Qualitative Coding for beginners - 4 things you HAVE TO KNOW but NOBODY will tell you about coding

This is not a step-by-step instruction on how to code your data, this is something more important. You can find lots of guidelines on how to code, but they will NOT tell you these 4 things!
➡️ Feel free to ask me questions in the comments, and if you feel that you may require a more guided assistance, you can book a lesson with me through the following link drkriukow.com/qualitative-res...
➡️ My self-study course on Qualitative Data Analysis www.udemy.com/course/how-to-a...
➡️ My self-study course on using NVivo 12 www.udemy.com/course/from-zer...
Time stamps:
00:00-04:20 Secret 1
04:20-10:39 Secret 2
10:39-16:26 Secret 3
16:26-18:24 Secret 4

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Feel free to explore different ways in which I can support you and your study drkriukow.com/my-services/

[@emotionalmindedstate]

2:33 - Coding is a labeling of a peace of data in a certain way. Codes are tools to organize data 9:30 3:50 - General principle - There is no "correct" coding. It correct if it makes sense to you 4:30 - How to name a code is totally your decision. There are no hard rules. 10:00 - Codes later become THEMES. They are not themes by themselves. 11:10 - newbies FAQs about codes 12:15 - How you can code as a newbie. You can be flexible.

[@judybauerpuritt3613]

Thank you for making the topic of coding less intimidating. The specific examples that tie to us making our own choices for what makes sense to us is so helpful. You have taken some of the mystery out of the process. I really appreciated the blending of detailed and broad coding happening simultaneously. Thanks also for including your funny personal examples (something potentially interesting that I don't understand right now). Really wonderful!

[@kriukow1]

Good job Dr Kriukow!

[@nidiapaolavillalobossalina3940]

I do appreciate the information provided here. Thank you so much!

[@Ko_ndjeni]

Your videos have really been helpful to me. Thank you so much Dr.

[@nonettetsang1102]

Hi! Thanks! This is soo timely. I'm starting my data collection for my dissertation.

[@priyakn6017]

Thank you!! This has helped simplify things so much:)

[@jendermer6795]

Thank you so much! This makes me feel much better about how I am coding. I should have watched this video first!!!

[@giftlungu3948]

Thank you so much Doc for making this video, I was really not confident in writing codes for my research.

[@madguds]

You picked my mind when detailing all the questions regarding what to code and how to code.. Thank you so much. Coffee on your way soon.

[@panchanimendis1220]

Thank you Dr Kriukow, learning a lot. and feel free to analyze data

[@sherritravers826]

Thank you, Dr. Kriukow. You have made me smile, laugh, and turned my discomfort with the idea of coding into something I feel ready to do.

[@chrisgurung3121]

It really helps! Thank you!

[@seekforjustice9095]

Your explanations makes life much more easier. Grazie mille.

[@hiuchinghung439]

All practical tipps . I am buying your course～ and thank you for your hard work！

[@yokaichan514]

Thank you for making this video. It really helped me to lessen the expectations I've had when coming up with codes, thinking that it should be perfect and precise, etc. Thank you for making me realized that I am the one in charge.

[@laurenhenderson5347]

Second this!

[@alexwilde2803]

I absolutely loved this. So helpful, empowering and confidence giving! Thank you.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Thank you for this feedback, I'm glad you liked the video :)

[@magaroonie13]

Thank you so much for posting this video. I, along with almost all others commenting, have high anxiety around coding - especially: "am I doing this right?" - Hearing your examples really helped to lower the anxiety, and helped me understand what is being asked of me. I appreciate you taking the time to make this video... I have subscribed and will be watching more. Thank you, again!

[@Borjacarrete]

Super useful! Thank you so much

[@qualitativeresearcher]

you're welcome!

[@olatunjiismail2569]

Thanks for your effort.

[@laurenhenderson5347]

This video has saved me so many times! Thank you!

[@qualitativeresearcher]

I'm so glad!

[@valsgravez]

Nice video, great content

[@zuhalcaliskan8076]

I think its's really important to give examples when introducing a topic. For example, if the topic is 'coding', then you can give examples which l believe Dr Kriukow does cleverly with folders and draws:)..love your videos. Thank you

[@andros7048]

Absolute LEGEND! Thank you!!!

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Thank you!

