of our dissertation consulting  clients have shared that it’s easy to lose your direction during the process. So, it is important to stay focused on your research questions during the qualitative analysis and also to show the reader exactly which themes—and subthemes, as applicable—answered each of the research questions.

Below, Table 4 provides an example of how to display the thematic findings of your study in table form. Depending on your dissertation committee’s preference or your own, you might present all research questions and all themes and subthemes in a single table. Or, you might provide separate tables to introduce the themes for each research question as you progress through your presentation of the findings in the chapter.

Emergent Themes and Research Questions

Bonus Tip! Figures to Spice Up Your Results

Although dissertation committees most often wish to see tables such as the above in qualitative results chapters, some also like to see figures that illustrate the data. Qualitative software packages such as NVivo offer many options for visualizing your data, such as mind maps, concept maps, charts, and cluster diagrams. A common choice for this type of figure among our dissertation assistance clients is a tree diagram, which shows the connections between specified words and the words or phrases that participants shared most often in the same context. Another common choice of figure is the word cloud, as depicted in Figure 1. The word cloud simply reflects frequencies of words in the data, which may provide an indication of the importance of related concepts for the participants.

As you move forward with your qualitative analysis and development of your results chapter, we hope that this brief overview of useful tables and figures helps you to decide on an ideal presentation to showcase the trustworthiness your findings. Completing a rigorous qualitative analysis for your dissertation requires many hours of careful interpretation of your data, and your end product should be a rich and detailed results presentation that you can be proud of. Reach out if we can help  in any way, as our dissertation coaches would be thrilled to assist as you move through this exciting stage of your dissertation journey!

Anfara Jr., V. A., Brown, K. M., & Mangione, T. L. (2002). Qualitative analysis on stage: Making the research process more public.  Educational Researcher ,  31 (7), 28-38. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X031007028

Blignault, I., & Ritchie, J. (2009). Revealing the wood and the trees: Reporting qualitative research.  Health Promotion Journal of Australia ,  20 (2), 140-145. https://doi.org/10.1071/HE09140

Burnard, P., Gill, P., Stewart, K., Treasure, E., & Chadwick, B. (2008). Analysing and presenting qualitative data.  British Dental Journal ,  204 (8), 429-432. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.2008.292

• Chapter Seven: Presenting Your Results

This chapter serves as the culmination of the previous chapters, in that it focuses on how to present the results of one's study, regardless of the choice made among the three methods. Writing in academics has a form and style that you will want to apply not only to report your own research, but also to enhance your skills at reading original research published in academic journals. Beyond the basic academic style of report writing, there are specific, often unwritten assumptions about how quantitative, qualitative, and critical/rhetorical studies should be organized and the information they should contain. This chapter discusses how to present your results in writing, how to write accessibly, how to visualize data, and how to present your results in person.  

• Chapter One: Introduction
• Chapter Two: Understanding the distinctions among research methods
• Chapter Three: Ethical research, writing, and creative work
• Chapter Four: Quantitative Methods (Part 1)
• Chapter Four: Quantitative Methods (Part 2 - Doing Your Study)
• Chapter Four: Quantitative Methods (Part 3 - Making Sense of Your Study)
• Chapter Five: Qualitative Methods (Part 1)
• Chapter Five: Qualitative Data (Part 2)
• Chapter Six: Critical / Rhetorical Methods (Part 1)
• Chapter Six: Critical / Rhetorical Methods (Part 2)

Written Presentation of Results

Once you've gone through the process of doing communication research – using a quantitative, qualitative, or critical/rhetorical methodological approach – the final step is to  communicate  it.

The major style manuals (the APA Manual, the MLA Handbook, and Turabian) are very helpful in documenting the structure of writing a study, and are highly recommended for consultation. But, no matter what style manual you may use, there are some common elements to the structure of an academic communication research paper.

Title Page :

This is simple: Your Paper's Title, Your Name, Your Institutional Affiliation (e.g., University), and the Date, each on separate lines, centered on the page. Try to make your title both descriptive (i.e., it gives the reader an idea what the study is about) and interesting (i.e., it is catchy enough to get one's attention).

For example, the title, "The uncritical idealization of a compensated psychopath character in a popular book series," would not be an inaccurate title for a published study, but it is rather vague and exceedingly boring. That study's author fortunately chose the title, "A boyfriend to die for: Edward Cullen as compensated psychopath in Stephanie Meyer's  Twilight ," which is more precisely descriptive, and much more interesting (Merskin, 2011). The use of the colon in academic titles can help authors accomplish both objectives: a catchy but relevant phrase, followed by a more clear explanation of the article's topic.

In some instances, you might be asked to write an abstract, which is a summary of your paper that can range in length from 75 to 250 words. If it is a published paper, it is useful to include key search terms in this brief description of the paper (the title may already have a few of these terms as well). Although this may be the last thing your write, make it one of the best things you write, because this may be the first thing your audience reads about the paper (and may be the only thing read if it is written badly). Summarize the problem/research question, your methodological approach, your results and conclusions, and the significance of the paper in the abstract.

Quantitative and qualitative studies will most typically use the rest of the section titles noted below. Critical/rhetorical studies will include many of the same steps, but will often have different headings. For example, a critical/rhetorical paper will have an introduction, definition of terms, and literature review, followed by an analysis (often divided into sections by areas of investigation) and ending with a conclusion/implications section. Because critical/rhetorical research is much more descriptive, the subheadings in such a paper are often times not generic subheads like "literature review," but instead descriptive subheadings that apply to the topic at hand, as seen in the schematic below. Because many journals expect the article to follow typical research paper headings of introduction, literature review, methods, results, and discussion, we discuss these sections briefly next.

Introduction:

As you read social scientific journals (see chapter 1 for examples), you will find that they tend to get into the research question quickly and succinctly. Journal articles from the humanities tradition tend to be more descriptive in the introduction. But, in either case, it is good to begin with some kind of brief anecdote that gets the reader engaged in your work and lets the reader understand why this is an interesting topic. From that point, state your research question, define the problem (see Chapter One) with an overview of what we do and don't know, and finally state what you will do, or what you want to find out. The introduction thus builds the case for your topic, and is the beginning of building your argument, as we noted in chapter 1.

By the end of the Introduction, the reader should know what your topic is, why it is a significant communication topic, and why it is necessary that you investigate it (e.g., it could be there is gap in literature, you will conduct valuable exploratory research, or you will provide a new model for solving some professional or social problem).

Literature Review:

The literature review summarizes and organizes the relevant books, articles, and other research in this area. It sets up both quantitative and qualitative studies, showing the need for the study. For critical/rhetorical research, the literature review often incorporates the description of the historical context and heuristic vocabulary, with key terms defined in this section of the paper. For more detail on writing a literature review, see Appendix 1.

The methods of your paper are the processes that govern your research, where the researcher explains what s/he did to solve the problem. As you have seen throughout this book, in communication studies, there are a number of different types of research methods. For example, in quantitative research, one might conduct surveys, experiments, or content analysis. In qualitative research, one might instead use interviews and observations. Critical/rhetorical studies methods are more about the interpretation of texts or the study of popular culture as communication. In creative communication research, the method may be an interpretive performance studies or filmmaking. Other methods used sometimes alone, or in combination with other methods, include legal research, historical research, and political economy research.

In quantitative and qualitative research papers, the methods will be most likely described according to the APA manual standards. At the very least, the methods will include a description of participants, data collection, and data analysis, with specific details on each of these elements. For example, in an experiment, the researcher will describe the number of participants, the materials used, the design of the experiment, the procedure of the experiment, and what statistics will be used to address the hypotheses/research questions.

Critical/rhetorical researchers rarely have a specific section called "methods," as opposed to quantitative and qualitative researchers, but rather demonstrate the method they use for analysis throughout the writing of their piece.

Helping your reader understand the methods you used for your study is important not only for your own study's credibility, but also for possible replication of your study by other researchers. A good guideline to keep in mind is  transparency . You want to be as clear as possible in describing the decisions you made in designing your study, gathering and analyzing your data so that the reader can retrace your steps and understand how you came to the conclusions you formed. A research study can be very good, but if it is not clearly described so that others can see how the results were determined or obtained, then the quality of the study and its potential contributions are lost.

After you completed your study, your findings will be listed in the results section. Particularly in a quantitative study, the results section is for revisiting your hypotheses and reporting whether or not your results supported them, and the statistical significance of the results. Whether your study supported or contradicted your hypotheses, it's always helpful to fully report what your results were. The researcher usually organizes the results of his/her results section by research question or hypothesis, stating the results for each one, using statistics to show how the research question or hypothesis was answered in the study.

The qualitative results section also may be organized by research question, but usually is organized by themes which emerged from the data collected. The researcher provides rich details from her/his observations and interviews, with detailed quotations provided to illustrate the themes identified. Sometimes the results section is combined with the discussion section.

Critical/rhetorical researchers would include their analysis often with different subheadings in what would be considered a "results" section, yet not labeled specifically this way.

Discussion:

In the discussion section, the researcher gives an appraisal of the results. Here is where the researcher considers the results, particularly in light of the literature review, and explains what the findings mean. If the results confirmed or corresponded with the findings of other literature, then that should be stated. If the results didn't support the findings of previous studies, then the researcher should develop an explanation of why the study turned out this way. Sometimes, this section is called a "conclusion" by researchers.

References:

In this section, all of the literature cited in the text should have full references in alphabetical order. Appendices: Appendix material includes items like questionnaires used in the study, photographs, documents, etc. An alphabetical letter is assigned for each piece (e.g. Appendix A, Appendix B), with a second line of title describing what the appendix contains (e.g. Participant Informed Consent, or  New York Times  Speech Coverage). They should be organized consistently with the order in which they are referenced in the text of the paper. The page numbers for appendices are consecutive with the paper and reference list.

Tables/Figures:

Tables and figures are referenced in the text, but included at the end of the study and numbered consecutively. (Check with your professor; some like to have tables and figures inserted within the paper's main text.) Tables generally are data in a table format, whereas figures are diagrams (such as a pie chart) and drawings (such as a flow chart).

Accessible Writing

As you may have noticed, academic writing does have a language (e.g., words like heuristic vocabulary and hypotheses) and style (e.g., literature reviews) all its own. It is important to engage in that language and style, and understand how to use it to  communicate effectively in an academic context . Yet, it is also important to remember that your analyses and findings should also be written to be accessible. Writers should avoid excessive jargon, or—even worse—deploying jargon to mask an incomplete understanding of a topic.

The scourge of excessive jargon in academic writing was the target of a famous hoax in 1996. A New York University physics professor submitted an article, " Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity ," to a special issue of the academic journal  Social Text  devoted to science and postmodernism. The article was designed to point out how dense academic jargon can sometimes mask sloppy thinking. As the professor, Alan Sokal, had expected, the article was published. One sample sentence from the article reads:

It has thus become increasingly apparent that physical "reality", no less than social "reality", is at bottom a social and linguistic construct; that scientific "knowledge", far from being objective, reflects and encodes the dominant ideologies and power relations of the culture that produced it; that the truth claims of science are inherently theory-laden and self-referential; and consequently, that the discourse of the scientific community, for all its undeniable value, cannot assert a privileged epistemological status with respect to counter-hegemonic narratives emanating from dissident or marginalized communities. (Sokal, 1996. pp. 217-218)

According to the journal's editor, about six reviewers had read the article but didn't suspect that it was phony. A public debate ensued after Sokal revealed his hoax. Sokal said he worried that jargon and intellectual fads cause academics to lose contact with the real world and "undermine the prospect for progressive social critique" ( Scott, 1996 ). The APA Manual recommends to avoid using technical vocabulary where it is not needed or relevant or if the technical language is overused, thus becoming jargon. In short, the APA argues that "scientific jargon...grates on the reader, encumbers the communication of information, and wastes space" (American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 68).

Data Visualization

Images and words have long existed on the printed page of manuscripts, yet, until recently, relatively few researchers possessed the resources to effectively combine images combined with words (Tufte, 1990, 1983). Communication scholars are only now becoming aware of this dimension in research as computer technologies have made it possible for many people to produce and publish multimedia presentations.

Although visuals may seem to be anathema to the primacy of the written word in research, they are a legitimate way, and at times the best way, to present ideas. Visual scholar Lester Faigley et al. (2004) explains how data visualizations have become part of our daily lives:

Visualizations can shed light on research as well. London-based David McCandless specializes in visualizing interesting research questions, or in his words "the questions I wanted answering" (2009, p. 7). His images include a graph of the  peak times of the year for breakups  (based on Facebook status updates), a  radiation dosage chart , and some  experiments with the Google Ngram Viewer , which charts the appearance of keywords in millions of books over hundreds of years.

The  public domain image  below creatively maps U.S. Census data of the outflow of people from California to other states between 1995 and 2000.

Visualizing one's research is possible in multiple ways. A simple technology, for example, is to enter data into a spreadsheet such as Excel, and select  Charts  or  SmartArt  to generate graphics. A number of free web tools can also transform raw data into useful charts and graphs.  Many Eyes , an open source data visualization tool (sponsored by IBM Research), says its goal "is to 'democratize' visualization and to enable a new social kind of data analysis" (IBM, 2011). Another tool,  Soundslides , enables users to import images and audio to create a photographic slideshow, while the program handles all of the background code. Other tools, often open source and free, can help visual academic research into interactive maps; interactive, image-based timelines; interactive charts; and simple 2-D and 3-D animations. Adobe Creative Suite (which includes popular software like Photoshop) is available on most computers at universities, but open source alternatives exist as well.  Gimp  is comparable to Photoshop, and it is free and relatively easy to use.

One online performance studies journal,  Liminalities , is an excellent example of how "research" can be more than just printed words. In each issue, traditional academic essays and book reviews are often supported photographs, while other parts of an issue can include video, audio, and multimedia contributions. The journal, founded in 2005, treats performance itself as a methodology, and accepts contribution in html, mp3, Quicktime, and Flash formats.

For communication researchers, there is also a vast array of visual digital archives available online. Many of these archives are located at colleges and universities around the world, where digital librarians are spearheading a massive effort to make information—print, audio, visual, and graphic—available to the public as part of a global information commons. For example, the University of Iowa has a considerable digital archive including historical photos documenting American railroads and a database of images related to geoscience. The University of Northern Iowa has a growing Special Collections Unit that includes digital images of every UNI Yearbook between 1905 and 1923 and audio files of UNI jazz band performances. Researchers at he University of Michigan developed  OAIster , a rich database that has joined thousands of digital archives in one searchable interface. Indeed, virtually every academic library is now digitizing all types of media, not just texts, and making them available for public viewing and, when possible, for use in presenting research. In addition to academic collections, the  Library of Congress  and the  National Archives  offer an ever-expanding range of downloadable media; commercial, user-generated databases such as Flickr, Buzznet, YouTube and Google Video offer a rich resource of images that are often free of copyright constraints (see Chapter 3 about Creative Commons licenses) and nonprofit endeavors, such as the  Internet Archive , contain a formidable collection of moving images, still photographs, audio files (including concert recordings), and open source software.

Presenting your Work in Person

As Communication students, it's expected that you are not only able to communicate your research project in written form but also in person.

Before you do any oral presentation, it's good to have a brief "pitch" ready for anyone who asks you about your research. The pitch is routine in Hollywood: a screenwriter has just a few minutes to present an idea to a producer. Although your pitch will be more sophisticated than, say, " Snakes on a Plane " (which unfortunately was made into a movie), you should in just a few lines be able to explain the gist of your research to anyone who asks. Developing this concise description, you will have some practice in distilling what might be a complicated topic into one others can quickly grasp.

Oral presentation

In most oral presentations of research, whether at the end of a semester, or at a research symposium or conference, you will likely have just 10 to 20 minutes. This is probably not enough time to read the entire paper aloud, which is not what you should do anyway if you want people to really listen (although, unfortunately some make this mistake). Instead, the point of the presentation should be to present your research in an interesting manner so the listeners will want to read the whole thing. In the presentation, spend the least amount of time on the literature review (a very brief summary will suffice) and the most on your own original contribution. In fact, you may tell your audience that you are only presenting on one portion of the paper, and that you would be happy to talk more about your research and findings in the question and answer session that typically follows. Consider your presentation the beginning of a dialogue between you and the audience. Your tone shouldn't be "I have found everything important there is to find, and I will cram as much as I can into this presentation," but instead "I found some things you will find interesting, but I realize there is more to find."

Turabian (2007) has a helpful chapter on presenting research. Most important, she emphasizes, is to remember that your audience members are listeners, not readers. Thus, recall the lessons on speech making in your college oral communication class. Give an introduction, tell them what the problem is, and map out what you will present to them. Organize your findings into a few points, and don't get bogged down in minutiae. (The minutiae are for readers to find if they wish, not for listeners to struggle through.) PowerPoint slides are acceptable, but don't read them. Instead, create an outline of a few main points, and practice your presentation.

Turabian  suggests an introduction of not more than three minutes, which should include these elements:

• The research topic you will address (not more than a minute).
• Your research question (30 seconds or less)
• An answer to "so what?" – explaining the relevance of your research (30 seconds)
• Your claim, or argument (30 seconds or less)
• The map of your presentation structure (30 seconds or less)

As Turabian (2007) suggests, "Rehearse your introduction, not only to get it right, but to be able to look your audience in the eye as you give it. You can look down at notes later" (p. 125).

Poster presentation

In some symposiums and conferences, you may be asked to present at a "poster" session. Instead of presenting on a panel of 4-5 people to an audience, a poster presenter is with others in a large hall or room, and talks one-on-one with visitors who look at the visual poster display of the research. As in an oral presentation, a poster highlights just the main point of the paper. Then, if visitors have questions, the author can informally discuss her/his findings.

To attract attention, poster presentations need to be nicely designed, or in the words of an advertising professor who schedules poster sessions at conferences, "be big, bold, and brief" ( Broyles , 2011). Large type (at least 18 pt.), graphics, tables, and photos are recommended.

A poster presentation session at a conference, by David Eppstein (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 ( www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0 )], via Wikimedia Commons]

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) has a  template for making an effective poster presentation . Many universities, copy shops, and Internet services also have large-scale printers, to print full-color research poster designs that can be rolled up and transported in a tube.

Judging Others' Research

After taking this course, you should have a basic knowledge of research methods. There will still be some things that may mystify you as a reader of other's research. For example, you may not be able to interpret the coefficients for statistical significance, or make sense of a complex structural equation. Some specialized vocabulary may still be difficult.

But, you should understand how to critically review research. For example, imagine you have been asked to do a blind (i.e., the author's identity is concealed) "peer review" of communication research for acceptance to a conference, or publication in an academic journal. For most  conferences  and  journals , submissions are made online, where editors can manage the flow and assign reviews to papers. The evaluations reviewers make are based on the same things that we have covered in this book. For example, the conference for the AEJMC ask reviewers to consider (on a five-point scale, from Excellent to Poor) a number of familiar research dimensions, including the paper's clarity of purpose, literature review, clarity of research method, appropriateness of research method, evidence presented clearly, evidence supportive of conclusions, general writing and organization, and the significance of the contribution to the field.

Beyond academia, it is likely you will more frequently apply the lessons of research methods as a critical consumer of news, politics, and everyday life. Just because some expert cites a number or presents a conclusion doesn't mean it's automatically true. John Allen Paulos, in his book  A Mathematician reads the newspaper , suggests some basic questions we can ask. "If statistics were presented, how were they obtained? How confident can we be of them? Were they derived from a random sample or from a collection of anecdotes? Does the correlation suggest a causal relationship, or is it merely a coincidence?" (1997, p. 201).

Through the study of research methods, we have begun to build a critical vocabulary and understanding to ask good questions when others present "knowledge." For example, if Candidate X won a straw poll in Iowa, does that mean she'll get her party's nomination? If Candidate Y wins an open primary in New Hampshire, does that mean he'll be the next president? If Candidate Z sheds a tear, does it matter what the context is, or whether that candidate is a man or a woman? What we learn in research methods about validity, reliability, sampling, variables, research participants, epistemology, grounded theory, and rhetoric, we can consider whether the "knowledge" that is presented in the news is a verifiable fact, a sound argument, or just conjecture.

American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Broyles, S. (2011). "About poster sessions." AEJMC.  http://www.aejmc.org/home/2013/01/about-poster-sessions/ .

Faigley, L., George, D., Palchik, A., Selfe, C. (2004).  Picturing texts . New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

IBM (2011). Overview of Many Eyes.  http://www.research.ibm.com/social/projects_manyeyes.shtml .

McCandless, D. (2009).  The visual miscellaneum . New York: Collins Design.

Merskin, D. (2011). A boyfriend to die for: Edward Cullen as compensated psychopath in Stephanie Meyer's  Twilight. Journal of Communication Inquiry  35: 157-178. doi:10.1177/0196859911402992

Paulos, J. A. (1997).  A mathematician reads the newspaper . New York: Anchor.

Scott, J. (1996, May 18). Postmodern gravity deconstructed, slyly.  New York Times , http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/11/15/specials/sokal-text.html .

Sokal, A. (1996). Transgressing the boundaries: towards a transformative hermeneutics of quantum gravity.  Social Text  46/47, 217-252.

Tufte, E. R. (1990).  Envisioning information . Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.

Tufte, E. R. (1983).  The visual display of quantitative information . Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.

Turabian, Kate L. (2007).  A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations: Chicago style guide for students and researchers  (7th ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

To read this content please select one of the options below:

Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, presenting findings from qualitative research: one size does not fit all.

The Production of Managerial Knowledge and Organizational Theory: New Approaches to Writing, Producing and Consuming Theory

ISBN : 978-1-78769-184-1 , eISBN : 978-1-78769-183-4

Publication date: 11 April 2019

In this chapter, the authors explore the state of our field in terms of ways to present qualitative findings. The authors analyze all articles based on qualitative research methods published in the Academy of Management Journal from 2010 to 2017 and supplement this by informally surveying colleagues about their “favorite” qualitative authors. As a result, the authors identify five ways of presenting qualitative findings in research articles. The authors suggest that each approach has advantages as well as limitations, and that the type of data and theorizing is an important consideration in determining the most appropriate approach for the presentation of findings. The authors hope that by identifying these approaches, they enrich the way authors, reviewers, and editors approach the presentation of qualitative findings.

• Qualitative research
• Interpretive research
• Findings presentation

Reay, T. , Zafar, A. , Monteiro, P. and Glaser, V. (2019), "Presenting Findings from Qualitative Research: One Size Does Not Fit All!", Zilber, T.B. , Amis, J.M. and Mair, J. (Ed.) The Production of Managerial Knowledge and Organizational Theory: New Approaches to Writing, Producing and Consuming Theory ( Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Vol. 59 ), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 201-216. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20190000059011

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited

All feedback is valuable

Please share your general feedback

Report an issue or find answers to frequently asked questions

Contact Customer Support

Qualitative vs. quantitative data in research: what's the difference?