[@zemenekassie6988]

Thank you so much Dr. That is the most relevant idea.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Glad it was helpful!

[@annettethomasbrown7412]

Thank you Dr. Kriukow, this was so helpful!

[@qualitativeresearcher]

you're welcome ! :)

[@atulhadap2176]

You made it simple. Thank You

[@qualitativeresearcher]

That's my goal! :)

[@clintonreiswig9839]

Thank you so much for this video, Dr. Kriukow, You really helped me get out of my head. I feel better that my doubts and concerns are common.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

You're most welcome!

[@DreamsAreForWeaving]

Thank you Dr Kriukow. You are correct in that the anxiety of second guessing if you are doing something right is stressful. This is a major issue for me while completing my dissertation and has caused me much time lost. I am at my data collection and will be using a thematic analysis for semi-structured interviews and document review. Your videos are very helpful.

[@zuhalafkhami9325]

Thanks a lot, I am in process of coding the data and ur advise really helped me. 😊

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Glad it helped!

[@genmcclean]

THANK YOU SO VERY VERY MUCH! EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED TO HEAR.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

I'm really glad that it helped!

[@ma.elsabuenaagua9582]

So helpful for a beginner. Stress-relieving. I am grateful for this.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

THank you I'm glad that my video has such effect

[@maramezina1094]

thank you so much for this beneficial video

[@philipwefelnberg6074]

Hey! Thanks so much for the videos, they are great! Even give me some moments to smile during this really dry period haha. I have a question: When going through different transcripts, is it important to remember what I coded before and summarize already or should I just label the sections individually and summarize later? Thanks in advance! :)

[@bazilda]

Hey I might just finish my PhD. Thx, it really helped to manage my anxiety. I am just gonna code, the way it make sense and than see what happens:). Live and learn.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Exactly, you can do it ! :)

[@tarikuberu2513]

An Excellent lecture and I benefited a lot

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Thank you, I'm really glad to hear this!

[@josephineoredi4851]

I am ecstatically happy, informed and appreciative.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Glad to hear this!

[@chaarialirim3253]

Thanks ! This is Really helpful to understand the coding process !

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Glad it was helpful! Thank you for the feedback

[@Runeansfelt]

I am watching your videos along with doing my master's thesis during covid-19 in 2021. You're a great help - thanks a lot for sharing your expertise on here! Cheers from Denmark!

[@rashidhayyat2736]

I am learner and PhD student . please guide regarding to run the NVIVO

[@JAYYDEE11]

Thank you so much for making this so simple with a comedic aspect. Even whilst I was watching this I was coming up with ideas. This was never taught to me in university which is a shame because we pay for the degree but get little help. We appreciate you putting this great content out!

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Glad you enjoyed it! and thank you for the kind words

[@halimatukamara628]

Honestly your video is informative and explicit. You have motivated and strengthen my potential in coding. I doff my hat to you.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Great to hear! You can do this !

[@deborahbradley4239]

Doing thematic analysis for only the second time in my academic life and this has been really helpful.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

I'm glad that it helped!

[@buffyhoward9216]

Thank you for this! I'm about to jump into coding for the very firs time!

[@qualitativeresearcher]

You got this! :)

[@rajenrajen3260]

It's the best and simple explanation.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Glad you liked it

[@heesyta]

Thank you SO much for this. You addressed all my concerns. I’ve been hesitant to start the coding and analysis process. Trying to understand how to do it in the right way and reading a tone of books and papers. After weeks (!!), I did not find any answers to all my questions. But, luckily, I just came across your video and it was all I needed. I’m super motivated and charged to code the night away :D. Thx!

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Thank you for taking the time to share this! I am really glad that this content helped you!

[@leonorapoe9218]

Thank you for this informations sir.

[@rosefinch3759]

Thank you for making this video. Very helpful! :)

[@qualitativeresearcher]

You're welcome - glad it was helpful!