If you're reading this, you likely already know the importance of data analysis. And you already know it can be incredibly complex.

At its simplest, research and it's data can be broken down into two different categories: quantitative and qualitative. But what's the difference between each? And when should you use them? And how can you use them together?

Understanding the differences between qualitative and quantitative data is key to any research project. Knowing both approaches can help you in understanding your data better—and ultimately understand your customers better. Quick takeaways:

Quantitative research uses objective, numerical data to answer questions like "what" and "how often." Conversely, qualitative research seeks to answer questions like "why" and "how," focusing on subjective experiences to understand motivations and reasons.

Quantitative data is collected through methods like surveys and experiments and analyzed statistically to identify patterns. Qualitative data is gathered through interviews or observations and analyzed by categorizing information to understand themes and insights.

Effective data analysis combines quantitative data for measurable insights with qualitative data for contextual depth.

What is quantitative data?

Qualitative and quantitative data differ in their approach and the type of data they collect.

Quantitative data refers to any information that can be quantified — that is, numbers. If it can be counted or measured, and given a numerical value, it's quantitative in nature. Think of it as a measuring stick.

Quantitative variables can tell you "how many," "how much," or "how often."

Some examples of quantitative data :  

How many people attended last week's webinar? 

How much revenue did our company make last year? 

How often does a customer rage click on this app?

To analyze these research questions and make sense of this quantitative data, you’d normally use a form of statistical analysis —collecting, evaluating, and presenting large amounts of data to discover patterns and trends. Quantitative data is conducive to this type of analysis because it’s numeric and easier to analyze mathematically.

Computers now rule statistical analytics, even though traditional methods have been used for years. But today’s data volumes make statistics more valuable and useful than ever. When you think of statistical analysis now, you think of powerful computers and algorithms that fuel many of the software tools you use today.

Popular quantitative data collection methods are surveys, experiments, polls, and more.

Quantitative Data 101: What is quantitative data?

Take a deeper dive into what quantitative data is, how it works, how to analyze it, collect it, use it, and more.

Learn more about quantitative data →

What is qualitative data?

Unlike quantitative data, qualitative data is descriptive, expressed in terms of language rather than numerical values.

Qualitative data analysis describes information and cannot be measured or counted. It refers to the words or labels used to describe certain characteristics or traits.

You would turn to qualitative data to answer the "why?" or "how?" questions. It is often used to investigate open-ended studies, allowing participants (or customers) to show their true feelings and actions without guidance.

Some examples of qualitative data:

Why do people prefer using one product over another?

How do customers feel about their customer service experience?

What do people think about a new feature in the app?

Think of qualitative data as the type of data you'd get if you were to ask someone why they did something. Popular data collection methods are in-depth interviews, focus groups, or observation.

Start growing with data and Fullstory.

Request your personalized demo of the Fullstory behavioral data platform.

What are the differences between qualitative vs. quantitative data?

When it comes to conducting data research, you’ll need different collection, hypotheses and analysis methods, so it’s important to understand the key differences between quantitative and qualitative data:

Quantitative data is numbers-based, countable, or measurable. Qualitative data is interpretation-based, descriptive, and relating to language.

Quantitative data tells us how many, how much, or how often in calculations. Qualitative data can help us to understand why, how, or what happened behind certain behaviors .

Quantitative data is fixed and universal. Qualitative data is subjective and unique.

Quantitative research methods are measuring and counting. Qualitative research methods are interviewing and observing.

Quantitative data is analyzed using statistical analysis. Qualitative data is analyzed by grouping the data into categories and themes.

As you can see, both provide immense value for any data collection and are key to truly finding answers and patterns. 

More examples of quantitative and qualitative data

You’ve most likely run into quantitative and qualitative data today, alone. For the visual learner, here are some examples of both quantitative and qualitative data: 

Quantitative data example

The customer has clicked on the button 13 times. 

The engineer has resolved 34 support tickets today. 

The team has completed 7 upgrades this month. 

14 cartons of eggs were purchased this month.

Qualitative data example

My manager has curly brown hair and blue eyes.

My coworker is funny, loud, and a good listener. 

The customer has a very friendly face and a contagious laugh.

The eggs were delicious.

The fundamental difference is that one type of data answers primal basics and one answers descriptively. 

What does this mean for data quality and analysis? If you just analyzed quantitative data, you’d be missing core reasons behind what makes a data collection meaningful. You need both in order to truly learn from data—and truly learn from your customers. 

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

Both types of data has their own pros and cons. 

Advantages of quantitative data

It’s relatively quick and easy to collect and it’s easier to draw conclusions from. 

When you collect quantitative data, the type of results will tell you which statistical tests are appropriate to use. 

As a result, interpreting your data and presenting those findings is straightforward and less open to error and subjectivity.

Another advantage is that you can replicate it. Replicating a study is possible because your data collection is measurable and tangible for further applications.

Disadvantages of quantitative data

Quantitative data doesn’t always tell you the full story (no matter what the perspective). 

With choppy information, it can be inconclusive.

Quantitative research can be limited, which can lead to overlooking broader themes and relationships.

By focusing solely on numbers, there is a risk of missing larger focus information that can be beneficial.

Advantages of qualitative data

Qualitative data offers rich, in-depth insights and allows you to explore context.

It’s great for exploratory purposes.

Qualitative research delivers a predictive element for continuous data.

Disadvantages of qualitative data

It’s not a statistically representative form of data collection because it relies upon the experience of the host (who can lose data).

It can also require multiple data sessions, which can lead to misleading conclusions.

The takeaway is that it’s tough to conduct a successful data analysis without both. They both have their advantages and disadvantages and, in a way, they complement each other. 

Now, of course, in order to analyze both types of data, information has to be collected first.

Let's get into the research.

Quantitative and qualitative research

The core difference between qualitative and quantitative research lies in their focus and methods of data collection and analysis. This distinction guides researchers in choosing an appropriate approach based on their specific research needs.

Using mixed methods of both can also help provide insights form combined qualitative and quantitative data.

Best practices of each help to look at the information under a broader lens to get a unique perspective. Using both methods is helpful because they collect rich and reliable data, which can be further tested and replicated.

What is quantitative research?

Quantitative research is based on the collection and interpretation of numeric data. It's all about the numbers and focuses on measuring (using inferential statistics ) and generalizing results. Quantitative research seeks to collect numerical data that can be transformed into usable statistics.

It relies on measurable data to formulate facts and uncover patterns in research. By employing statistical methods to analyze the data, it provides a broad overview that can be generalized to larger populations.

In terms of digital experience data, it puts everything in terms of numbers (or discrete data )—like the number of users clicking a button, bounce rates , time on site, and more. 

Some examples of quantitative research: 

What is the amount of money invested into this service?

What is the average number of times a button was dead clicked ?

How many customers are actually clicking this button?

Essentially, quantitative research is an easy way to see what’s going on at a 20,000-foot view. 

Each data set (or customer action, if we’re still talking digital experience) has a numerical value associated with it and is quantifiable information that can be used for calculating statistical analysis so that decisions can be made. 

You can use statistical operations to discover feedback patterns (with any representative sample size) in the data under examination. The results can be used to make predictions , find averages, test causes and effects, and generalize results to larger measurable data pools. 

Unlike qualitative methodology, quantitative research offers more objective findings as they are based on more reliable numeric data.

Quantitative data collection methods

A survey is one of the most common research methods with quantitative data that involves questioning a large group of people. Questions are usually closed-ended and are the same for all participants. An unclear questionnaire can lead to distorted research outcomes.

Similar to surveys, polls yield quantitative data. That is, you poll a number of people and apply a numeric value to how many people responded with each answer.

Experiments

An experiment is another common method that usually involves a control group and an experimental group . The experiment is controlled and the conditions can be manipulated accordingly. You can examine any type of records involved if they pertain to the experiment, so the data is extensive. 

What is qualitative research?

Qualitative research does not simply help to collect data. It gives a chance to understand the trends and meanings of natural actions. It’s flexible and iterative.

Qualitative research focuses on the qualities of users—the actions that drive the numbers. It's descriptive research. The qualitative approach is subjective, too. 

It focuses on describing an action, rather than measuring it.

Some examples of qualitative research: 

The sunflowers had a fresh smell that filled the office.

All the bagels with bites taken out of them had cream cheese.

The man had blonde hair with a blue hat.

Qualitative research utilizes interviews, focus groups, and observations to gather in-depth insights.

This approach shines when the research objective calls for exploring ideas or uncovering deep insights rather than quantifying elements.

Qualitative data collection methods

An interview is the most common qualitative research method. This method involves personal interaction (either in real life or virtually) with a participant. It’s mostly used for exploring attitudes and opinions regarding certain issues.

Interviews are very popular methods for collecting data in product design .

Focus groups

Data analysis by focus group is another method where participants are guided by a host to collect data. Within a group (either in person or online), each member shares their opinion and experiences on a specific topic, allowing researchers to gather perspectives and deepen their understanding of the subject matter.

Digital Leadership Webinar: Accelerating Growth with Quantitative Data and Analytics

Learn how the best-of-the-best are connecting quantitative data and experience to accelerate growth.

So which type of data is better for data analysis?

So how do you determine which type is better for data analysis ?

Quantitative data is structured and accountable. This type of data is formatted in a way so it can be organized, arranged, and searchable. Think about this data as numbers and values found in spreadsheets—after all, you would trust an Excel formula.

Qualitative data is considered unstructured. This type of data is formatted (and known for) being subjective, individualized, and personalized. Anything goes. Because of this, qualitative data is inferior if it’s the only data in the study. However, it’s still valuable. 

Because quantitative data is more concrete, it’s generally preferred for data analysis. Numbers don’t lie. But for complete statistical analysis, using both qualitative and quantitative yields the best results. 

At Fullstory, we understand the importance of data, which is why we created a behavioral data platform that analyzes customer data for better insights. Our platform delivers a complete, retroactive view of how people interact with your site or app—and analyzes every point of user interaction so you can scale.

Unlock business-critical data with Fullstory

A perfect digital customer experience is often the difference between company growth and failure. And the first step toward building that experience is quantifying who your customers are, what they want, and how to provide them what they need.

Access to product analytics is the most efficient and reliable way to collect valuable quantitative data about funnel analysis, customer journey maps , user segments, and more.

But creating a perfect digital experience means you need organized and digestible quantitative data—but also access to qualitative data. Understanding the why is just as important as the what itself.

Fullstory's DXI platform combines the quantitative insights of product analytics with picture-perfect session replay for complete context that helps you answer questions, understand issues, and uncover customer opportunities.

Start a free 14-day trial to see how Fullstory can help you combine your most invaluable quantitative and qualitative insights and eliminate blind spots.

About the author

Our team of experts is committed to introducing people to important topics surrounding analytics, digital experience intelligence, product development, and more.

Related posts

Quantitative data is used for calculations or obtaining numerical results. Learn about the different types of quantitative data uses cases and more.

Discover how data discovery transforms raw data into actionable insights for informed decisions, improved strategies, and better customer experiences.

Learn the 3 key benefits democratized data can achieve, and 3 of the most pertinent dangers of keeping data (and teams) siloed.

Learn the essentials of behavioral data and its transformative impact on customer experience. Our comprehensive guide provides the tools and knowledge to harness this power effectively.

Discover how Fullstory leverages AI to turn raw data into actionable insights, transforming user experiences and driving business growth.

Discover how just-in-time data, explained by Lane Greer, enhances customer insights and decision-making beyond real-time analytics.

• Open access
• Published: 17 June 2024

Challenges and coping mechanisms of parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a qualitative study

• Wongelawit Mesfin 1 &
• Kassahun Habtamu 1  

BMC Psychology volume  12 , Article number:  354 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

87 Accesses

Metrics details

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that has manifestations of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. It affects every facet of a child’s life, including one’s own emotions, family and school life, and social interaction. The few available studies on ADHD conducted in Ethiopia focus on teachers’ awareness and the prevalence of ADHD. None of these studies has taken into account parents of children who have ADHD. The present study, therefore, aimed to find out the challenges and coping mechanisms of parents who have children with ADHD.

A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted to explore the experiences of parents who have children with ADHD. The study was carried out in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. Fourteen parents and two healthcare providers were involved in the study. Participants were selected using a purposive sampling technique. In-depth interviews were conducted with parents of children with ADHD ( n  = 8) and healthcare providers ( n  = 2). One focus group discussion (FGD), consisting of six members, was also conducted with parents. A topic guide for conducting the interviews and FGD was developed. Interviews and the FGD were audio-recorded. The data were transcribed verbatim, translated into English, and then analyzed using a thematic analysis approach.

With regard to challenges of parents of children with ADHD, three themes emerged: social challenges, economic challenges and psychological challenges. Stigma is found to be the most common challenge. Other challenges included worry about the child’s future, lack of social support, strained relationships with others, impact on their job, and marital conflict. Concerning coping mechanisms, two themes emerged: Inward and outward means of coping. The inward means of coping included prayer and developing an optimistic mindset whereas the outward means were family support, healthcare providers’ guidance, and social avoidance.

Conclusions

The study found that parents of children with ADHD experience several aspects of psychological, social, and economic challenges. Support from healthcare professionals, family members, and the community at large is found to be useful for parents to cope with these challenges. Future research should focus on evaluating interventions that would help parents with ADHD cope with the challenges they experience.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) defines attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) as a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention, disorganization, and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity [ 1 ]. Inattention and disorganization entail inability to stay on task, seemingly not to listen, and losing materials, at levels that are inconsistent with age or developmental level [ 2 ]. Hyperactivity-impulsivity, on the other hand, refers to over-activity, fidgeting, inability to stay seated, intruding into other people’s activities, and inability to wait- symptoms that are excessive for age or developmental level [ 3 ]. These symptoms have to present prior to age 12 years, have also been present in two settings (at home and school) and they interfere with, or reduce the quality of social, academic, or occupational functioning [ 1 ]. ADHD is believed to occur in all cultures in about 5% of children and about 2.5% of adults [ 4 ]. The prevalence of ADHD worldwide is estimated to be around 6 in 100 children and adolescents and 3 in 100 adults [ 5 , 6 ].

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are three categories of ADHD [ 7 ]. The first is the predominately inattentive type. In this category are those children with poor attention who may forget time and again, are easily distracted, sidetracked from a task, appear not to be listening, are messy, take time to initiate doing things and lose their possessions regularly. The second category is the predominately hyperactive/impulsive type. Children with hyperactivity may often be restless, fidgety, full of energy or “always on the go”, loud, continuously chattering, unable to stay seated (in the classroom, workplace, etc.), running about or climbing in inappropriate places and unable to play or do leisure activities quietly. Children with symptoms of impulsivity may often do things without thinking, have difficulty waiting for their turn in games or a queue, interrupt people in conversation, blurt out answers before the question is finished, look intrusive and start using other people’s things without permission [ 8 ]. The third one, which is the combined type, has symptoms from both the inattentive and the hyperactive/impulsive types.

ADHD has an impact on the different aspects of a child’s life, such as poor peer relationships, and low self-esteem [ 9 ]. Children with ADHD show significant academic underachievement and educational problems [ 10 , 11 , 12 ]. For instance, they score significantly lower on reading and arithmetic tests than controls [ 13 ].

ADHD is commonly associated with elevated levels of parenting stress because the parents’ perceptions of the demands of their role as parents exceed their resources to cope with them [ 14 ]. Stress from parenting is a set of processes that starts off from efforts to adapt to calls of parenthood and results in unwanted psychological and physiological responses [ 15 ]. Apart from higher emotional impact, impaired family activities, less parental warmth, and higher parental depression and anxiety, parents of children diagnosed with ADHD reported higher stress [ 16 ]. A study has shown that the children’s problems affect the parenting stress more than parenting stress affects the children’s problems [ 17 ]. For instance, a study showed that South African parents experienced difficulties such as negative emotions, economic problems, inadequate social support, stigma, and extra care giving responsibilities [ 18 ]. Tanzanian parents experienced difficulties in handling children whose level of functioning was impaired due to abnormal and disruptive behaviour such as not being able to follow parental instructions [ 19 ]. They are also faced with psychological problems due to caring demands exacerbated by a lack of support and stigma from the community, disruptions in family functioning and social interactions among family members.

Parents need coping mechanisms to deal with the challenges they are facing in raising a child with ADHD. Folkman & Lazarus [ 20 ] explained coping as an individual’s continuous effort in thoughts and actions to manage specific external or internal demands appraised to be challenging and overwhelming to the individual. In addition, coping is considered highly contextual, in that its effectiveness is determined by the ability to change over time and across different conditions. There is no previous study on the coping mechanisms of parents who have children with ADHD in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, a study on mothers of autistic children found that religion, experience sharing, and social support are the most commonly used coping mechanisms [ 21 ]. A similar study on parents of children with intellectual disability showed that religion (praying, fasting, and attending church ceremonies), experience sharing with like parents and maintaining smooth relations with their children’s teachers are their coping mechanisms [ 22 ].

Few studies have been conducted on the prevalence, risk and protective factors and impact of ADHD in the Ethiopian context [ 23 , 24 , 25 ]. Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies done on the challenges and coping mechanisms of parents of children with ADHD in the Ethiopian context. This study, therefore, aimed to explore the challenges and coping mechanisms of parents of children with ADHD.

Study design

A phenomenological qualitative study was conducted. A qualitative approach was more suitable for this study as it seeks to acquire an in-depth understanding of the experiences of parents with ADHD through exploration instead of measurement [ 26 ]. According to Draper [ 27 ], qualitative research investigates a phenomenon considering the context of people’s everyday lives and also attempts to understand and explain the world from participants’ points of view. Green & Thorogood [ 28 ] concur by stating that the focus of qualitative research is to find explanations for questions such as “what”, “how” or “why” of an occurrence.

This study intended to assess the challenges parents of children with ADHD face and the coping mechanisms they use. Data were gathered by using in-depth and key informant interviews and focus group discussion. In doing so, the study gave participants the freedom to articulate their experiences with their own words rather than choosing words from a predetermined list. The study also adopted Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model as its theoretical framework [ 29 ].

Study setting

The study was conducted at St. Paul Hospital, located in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. The present site of the hospital building was constructed in 1968/69 and could admit 400 inpatients and 300 outpatients. St. Paul’s Hospital opened a medical college during the Ethiopian Millennium celebration in 2007 after serving the nation as a hospital for six decades. Afterward, it was renamed St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical Collage (SPHMMC) by the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia. At present, it has more than 2,500 clinical, academic and administrative staff. While the inpatient capacity is 700 beds, more than 2,000 outpatient and emergency clients visit the health facility every day. St. Paul Hospital has a vision of becoming a medical university with a prestigious academic and research center, and one of the most sought- after medical care providers [ 30 ].

The Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of the hospital launched its service around 8 years ago. It provides services to children and adolescents who have different types of psychiatric conditions such as depression, autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, intellectual disability, substance use disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder. On average, around ten patients pay a visit to the department daily. Service users will have their follow-ups until age 18 years in the Department and then will get transferred to the Adult Psychiatry Department. There are two resident psychiatrists, one senior psychiatrist, two psychologists and two nurses who are providing services in the Department.

Participants

Purposive sampling was used to select participants in the study. This was carried out until saturation was reached. Parents who have children with diagnosed ADHD and healthcare providers who are providing treatment to children with ADHD participated in the study. Participants had to meet the following inclusion criteria to be included in the study: being a parent to a child with a diagnosis of ADHD, ability to communicate fluently in Amharic, and willingness to participate in the study. As for the healthcare providers, the study included the two of them who were on duty during the study. The target population of this study was parents of children who have ADHD at St. Paul Hospital and health care professionals who were providing services to these children and their parents. The nurse provided the information on whether parents had children with ADHD or not. Then, parents were asked for their oral consent to participate in the study.

There is no formula to acquire a sample size in qualitative research. Rather, most scholars agree on the concept of data saturation to reach to sample size. Englander [ 31 ] argued that sample size in qualitative research is often determined on the basis of theoretical saturation (the point in data collection when new data no longer bring additional insights to the research questions). Sandelowski [ 32 ] suggested that the assessment of the sample size’s appropriateness becomes a “matter of judgment”, depending on the milestones retained in the attention field by the researcher.

Creswell [ 33 ] recommended interviews with up to 10 people in phenomenological research so this study planned to interview two healthcare professionals and eight parents who have a child with ADHD. Regarding the focus group discussion, Johnson & Christensen [ 34 ] suggested that focus groups usually contain 6–12 persons. Krueger [ 35 ] suggested 6–9 focus group members and groups with more than 12 participants tend to limit each person’s opportunity to share insights and observations while focus groups with less than 6 participants make it difficult to sustain a discussion. One focus group discussion was conducted comprising six parents who have a child with ADHD.

Methods and procedures of data collection

In-depth and key informant interviews and focus group discussion (FGD) were used as methods of data collection. Both interviews and FGD gave the participants the autonomy to express their experiences in raising children with ADHD. In-depth interviews and FGD were conducted with parents of children with ADHD. Healthcare professionals who diagnose and provide treatment to children with ADHD at St. Paul Hospital were also interviewed. Triangulation is of vital significance in qualitative research in terms of data collection method and data source. Having different respondents for the interview and FGD enriched the information gathered. The sequence for the data collection was from individual interviews with parents to focus group discussion with parents and then to individual interviews with healthcare providers. The major reason for this sequence was that in-depth interview with parents was the primary method of data collection and it was easier to make the interview with parents iterative than the interview with healthcare providers as well as the FGD with parents. In addition, the interview with parents shaped both the FGD and the interview with healthcare providers.

We developed a topic guide for the interviews and the focus group discussion (Supplementary Material 1 ). The questions within the topic guide we used for parents focused on finding out parents’ reactions to the first diagnosis of their child, the change after diagnosis, their positive experiences, the challenges they face and their coping mechanisms. For the healthcare providers, the questions focused on finding out about parents’ reactions to the first diagnosis of their children, the challenges of parents and the support given by the healthcare providers. For each guiding question, planned probes were included.

Interviews involve a one-to-one in-depth discussion where the researcher adopts the role of an “investigator.” This implies the researcher asks questions, controls the dynamics of the discussion, or engages in dialogue with a specific individual at a time [ 36 ]. According to Nyumba [ 36 ] in a focus group discussion, researchers adopt the role of a “facilitator” or a “moderator.” In this setting, the researcher facilitates or moderates a group discussion between participants and not between the researcher and the participants. The study was conducted in a naturalistic setting of the out-patient of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at St. Paul’s Hospital. Both the interviews and focus group discussion were conducted in Amharic and electronically recorded. This allowed the researcher to refer to the data gathered anytime and also avoid recall bias. In-depth interviews with parents lasted between 30 and 50 min, whereas the FGD took 90 min. The key informant interview with one of the healthcare providers lasted 45 min and with the other 60 min.