[@lulamilegivenmbetshu3327]

I have just been beaming with smile as I have been watching this video. It's grossly fascinating and amazing. My interpretation of the magnitude of emphasis in explaining the concept 'coding' left me with an impression that, this effort is not just only about HELPING me to understand the concept clearly but to be able to HELP other people as well! This is just excellent.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Glad you enjoyed it! And really happy that it helped you understand the concept of coding a little bit better

[@laurenhenderson5347]

Thank you so much for this video. I have been stumped on coding a particular dataset for months, and it has caused great anxiety. I feel that I can do it now!! Thank you :)

[@qualitativeresearcher]

This is the kind of impact I like to make ! Glad that the video helped you Lauren

[@jackmills7472]

Could you do a tutorial on capturing online articles/twitter feeds/etc? I'm curious on this process but also would be interested in how you figure out where the caputure left off (i.e., if it only captured 1000 tweets, could you go to the last captured tweet and do another capture and so on?)

[@SheilaNdiranguKoi]

Hi! I have found your videos really helpful while working on my Thesis. I passed and now looking to publish. Any recommendations for free journals for qualitative/ mixed methods research? Thanks!

[@bolormaabadarch7013]

Thank you sir for sharing

[@craftychinurse5240]

Thank you so much!

[@qualitativeresearcher]

You're welcome!

[@productionXerror]

If I could give this more than one thumbs up I would! Thank you soso much!!

[@bushrakurt9401]

waow!!! you are amaziiing. Thank u for making this easy for us

[@qualitativeresearcher]

My pleasure 😊

[@mumofinn]

Thanks. You created so much value and reduced my barrier to getting started with this video by sharing your knowledge. :)

[@qualitativeresearcher]

wow, thank you Karen ❤️ I am so glad that you found this useful, and thank you for your generosity. I hope that my other videos will be useful too, especially my recent series "from codes to themes" ! I worked hard on it and tried to make it the most practical guide that there is regarding the whole process

[@nurulamirah1013]

I like all your qualitative video, Thanks really helpful

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Thank you !

[@NelyArif]

Thanks a lot for sharing

[@qualitativeresearcher]

My pleasure!

[@MongTonk]

Thank you! Coding 2 different things here: interviews and official documents for discourse analysis. Thinking of making it separate coding files within one NVIVO12 doc, but linking them at the end phase of analysis.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

yes, I would keep them separately, at least at first, and later consider merging them

[@mwaaribwebwe9366]

thank you for this video it relieve my worries about coding cos me as well really indoubtto do coding

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Great to hear!

[@cobylyons4439]

I'm learning a lot in your videos. I'm doing an Arts-based research study with the use of transcripts. (Researching the transformative potential of a clay-based process oriented Shadow workshop...) You've been helping me align the focus of my research and data... (And, I'd be interested to know what you charge for private tutoring...)

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Thank you Coby, I'm glad that you're finding these videos useful. Arts based research, wow. Ever since I learned about it, I've been fascinated by this approach. In the "researchers after work" series (the interview series), I talked to Dr Patricia Leavy who is an expert in arts based research - hope you watched that one! I also recently had a pleasure to be involved in a study in which art workshops were a big part of it, and I experienced the power of this approach first hand, this was amazing. Regarding the tutorials, you can find all the information here drkriukow.com/qualitative-research-tutorials/

[@shebbylinda1024]

Handsome and knowledgeable! Clearly explained, easy to understand and yeah, thank you Mr. Dr. Kriukow. I need such a supervisor aaach! As a first timer here, satisfied!

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Thank you for these kinds words!

[@marjoriemitchell2555]

Very informational

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Glad you think so!

[@scarletttable]

Reduced my anxiety around some research/coding I have to do as part of my course. Rather distracted by your eyes and wondered where you bought your sweatshirt from. Not massively professional and a touch ADD but there you go - definitely made a dry subject more enjoyable :)

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Thank you for all the positive comments, and glad that you enjoyed the video and found it useful :) Can't remember where I bought the sweatshirt, just typed keywords to find it (as I also saw someone wearing a similar one), lol

[@behzadclan1790]

Yesterday I had my first experience coding, I am writing my master's thesis and its about HR management practices in Afghanistan, I had 3 interviews and questionnaire, but for me coding using recorded version which transcribed and creating tables with codes and themes was very hard, but it is possible and I believe the more you do the easy it gets. Thank you for the video and I was worried about naming my codes, but after this video I got motivated... thank you very much!!!

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Great, I'm really glad that it helped, and good luck with your study!