Data analysis

Data were transcribed verbatim and then translated into English. We followed the following four steps in analyzing the data: (a) familiarization with the data, (b) generating initial codes and searching for themes, (c) reviewing themes, and (d) naming themes [ 28 ].

In the course of getting familiar with the data, we listened to the audio recordings several times and transcribed the recordings into text format. Then meticulous reading of the transcripts was carried out with the aim of spotting keywords or phrases describing the experiences of the informants. Labeling and organizing the relevant pieces enabled the coding to be achieved which subsequently helped in identifying key themes. The formation and naming of these key themes were a result of the grouping of related themes. Then the subthemes were formed.

Ethical considerations

We confirm that the study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the School of Psychology, Addis Ababa University, and the Ethics Committee of St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College. The study was carried out in a manner that was transparent to all the participants. All the participants in the study were well informed of the aim of the study. Only those who gave their oral informed consent to participate in the study were included. The participants were assured that the data gathered would only be used for research purpose. In addition, they were reassured that the use of the voice recording was solely for the research.

Assurance of confidentiality was attained by giving pseudonyms to participants. At the end of the interview, all participants were debriefed. Finally, the researcher offered the chance of getting the findings of the research to the participants.

The socio-demographic characteristics of the interview and FGD participants are presented in Table  1 .

The in-depth interview participants were eight in number and all were biological parents. Seven mothers and a father participated in the interview. All were married, except one (who was divorced), in terms of marital status. The age of the parents who participated in the interview ranged from 27 to 48 years. Concerning their religion, two of them were Muslims, two of them were Orthodox Christians and the rest four were Protestants. With regards to educational level, one was not able to read and write, two were seventh graders, three were tenth graders, one was eleventh grader and one had a BA degree. When it comes to occupation, five of them were stay at home mothers, one a cleaner, one tea and coffee vendor and one a pastor. Respondents of the focus group discussion were six biological parents. The group consisted of four mothers and two fathers, with age ranging from thirty to sixty. When it comes to marital status, there was one single parent, four married and one cohabiting with a partner. Four of them were orthodox Christians whereas the other two were Protestant or Muslim. Regarding their educational level, two of them had first degree, one had diploma, two of them completed 12th grade and one was a tenth grader. Concerning their occupation, the two degree holders both were teachers, one self-employed and three of them were stay-at home mothers.

Concerning the socio-demographic characteristics of health care professionals, one was a female General Practitioner and the other was a male third-year Psychiatry resident. Both were single. In terms of religion, one was Muslim and the other Protestant.

The major themes along with their sub-themes that emerged from the data are presented in Table  2 .

Parents’ reaction to their children’s diagnosis

For the question about their reaction when the healthcare provider first informed them about their children’s diagnosis, parents responded that they reacted with a range of feelings. There was no ‘right’ way to feel to come to terms with the diagnosis and move on with everyday life. The healthy thing to do was to recognize and validate these feelings. Some accepted it, some were shocked and confused and others were engulfed with different feelings. Apart from those who accepted it easily, we had observed other parents responding with sadness and teary eyes or even sobbing.

Parents’ acceptance of their children’s diagnosis is a way of melding the condition in their lives without engaging in any intrapersonal conflict. Intrapersonal conflict was a fight within oneself with one’s thoughts and values. The intrapersonal conflict for parents like these might be in the form of self-blame, guilt, blaming others, becoming mad at God, or taking the incident as a punishment from God. Easy acceptance of their children’s diagnosis was possible for some parents because of the prior information they got from different sources.

While we were living in Saudi Arabia, I had seen TV programs that enabled me to have a clue concerning children’s mental health. So accepting it was not that much of a trouble to me. (INTV, Fatuma) As a teacher, I knew the behaviour of children. I had noticed something wasn’t right when it came to the behaviour of my son. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t have the motivation and the patience to study. I searched over the internet and finally took him for an assessment. (FGD, Afework)

Shock and confusion

Hearing the unexpected news yielded two predominant emotions: shock and confusion. Shock was a reaction to a surprising and unpleasant incident while confusion was a state where one feels disoriented, cannot think clearly and is unable to make a decision. Two of the interviewed mothers had the following to say:

My daughter was on Thyroxine tablets that were prescribed to her by doctors in Saudi Arabia. Back then I was told that my daughter’s behaviour was a result of the side effect of this medication. But when we came to Ethiopia, she was diagnosed with ADHD. As I had accepted what the doctors from Saudi Arabia said about the behaviour of my daughter, finding out she had a mental health condition was shocking. The two different opinions of the doctors made me confused. Why the doctors did come up with two different diagnoses? (INTV, Sifan) I didn’t expect my daughter would be diagnosed with a mental health condition so it was shocking news for me. I raised my daughter alone and struggled to support us. God knew what I was going through and had helped my problems come to pass. So, when this happened I was confused why God allowed another problem to happen to me. I had seen no hope until my daughter started taking the medication. (INTV, Tirunesh)

Emotional ambivalence

Some of the parents reported that they experienced emotional ambivalence (a state where one has a mixture of emotions that might contradict each other). These included anxiety, hopelessness, depression, guilt, self-blame, denial, shame, self-doubt, sadness and blame. Anxiety arises from the feeling of uncertainty and fear about what the future holds for their children. Blaming others, guilt and self-blame were effects of the search for possible causes of the disorder. Parents moved down memory lane to dig out what they should have done. Anxiety, fear and insecurity could lead to denial about the incident. Feelings of shame arise when parents think about what society might say about their child’s diagnosis. Parents also might doubt themselves about their competence as a parent.

The news about the diagnosis erupted mixed emotions in other parents which included denial, anxiety, sadness, hopelessness, shame and self-blame. One mother whose son had epilepsy explained the assurance they had in prayer for the spiritual healing of their son. Not seeing any progress made her sought professional help. He was not only diagnosed with epilepsy but also with ADHD. What she had felt was anxiety, hopelessness, confusion, shame and self-blame. This was what another sobbing mother had to say:

My son had swallowed a coin and we took him to the hospital. X-ray images were taken thrice. I blame myself for not refusing when the medical practitioners did that. So I believe the exposure to the X-ray that day caused my son’s ADHD. I felt as though I’d failed so I blamed myself for that . In addition, I had shame, denial and guilt. (FGD, Mesert)

A father had also the following to share:

As our neighbors told us, my son had fallen several times when he was very little and we believe that his ADHD was a result of it. A teacher was complaining about my son’s behaviour to his mother. His mother told the teacher that he had started holy water treatment for his behaviour. The principal of the school overheard their conversation and later on warned us that he must get assessed by a professional. As the school is an international school, she also wanted a medical certificate after his assessment in order for them to support him afterwards. I had felt shame and sadness. (FGD, Workneh)

The two healthcare professionals described what the reactions of parents were when they were first told about the diagnosis of their children. The resident psychiatrist reported that most parents got confused, shocked, and exhibited denial.

The general practitioner shared her observation as:

Most of the parents did not have a clue about ADHD and often were perplexed and assumed ADHD was as a full-blown psychosis. Moreover, parents wrestled with self-blame if something had happened in the past which they might think had caused their child’s disorder. This included a fall of the child that took place during the early years, instances during their pregnancy, etc. (INTV, GP)

Parental change after diagnosis

Parents reported that they experienced a change in themselves after they knew about the diagnosis of their children. These included an increased understanding of ADHD and better care provision.

Awareness about ADHD

For some of the parents, the change after the diagnosis of the child was an increased understanding about the condition not only for themselves but also for the ones that were close to them. Two parents shared the changes that took place with them as follows:

I thought my son’s condition was associated with supernatural evil manifestation and that was the reason why we chose prayer prior to getting him professionally evaluated. Our perspective has shifted after his diagnosis. (INTV, Deraretu) The first time I heard about ADHD was in the psychiatrist’s office during my son’s assessment. When I go home, I shared the information with my wife. Later on, I told my elder sister about it as she sometimes looked after him. (INTV, Haile)

Knowing about their children’s condition has enabled some parents to become better caregiver to their children. One parent described it as:

I not only give him unique attention to his needs but also strive for his emotional well-being. I am always more watchful when relatives come to visit us so that they don’t call him “naughty” or something else. Whenever I had to go pay a visit to a relative, I wanted to take my other kids along and leave my son home. On the one hand, I feel like I am protecting him from harsh comments. On the other hand I knew this would make him feel lonely. In the end, I refrained from doing this and went by myself. (INTV, Tayitu)

Another parent added:

I came to know that physical exercise helps with concentration. I always encourage my son to do regular physical exercises. (FGD, Afework)

Positive experiences while parenting a child with ADHD

Even though their situation was unfortunate and dubious, parents gained some sort of positive experience in the upbringing of their children with ADHD. These included knowledge, advocacy, and inspiration.

For most of the parents, their knowledge of ADHD increased after the diagnosis. Moreover, they shared what they knew with the ones they believed should know about their children’s condition as described in the quotations below.

A teacher had called my son stupid which had been informed to the director. As the teachers didn’t have a clue about ADHD, I made a brief explanation about his condition to all of them. (INT, Haile) Fellow teachers used to tell me to support my son academically as if I was negligent towards this. I tutored a lot of children and enabled them to be high achievers academically. I knew my son had a good potential but the perspective of others differed about it. I shared what I knew about the condition with a heavy heart knowing it was not a one-time incident. I wish people were aware of ADHD. (FGD, Afework)

Becoming an advocate for children with ADHD was another positive experience gained for most of the parents. Parents have become advocates with the intention creating a supportive environment for their children. The quotation below supports this narration.

If I see children who have similar behaviour as my son’s, the first thing that comes to mind is his condition (ADHD). Whenever I take a taxi and observe a hyperactive child, I try to play with them and defend them if any negative comment is forwarded. (INTV, Kedija)

Another parent claimed that he not only became an advocate for children with ADHD but also for mental health in general.

During a discussion about mental health, I made sure people dropped any myths they might have about ADHD and other mental health issues. Even the ones we considered worst like schizophrenia can be managed with medication and normal life can be attained. (FGD, Workneh)

Inspiration

Some of the parents wanted to share their experiences with other similar parents and also get encouraged by other parents who have children with other neurodevelopmental disorders. A parent highlighted her positive experience in terms of knowledge of ADHD, inspiration, and advocacy as follows.

While waiting for my son’s turn at the hospital, I always engage in a conversation with other parents. If the parents have a newly diagnosed child, I tell them their journey might be challenging but it’s manageable. I told them how I managed my son’s epilepsy and ADHD. If their child has autism or another condition, it’s my turn to learn from their strength. (FGD, Mesert)

Challenges of parents of children with ADHD

The study found that parents of children with ADHD experienced psychological, social, and economic challenges. More specifically, these included worry about the future of the child, stigma, lack of social support, strained relationship with others, impact on their job, marital conflict, teachers’ lack of knowledge on ADHD, and having anxiety and depression symptoms.

Social challenges

Social challenges were those challenges originating from society and have negative consequences on the individual. Stigma was found to be one of the major social challenges for the majority of the parents. This included a negative, biased and unfair belief about ADHD. An excuse for laziness, way out of trouble, wrongly disciplined, and judgment on parents were some of the aspects of stigmata associated with ADHD.

Less social support from relatives and neighbors and a low level of knowledge of teachers take up the next level of challenges. The less social support from relatives and neighbors might be the result of stigma. Strained relationships and marital conflict are the challenges that stood out for a few parents in addition to other social challenges. Due to the stigma and social avoidance, some parents had strained relationships with members of their community. Others had conflicts with their partners regarding the diagnosis and treatment of their child’s ADHD.

A parent stated her experience as:

I face different setbacks but the one that hurts me most is my marital conflict. My husband doesn’t seem to care about my son who has ADHD. Ever since my son’s diagnosis, he isolated himself from anything connected to my son’s condition. In regards to my son’s school, the school administration informed me that my son wasn’t up to the criteria set for kids with autism and therefore had to leave the school. I took the case to the Ministry of Education. So I carry the entire burden by myself. (FGD, Muluemebet)

Another mother added:

I have a similar story. My mother-in-law believes that my son’s condition is brought by evil spirits and the remedy is in the hands of a shaman. As she has inflicted this idea in my husband’s head, a fight arises whenever my son’s condition is raised. One day my son was late to come home. But when he returned, his father locked the door and started beating him up. He opened the door to let him out on the arrival of the police. Even though I had explained to my sisters about my son’s condition, they suggested I should look for a detention facility for children like him. Due to my son’s condition, I no longer work and am a housewife. I sometimes get judged about my son by individuals from my church’s congregation. (FGD, Mesert)

Economic challenges

Economic challenges were those challenges that put economic turmoil on an individual due to mental health conditions. Quitting job to take care of their children with ADHD was the challenge to many of the parents. As taking care of children with ADHD demands a lot of patience, parents especially mothers fear other caregivers might lose their temper and hurt their children, and, therefore, quit their job to look after these children. Few parents reported the stress they had because of their socioeconomic status and others terminated their children’s follow-up due to financial strain. Overall, parents of children with ADHD described the impact on jobs and expenses associated with the child’s illness.

Spending extra time on school-related activities, such as helping the child to do homework and assignments was found to be difficult and frustrating not only for the child but also for the parent as well. A parent stated that her life is always nothing but stress. This parent carries the burden of being a single mother, divorced, financially constrained, and a daughter with a mental health condition who always worries about the actions of her landlord and stigma.

My husband abandoned me the minute our daughter had her first seizure. She no longer has seizures but I have never heard from him. Because of her behaviour, I got to relocate and met new landlords frequently. As I am the sole breadwinner, the financial constraint is enormous. With the earnings I get from selling tea and coffee, meeting my needs of living expenses coupled with my daughter’s follow-up is so nerve-racking. Moreover not knowing her condition, people always judge me for not raising a well-behaved child. (INTV, Tirunesh)

Psychological challenges

Psychological challenges as a result of being a parent of children with ADHD which included stress, anxiety, sadness, loneliness, helplessness, hopelessness, and depression were frequently aired in the interviews and FGD. Most of the parents worried about their child’s future. Parents worried a lot about who would have the patience to take care of these children when they were no longer alive. A mother claimed she had been depressed for some time until recently. This mother felt helplessness and had no happiness in life.

Here is what two mothers had to say about the psychological challenges of parents of children with ADHD.

I was in a queue waiting for a taxi with my daughter. She wanted to play around but I refused to let her go because I feared a car might hit her. She knelt, started crying and would not stand up. One guy interfered and asked me why she was crying. He was so suspicious that I abducted someone else’s child. An ugly scene was created which later involved the police. I explained her condition to them and the case was solved. I was humiliated. Another issue that I face constantly is with my daughter’s handwriting. Her teachers said that her handwriting is below her peers. Her teachers not only complain about her behaviour but also her handwriting. This deeply made me sad and angry. (FGD, Sifan) I constantly worry a lot about my son. I always beg my son not to go out of our compound but boredom seems the rationale for him to do so. Some boys have got sexually molested near where we live. My prior warnings and advice I gave him didn’t seem to work as I had to tell him time and time again. (FGD, Mesert)

The first author witnessed one of the parents who participated in the interview throwing the appointment card on the nurse’s desk and shouting at her which later ended up in crying. The interviewer calmed her down and she said she was so stressed out. According to her, nurses in the other department mistreated her and people were judging her. She later apologized to the nurse for the way she behaved.

When it comes to the challenges that parents of children with ADHD faced, the resident explained that they faced stigma, hopelessness, and depression.

The general practitioner added:

ADHD affects every aspect of the lives of these parents. The significant challenge that parents face is at the school where these children go to. Unless they have comorbid conditions, children with ADHD go to regular schools and are bombarded by the harsh criticisms and judgments of their teachers who lack knowledge about ADHD. In addition, managing the child’s behaviour daily, stress, concern about the future of the child, impact on their job and marital conflict were other challenges that parents faced. Upon discovering heredity as being one possible etiology of ADHD, most couples argued over who passed it on to the child and mothers ended up taking the blame mostly. Some couples don’t reach an agreement on whether to continue with the follow-up or not. This mostly resulted in the discontinuation of the treatment. Some fathers also expressed feelings of doubt about the mother’s competence as a parent. Sometimes the diagnosis of the child involves not only the parents but also in-laws. (INTV, GP)

Some parents whose children had become teens explained another psychological challenge as:

My son used to take his medication properly. The doctors had increased the dosage of his medication. I was the one who gave him the medication every night. By the time he became a teen, he started refusing to take his medication and going for follow-ups. My wife and I couldn’t force him to continue and we are waiting on him to start again. The journey takes a different lain when children with ADHD become adolescents. (FGD, Afework) My son doesn’t want to go to the hospital now. The different mental conditions of the children he saw at the hospital tormented him emotionally. By the time he became a teen, he claimed he wasn’t as mentally ill as the others and did not see the point of going to the hospital. As the medication had made a huge difference for him, I did not want him to stop taking it. So I usually go to the hospital without him for the prescription. I usually inform the doctors about his status and any change in his behaviour if any and they adjust the dosage accordingly. I wanted to have more kids but changed my mind after his diagnosis. (INTV, Menen)

Coping mechanisms of parents of children with ADHD

Parents reported different types of coping mechanisms they use to deal with the challenges they face when raising children with ADHD. Parents used a combination of different coping mechanisms which could be broadly grouped into two: inward means and outward means.

Inward means

The inward means were the mechanisms that the parents perform to come up with a positive outlook. These included prayer and the state of being an optimist. Prayer decreased stress, gave a sense of relief, improved self-esteem, and increased spirituality. Due to challenges like isolation and stigma, prayer was a way to connect to their Creator where parents feel their worries and fears are heard without judgment and validation for what they go through. Being optimist during difficult times helped with handling stress and boosted resilience.

Prayer was practiced as the first coping mechanism by almost all parents. Being optimistic was another coping mechanism for other parents. Below are what three parents had to say about their use of inward coping mechanisms:

I observed my daughter grasping something faster than her siblings and knew she had potential. So I believe that Allah has created her for a bigger purpose in life. I pray and lean on Him to help her be what He wants her to be. (FGD, Sifan) With a lot of challenges that are going on in my life, prayer is the one thing that calms me down. As my elder sisters are living within the same compound, we have daily prayer. I pray about my son a lot. I believe God has a bigger purpose in my son’s life. (FGD, Mesert) I don’t know what I would do without prayer. Being a single mom with a mentally ill child, facing financial constrain, and living in a hypercritical society is so exhausting. When I pray to God for my provision, He miraculously makes it available. (INTV, Tirunesh) Even though I am faced with different challenges, I am trying to see the bright side of life. Whenever I take my child for a checkup, I get a chance to observe other mothers who have children with autism or other disorders. My challenges mean little when compared with theirs. This makes me grateful and hopeful. (FGD, Sifan)

Outward means

The outward means referred to coping mechanisms that parents get from their environment. These coping mechanisms included family support, healthcare providers’ guidance, and social avoidance. Every appointment gave a chance to the parents to get little information. Few but very close individuals knew about their child’s condition and give support to these parents. Others use avoiding social gatherings and interactions as a coping mechanism. In fear of the stigma, these parents had decided to meet up with only those who knew their child’s condition. Some even did not have friends that they can talk to.

Some parents reported that guidance from healthcare providers was one of the most useful coping mechanisms. Healthcare providers’ guidance in combination with other coping mechanisms was used by many parents. Some parents also used family support as a coping mechanism.

I haven’t told anyone about my son’s condition except my sister who is supportive of me. I don’t allow my son to go out and play with kids from the neighborhood for fear of being called names and getting bullied. I had observed a few kids who exhibited similar behaviour as my son and I believed their parents kept their conditions undisclosed. I therefore did the same thing and kept it a secret. My son had a seizure in the beginning and people had compassion for such illness not for his ADHD. Due to this, I prefer my son’s seizure over his ADHD. I wish people would stop being judgmental towards any illness. (INTV, Tayitu)

A mother expressed how the assistance she got from the health care providers became one of her coping mechanisms as

In the beginning, my husband and I were so much focused on prayer as a solution to our child’s problem. But after a while, the continuous aid from the healthcare providers became one of our coping means. (INTV, Deraretu)

A mother used social avoidance as a coping mechanism and expressed it as

I take him [the child with ADHD] anywhere I go like grocery shopping and other places he shouldn’t supposed to go like funerals. I have avoided meeting up with my friends. My parents’ place is a safe haven for my son and me. I am longing to see a support group with whom I can talk freely without being judged. (INTV, Fatuma)

The study shows that the reaction of parents during and after the diagnosis of their children varies from simple acceptance to a mixture of different emotions. Some of the parents noticed deviant behaviour in their children and got their children assessed due to their doubt and later on accepted their child’s diagnosis easily. Due to prior knowledge they have had on ADHD, these parents accepted the diagnosis easily as it gave them relief regarding their doubt. This finding is similar to other studies done on ASD diagnosis in a way that parental suspicion of a child’s developmental problems leads to getting an early diagnosis and coping more with the diagnosis than those not suspicious [ 37 , 38 ]. A study by Dosreis et al. [ 39 ] had a similar finding on parents of children with ADHD that acceptance was achieved by 38% of parents as their main concern was trying to find an explanation for the difficult behaviour of their children.

For parents whose children have been diagnosed with mental illness, resolution is a fundamental part of the process en route to acceptance [ 40 , 41 ]. According to Pianta and Marvin [ 42 ], resolution can be taken as accepting the diagnosis and integrating it into one’s life while refusing to accept self-blame. Milshtein et al. [ 40 ] argued resolution is a perception of complying and acknowledging the diagnosis and its inference. For parents of children with ASD, acceptance and normalization are very important to give the best possible life to their children [ 21 ].

Upon finding out about their child’s diagnosis, the majority of participants flaunted their reactions with a variety of emotions which include hopelessness, confusion, shame, guilt, self-blame, confusion, anxiety and denial. This is consistent with the findings of other previous studies done on the commonly experienced emotions about a child’s mental health diagnosis which include helplessness, devastation, sadness, loneliness, guilt, anxiety, and grief [ 43 , 44 ]. Parents of children with mental illness go through a feeling of loneliness, misunderstanding, stigma and rejection, grief and self-blame, cynicism, unhappiness, guilt, and anxiety [ 44 ]. In congruence with other studies [ 40 , 41 ], the findings of this study showed no relationship between the reactions of parents to diagnosis and parental demography. Fathers and mothers of children with ADHD reacted similarly.

The positive experiences parents gain while raising children with ADHD include knowledge, advocacy, and inspiration. Consistent with our study, Ustilaite and Cvetkova [ 45 ] revealed that parents of children with disabilities gained a range of positive experiences like inner parental growth, family relationships, finding new spiritual and material resources and feelings such as love, emotional bond with the child, and child as a source of joy and happiness.

Parents who are involved in this study experience different types of psychological, social, and economic challenges while raising children with ADHD. From these, parents’ concern for the future well-being of children and stigma from the community stood out. Social challenges include stigma, limited social interaction, marital conflict, strained relationships, teachers’ lack of knowledge of ADHD, and low social support. According to Sirey and colleagues [ 46 ], stigma is a socially formulated observable fact that encompasses stereotyping, labeling, segregation, loss of status, and nepotism which are allowed to take place in social circumstances by individuals with power. A “culture of suspicion”, about mental health treatment particularly if it involves a child, has been created by the stigmatizing convictions towards people with mental health conditions [ 47 ].

The finding that some parents have challenges in their social interaction and have strained relationships is similar to a previous study [ 48 ] which found that children’s ADHD has negatively influenced parents’ social lives and forced them to have frictions in their relationships. Other similar studies have revealed that parents had feelings of isolation from their friends and families, due to other adults being intolerant of their children’s behaviour [ 18 , 49 ]. In regards to marital conflict, this study has similar findings to other studies [ 18 , 50 ] which found that it is a result of unlike opinions among parents on the diagnosis and treatment of their child. Other studies revealed that it might be caused by troubles with a child’s behavior [ 51 ]. In a study conducted by Wymbs et al. [ 52 ] parents who had a child with ADHD were not only more likely to divorce but also had a shorter latency to divorce than parents of children without ADHD.

Ambikile and Outwater [ 53 ] found that the challenges of Tanzanian parents who have children with mental disorders including ADHD were insufficient children’s social services, stigma, childcare strain, lack of public awareness of mental illness, absence of social support, and troubles with social life. As per the different studies conducted in Ethiopia [ 54 , 55 ], a large number of teachers lack knowledge on ADHD. This negatively impacts the parents and that is what the present study identified as one of the challenges for the parents.

A study carried out in Ethiopia on parents of children with ASD revealed that parents have a social burden [ 56 ]. Other similar studies [ 57 , 58 ] found that the challenges of parents of children with ASD were marital conflict, time-consuming, lack of social support, stigma, the severity of the child’s behaviour, child’s inability to understand feelings and needs, inadequate service (school and treatment), and lack of self-care. In another study, separation from a partner, family/societal reactions, and social isolation are the challenges of parents who have children with intellectual disability [ 59 ].

The study found that parents of children with ADHD experience severe economic challenges and this is consistent with findings of previous studies. For instance, Fridman et al. [ 60 ] found that parents of children with ADHD are likely to quit their jobs to take care of their children. Kvist et al. [ 61 ] also concluded that having a child with ADHD will decrease the labor supply of parents. This is likely to put parents to severe economic strain. Studies conducted in Ethiopia [ 62 , 63 ] found that parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders experience such economic challenges as financial difficulty, lack of education and training, lack of financial support and employment opportunities.

Parents of children with ADHD also experience several psychological challenges. The current study revealed that what constantly worries parents is that who, in a highly stigmatized society, would have the patience to take care of their children in their absence. Cheung & Theule [ 64 ] and Durukan et al. [ 65 ] found a higher prevalence of depression and anxiety than parents of children without ADHD. This was similar to the experiences of some of the respondents in the present study. The present finding is in line with the study by Deault [ 66 ] that parents of children with ADHD have stress on which the children might play a role. In addition, Minichil et al. [ 67 ] found out that parents of children with mental health conditions can go through depression due to low social support which is also prevailing in this study. In another study, parents of children with ADHD reported that they experience greater levels of parenting stress than parents of children with autism [ 68 ] or with serious conditions such as Epilepsy [ 69 ]. Another study revealed that the distress is related to isolation, stigma, and frustration due to the lack of support [80].

Studies conducted in Ethiopia [ 65 , 66 , 67 ] found that the psychological challenges of parents of children with ASD were stress, concern about the child’s future, and psychological burden. According to Negash [ 59 ] uncertainty about the future, emotional disturbance, and spiritual crises were the challenges of parents who have children with intellectual disability. Tanzanian parents who have children with mental disorders including ADHD experience stress, sadness, bitterness and concern about the present as well as the future life of their children [ 53 ]. Three-fourths of parents in Nepal who have children with intellectual disability suffer from severe stress to clinically significant stress caused by their children’s disorder [ 70 ].

The present study adopted the Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Model as its theoretical model. This theory describes the existence of multifaceted levels of the environment with an effect on the development of a child [ 29 ]. The theory demonstrates the development of a child within a system, the interaction between the systems, and the influences they have on each other and the child. According to the views of the theory, a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment is where a child develops. When we compare the ecological model with all the challenges parents of children with ADHD are going through, here are some of our observations. At the microsystem level, it was found that the low level of knowledge the teachers have about ADHD has an impact on the parents. The reaction of some church members about the behaviour of a child with ADHD and the humiliation it has on the parents exhibit the bi-directional influence of the microsystems. At the exosystem, what was observed were the interactions of the parents with their neighbors, with friends of the parents, with their in-laws and relatives, and the way our mass media wrongly portrays mental health. At the macrosystem level, it was observed how these parents were affected by the stigma that exists about mental health. At the chronosystem level, the experience of some parents going through divorce, separation and an incident where a mother was forced to relocate from place to place due to her child’s condition was encountered. In addition, as explained by the ecological theory, the child will lack the means to explore other parts of the environment if the interaction in the immediate microsystem breaks down. The absence of acceptance in the child/parent (child/other significant adult) relations will make the children look for attention in an improper place. These inadequacies appear during adolescence as anti-social behaviour, absence of directing oneself and self-control [ 29 ]. This was somehow partially evident with the two parents who have teens with ADHD.

For the majority of the parents, adaptive strategies like religion, optimism, guidance from professionals and family support are used as coping mechanisms. Almost all of the parents use prayer as a coping strategy. Parents reported that they feel less stressed and believe that better days will come after praying. Healthcare providers’ guidance is also another coping mechanism that most parents use to deal with their challenges. The support from family members also played a role as a coping strategy. Research has revealed that religion is used to going through unpleasant experiences and trying to make meaning out of them and finally coming up with an optimistic outlook [ 71 ]. A Tanzanian study found that support from professionals, spiritual help from traditional healers and religious leaders, and assistance in child care from other family members were the coping mechanisms used by parents who have children with mental disorders including ADHD [ 53 ]. For parents of children with ASD, trying to make meaning out of the situation, support groups, being optimistic and religiosity were used as coping mechanisms [ 56 ]. Another similar study found that religion, social support, increased knowledge of autism, acceptance and cherishing little progress are the coping mechanisms for parents who have children with ASD [ 58 ].

Parents in the present study use optimism as a coping mechanism and this is consistent with the finding of a study by Oelofsen and Richardson [ 72 ] which revealed that parents of children with ADHD used an optimistic belief of having control over the situation, high sense of coherence and support as coping strategies. Parents from Hong Kong use acceptance, problem-centered coping methods and situational-based acts as their coping strategies [ 73 ]. A Nepalese study revealed that coping strategies used by Nepalese parents who have children with intellectual disability were acceptance, societal support, positive reinterpretation and growth, planning, inhibition of competing actions and use of emotional social support [ 70 ]. A similar study in Ethiopia found that spiritual beliefs, hope (better future) and relationships with other similar parents were the coping mechanisms of parents of children with intellectual disability [ 59 ].

Other parents use maladaptive coping strategies like social avoidance as a coping mechanism for the challenges they face. Avoidance coping strategies take place when stressful circumstances, experiences, or complicated opinions and feelings are averted to use as a coping strategy. This study is in line with one study that revealed that mothers who have children with ADHD use avoidance as one of their coping strategies [ 74 ].

Strengths and limitations

We substantiated the views of parents who have children with ADHD by interviewing healthcare providers who are providing treatment to children with ADHD. We also used different methods of data collection (i.e. in-depth interviews and FGD) for triangulation purpose. Nevertheless, the findings of this study need to be interpreted taking several limitations into account. This is a qualitative study and generalizability of the findings of the study to other populations and study setting would not be possible. The participants were recruited from one government hospital and those who are attending private health centers might have different experiences. All respondents are from Addis Ababa and their experiences might be different from those living in the rural areas where the stigma is believed to be higher. In addition, the majority of the participants of the study are mothers and the experiences reported in the study may not represent fathers who have children with ADHD.

Parents of children with ADHD experience various psychological, social and economic challenges. Support from healthcare professionals, family members and society at large plays a role for parents to cope with these challenges. Knowledge about ADHD prior to the diagnosis of the child has helped parents to easily accept the condition. Easy acceptance of the diagnosis reduces the psychological challenges of the parents. By creating awareness to society, most of the challenges of parents who have children with ADHD can be minimized.

The concerned government body has to consider the financial constraints parents are facing and facilitate further medication subsidies not only for children with ADHD but also for children with other neurodevelopmental disorders. This will encourage parents who intend to discontinue their children’s follow-up because of financial constraints to reconsider their intention. Healthcare facilities diagnosing and treating children with ADHD need to see the desperate need to facilitate for the parents to set up a support group where they would be able to exchange their experiences with like parents which in turn serve as a coping mechanism.

Policymakers need to observe the lack of teachers’ awareness about ADHD and the skill to handle children with ADHD as one of the challenges for parents of children with ADHD and work to design strategy to provide training that would equip teachers with the necessary knowledge in dealing with students with ADHD. As per the narratives of some of the parents, they are in constant brawls with their children who just became adolescents over their refusal to take medication. This can be an area for further study. Another focus for future research can be evaluating interventions that would help parents with ADHD cope with the challenges they experience. Quantitative studies that would estimate the burden and associated factors of parents who have children with ADHD are also warranted.

Data availability

The data used for this analysis will become available through the first author at any time from now up on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

American Psychological Association

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

Focus Group Discussion

St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College

World Health Organization

American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and statistical Manual of Mental disorders (DSM-5). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association; 2013.

Book   Google Scholar  

Willcutt EG. The prevalence of DSM-IV attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a meta-analytic review. Neurotherapeutics. 2012;9:490–9.

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Berger I. Diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: much ado about something. IMAJ-Israel Med Association J. 2011;13:571.

Google Scholar  

Polanczyk G, Jensen P. Epidemiologic considerations in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: a review and update. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2008;17:245–60.

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Spencer TJ, Biederman J, Wilens TE, Faraone SV. Overview and neurobiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. 2002;63:3–9.

PubMed   Google Scholar  

Moffitt TE, Houts R, Asherson P, Belsky DW, Corcoran DL, Hammerle M, et al. Is adult ADHD a childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorder? Evidence from a four-decade longitudinal cohort study. Am J Psychiatry. 2015;172:967–77.

World Health Organization. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Geneva: World Health Organization; 2019.

Rader R, McCauley L, Callen EC. Current strategies in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Am Family Phys. 2009;79:657–65.

Wehmeier PM, Schacht A, Barkley RA. Social and emotional impairment in children and adolescents with ADHD and the impact on quality of life. J Adolesc Health. 2010;46:209–17.

Rapport MD, Scanlan SW, Denney CB. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and scholastic achievement: a model of dual developmental pathways. J Child Psychol Psychiatry Allied Disciplines. 1999;40:1169–83.

Article   Google Scholar  

Barry TD, Lyman RD, Klinger LG. Academic underachievement and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: the negative impact of symptom severity on school performance. J Sch Psychol. 2002;40:259–83.

Hinshaw SP. Academic underachievement, attention deficits, and aggression: comorbidity and implications for intervention. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1992;60:893.

Biederman J, Faraone S, Milberger S, Guite J, Mick E, Chen L, et al. A prospective 4-year follow-up study of attention-deficit hyperactivity and related disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1996;53:437–46.

Muñoz-Silva A, Lago-Urbano R, Sanchez-Garcia M, Carmona-Márquez J. Child/adolescent’s ADHD and parenting stress: the mediating role of family impact and conduct problems. Front Psychol. 2017;8:2252.

Matthew RF. Relation of maternal support and maternal stress to children’s behavior problems in African American families. College Park: University of Maryland; 2006.

Cussen A, Sciberras E, Ukoumunne OC, Efron D. Relationship between symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and family functioning: a community-based study. Eur J Pediatrics. 2012;171:271–80.

Mackler JS, Kelleher RT, Shanahan L, Calkins SD, Keane SP, O’Brien M. Parenting stress, parental reactions, and externalizing behavior from ages 4 to 10. J Marriage Family. 2015;77:388–406.

Mofokeng M, van der Wath AE. Challenges experienced by parents living with a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. J Child Adolesc Mental Health. 2017;29:137–45.

Ching’oma CD, Mkoka DA, Ambikile JS, Iseselo MK. Experiences and challenges of parents caring for children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a qualitative study in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. PLoS ONE. 2022;17:e0267773.

Folkman S, Lazarus RS. If it changes it must be a process: study of emotion and coping during three stages of a college examination. J Personal Soc Psychol. 1985;48:150.

Berhane H. Reactions, challenges and coping mechanisms of mothers raising children with Autism Spectrum disorder (ASD): the case of Addis Ababa city. Addis Ababa University; 2016.

Mesfin S. Parental support for children with intellectual disability: practices, challenges and opportunities at Tekle Haimanot General Primary School. Addis Ababa University; 2021.

Mulu GB, Mohammed AY, Kebede WM, Atinafu BT, Tarekegn FN, Teshome HN et al. Prevalence and Associated factors of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder among children aged 6–17 years in North Eastern Ethiopia. Ethiop J Health Sci. 2022;32.

Kassa M, Haftu A, Tilahun W. Prevalence and associated factors of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in School Age Children in Mekelle, Tigray, North Ethiopia. Med Sci Technol. 2017;7:21–4.

Muruga R, Tiruneh F, Therese M. Prevalence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among children in Jimma Zone, Oromia region, Southwest Ethiopia. Int J Curr Res. 2016;80:30582–6.

Bryman A. Social research methods. Oxford University Press; 2016.

Draper AK. The principles and application of qualitative research. Proc Nutr Soc. 2004;63:641–6.

Green J, Willis K, Hughes E, Small R, Welch N, Gibbs L, et al. Generating best evidence from qualitative research: the role of data analysis. Aust N Z J Public Health. 2007;31:545–50.

Addison J. Urie Bronfenbrenner. Hum Ecol. 1992;20:16–20.

Saint Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College. History of SPHMMC. 2022. http://www.sphmmc.edu.et . Accessed 2 Jul 2022.

Englander M. The interview: data collection in descriptive phenomenological human scientific research. J Phenomenological Psychol. 2012;43:13–35.

Sandelowski M. Sample size in qualitative research. Res Nurs Health. 1995;18:179–83.

Creswell JW, Poth CN. Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches. Sage; 2016.

Johnson RB, Christensen L. Educational research: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed approaches. Sage; 2019.

Krueger RA. Focus groups: a practical guide for applied research. Sage; 2014.

Nyumba O, Wilson T, Derrick K, Mukherjee CJ. The use of focus group discussion methodology: insights from two decades of application in conservation. Methods Ecol Evol. 2018;9:20–32.

Glascoe FP, Dworkin PH. The role of parents in the detection of developmental and behavioral problems. Pediatrics. 1995;95:829–36.

Mandell DS, Novak MM, Zubritsky CD. Factors associated with age of diagnosis among children with autism spectrum disorders. Pediatrics. 2005;116:1480–6.

Dosreis S, Mychailyszyn MP, Myers M, Riley AW. Coming to terms with ADHD: how urban African-American families come to seek care for their children. Psychiatric Serv. 2007;58:636–41.

Milshtein S, Yirmiya N, Oppenheim D, Koren-Karie N, Levi S. Resolution of the diagnosis among parents of children with autism spectrum disorder: associations with child and parent characteristics. J Autism Dev Disord. 2010;40:89–99.

Wachtel K, Carter AS. Reaction to diagnosis and parenting styles among mothers of young children with ASDs. Autism. 2008;12:575–94.

Marvin RS, Pianta RC. Mothers’ reactions to their child’s diagnosis: relations with security of attachment. J Clin Child Psychol. 1996;25:436–45.

Mendenhall AN, Mount K. Parents of children with mental illness: exploring the caregiver experience and caregiver-focused interventions. Families Soc. 2011;92:183–90.

Moses T. Parents’ conceptualization of adolescents’ mental health problems: who adopts a psychiatric perspective and does it make a difference? Commun Ment Health J. 2011;47:67–81.

Ustilaitė S, Cvetkova L. Positive experience of families raising children with disability. J Pedagogy. 2011;8:135–42.

Sirey JA, Bruce ML, Alexopoulos GS, Perlick DA, Raue P, Friedman SJ, et al. Perceived stigma as a predictor of treatment discontinuation in young and older outpatients with depression. Am J Psychiatry. 2001;158:479–81.

Link BG, Phelan JC. Conceptualizing stigma. Ann Rev Sociol. 2001;27:363–85.

Sikirica V, Flood E, Dietrich CN, Quintero J, Harpin V, Hodgkins P, et al. Unmet needs associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in eight European countries as reported by caregivers and adolescents: results from qualitative research. Patient-Centered Outcomes Res. 2015;8:269–81.

Moen ØL, Hall-Lord ML, Hedelin B. Contending and adapting every day: Norwegian parents’ lived experience of having a child with ADHD. J Fam Nurs. 2011;17:441–62.

Brinkman WB, Sherman SN, Zmitrovich AR, Visscher MO, Crosby LE, Phelan KJ, et al. Parental angst making and revisiting decisions about treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Pediatrics. 2009;124:580–9.

Fleck K, Jacob C, Philipsen A, Matthies S, Graf E, Hennighausen K, et al. Child impact on family functioning: a multivariate analysis in multiplex families with children and mothers both affected by attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Atten Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders. 2015;7:211–23.

Wymbs BT, Pelham WE Jr, Molina BS, Gnagy EM, Wilson TK, Greenhouse JB. Rate and predictors of divorce among parents of youths with ADHD. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2008;76:735.

Ambikile JS, Outwater A. Challenges of caring for children with mental disorders: experiences and views of caregivers attending the outpatient clinic at Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar Es Salaam-Tanzania. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Mental Health. 2012;6:1–11.

Dessie M, Techane MA, Tesfaye B, Gebeyehu DA. Elementary school teachers knowledge and attitude towards attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder in Gondar, Ethiopia: a multi-institutional study. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Mental Health. 2021;15:1–10.

Woyessa AH, Tharmalingadevar TP, Upashe SP, Diriba DC. Primary school teachers’ misconceptions about attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Nekemte town, Oromia region, Western Ethiopia. BMC Res Notes. 2019;12:1–6.

Tamiru T. Assessment of Psychosocial and Economic experiences of Autism on parents of autistic children at Nehemiah Autism Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Addis Ababa University; 2020.

Meshesha H. A study on the contribution of autism centers to mothers of children with autism: the case of Joy autism center. Addis Ababa University; 2020.

Fentahun R. Mothers voices: a phenomenological study on the stress and resilience of mothers raising children with autism. Addis Ababa University; 2020.

Negash R. Lived experiences of single mothers of children with intellectual disability: cases from Center for mentally challenged children. Addis Ababa University; 2019.

Fridman M, Banaschewski T, Sikirica V, Quintero J, Erder MH, Chen KS. Factors associated with caregiver burden among pharmacotherapy-treated children/adolescents with ADHD in the caregiver perspective on pediatric ADHD survey in Europe. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2017;:373–86.

Kvist AP, Nielsen HS, Simonsen M. The importance of children’s ADHD for parents’ relationship stability and labor supply. Soc Sci Med. 2013;88:30–8.

Befkadu B, Adamek ME. The Financial challenges of parents of a child with autism in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a qualitative study. Integr J Res Arts Humanit. 2022;2:5–10.

Tekola B, Kinfe M, Girma Bayouh F, Hanlon C, Hoekstra RA. The experiences of parents raising children with developmental disabilities in Ethiopia. Autism. 2023;27:539–51.

Cheung K, Theule J. Parental psychopathology in families of children with ADHD: a meta-analysis. J Child Fam stud. 2016;25:3451–61.

Durukan İ, Kara K, Almbaideen M, Karaman D, Gül H. Alexithymia, depression and anxiety in parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorder: comparative study of autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified and attention deficit–hyperactivity disorder. Pediatr Int. 2018;60:247–53.

Deault LC. A systematic review of parenting in relation to the development of comorbidities and functional impairments in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2010;41:168–92.

Minichil W, Getinet W, Derajew H, Seid S. Depression and associated factors among primary caregivers of children and adolescents with mental illness in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. BMC Psychiatry. 2019;19:1–9.

Miranda A, Tárraga R, Fernández MI, Colomer C, Pastor G. Parenting stress in families of children with autism spectrum disorder and ADHD. Except Child. 2015;82:81–95.

Gagliano A, Lamberti M, Siracusano R, Ciuffo M, Boncoddo M, Maggio R, et al. A comparison between children with ADHD and children with epilepsy in self-esteem and parental stress level. Volume 10. Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health: CP & EMH; 2014. p. 176.

Thakuri BS. Stress and coping mechanism among parents of intellectual disabled children. J Adv Acad Res (JAAR). 2014;1.

Pearce MJ. A critical review of the forms and value of religious coping among informal caregivers. J Relig Health. 2005;44:81–117.

Oelofsen N, Richardson P. Sense of coherence and parenting stress in mothers and fathers of preschool children with developmental disability. J Intellect Dev Disabil. 2006;31:1–12.

Wong WC, Wong IYF. Burden and coping strategies of parents of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder in Hong Kong: a qualitative study. Nurs Open. 2021;8:3452–60.

Balagan MMB, Tarroja MC, Challenges. Coping strategies, and needs of mothers with children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: implications for intervention. Open J Social Sci. 2020;8:24–35.

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are enormously thankful to the parents as well as the healthcare professionals who participated in this study.

No funding was received for the study.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

School of Psychology, College of Education and Behavioral Studies, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, P.O.BOX: 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Wongelawit Mesfin & Kassahun Habtamu

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

W.M. and K.H. conceived and designed the study. W.M. did recruitment of the participants and led the data collection process. W.M. did the data analysis in close consultation with K.H. W.M. produced the first draft of the manuscript. K.H. supported in the interpretation of data and significantly contributed in the writing of the manuscript. Both authors approved the final manuscript to be submitted for publication.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kassahun Habtamu .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate.

The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the School of Psychology, Addis Ababa University, and the Ethics Committee of St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College. Oral informed consent was obtained from all the participants after the nature of the study and the information sought had been fully explained.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary Material 1

Rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Mesfin, W., Habtamu, K. Challenges and coping mechanisms of parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a qualitative study. BMC Psychol 12 , 354 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01828-0

Download citation

Received : 07 October 2023

Accepted : 28 May 2024

Published : 17 June 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01828-0

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
• Children with ADHD
• Parents of children with ADHD
• Experiences
• Coping mechanisms
• Addis Ababa

BMC Psychology

ISSN: 2050-7283

• General enquiries: [email protected]