[@YatiChoudhary]

Thank you for making such helpful videos. I am done with transcriptions and starting my coding and I didn't know that coding is such a simple process. I was stressing about it but I will follow all the steps mentioned by you.

[@YatiChoudhary]

I have straight way bought your course on udemy because of the way you simplify things.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Thank you, I am happy that you are finding my videos so useful!

[@YatiChoudhary]

​@@qualitativeresearcher Sir I need your help in deciding about the data analysis software. I am comfortable with Atlas-ti but it is installed in my university's system and due to COVID situation, university is still closed. That is why I have to get a software which will do the similar job but it has to be reasonable. I am a MacBook user. I have listed down few softwares but I need your suggestion that which will be better for analysing 81 interviews (transcriptions): 1. Delve, 2. Dedoose, 3. Dovetail, 4. Tamsys PS: I am in middle of your course, which I have bought on Udemy. Please help and guide me on this, I shall be highly obliged by your early response. Thank You

[@qualitativeresearcher]

@@YatiChoudhary for qualitative data, I recommend NVivo, and if not - MAXQDA. I have not use any of the ones you have listed

[@YatiChoudhary]

@@qualitativeresearcher Sir NVivo is pricy software that is the only reason I can not use it as of now. Yes I will explore MAXQDA, thank you so much for your suggestion.

[@NaaklokaiOkai]

Thank you so much

[@qualitativeresearcher]

You're most welcome

[@mayatorres2412]

Thank you.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

You're welcome!

[@Echoj317]

omg you're so right I have no idea of what I'm doing I have transcripts of interviews and I have surveys do I create different labels for each? your videos help me so much your an amazing teacher

[@israrahmad1649]

Thank you

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Welcome!

[@annamarijaskudra5018]

thank you :)

[@qualitativeresearcher]

You're welcome!

[@mayanlogos92]

Now I think ill try as an exercise to code my last course from this past week (ik I'll arrive to one theory idea cs all its linked or there are too? 🤔

[@Echoj317]

my interviews and surveys are with parents and congregation members of a church it's about the benefits of a youth program so I was labeling I with words like strengths, weaknesses, God, program, gang, and violence the church is in an urban area

[@wildcrocus]

It sounds like there is some crossover with #hashtags and coding and themes. Like the person is creating their own codes and themes so what they are writing can be easily be found by anyone interested in similar topics.

[@yaseminsenai3506]

Thank you this is so helpful! How would you suggest coding larger data sets where line-by-line coding would be far too time-consuming? I am looking for re-occurring themes in newspapers across large periods of time (how Afghan women were spoken pre 9/11 and post 9/11) Thank you so much!

[@qualitativeresearcher]

The detailed approach to coding (doesnt have to be literally line by line, but still detailed) works for any size of dataset - the idea is not to do this for all your data but for some time initially, until you feel that you have generated lots of codes that start to give you an idea for a direction in which this is going. there is often a point at which you feel this way - and it is through this initial approach that you can, in fact, get a feel of maybe what themes there may be. Based on this , you can refine your initial coding, to minimize the number of codes and organize the coding framework before continuing with the rest of the data. On the other hand, your data is not interview data, where everything that is being said has a potential to be something important and relevant. I believe you don't have to code literally everything, and with the same level of detail as in interview data, because in your study it is clear from teh start what is relevant and what is not, at least to some extent (what is relevant are all statements on Afghan women), which already makes the above task less detailed and a bit easier. The overall main rule, I would say, is to decide for yourself, based on your data, how detailed this needs to be and what you need to code

[@angelaclarke2955]

Who knew I was the one in charge of my coding? Thanks for clarifying that. I will be coding and synthesising for a systematic qualitative review. Do you have any suggestions for conducting thematic synthesis of qualitative studies? No time, unfortunately, to get up to speed with Nvivo.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

hi Angela, I do have quite a few videos about coding and creating themes. Although I do not talk about systematic review in particular, these principles will still apply

[@hilmahamza217]

Thank you for making the coding process comfortable. May I know after doing the descriptive writing, is there anything to present like hypothesis testing part in qualitative research? Also would like to know is there any methods to present the relationships between variables identified in carry on the qualitative research? It means apart from descriptive writing what we can include as additional in Findings chapter in order to earn more values?

[@qualitativeresearcher]

descriptive writing is the essence of qualitative findings, and you specifically DO NOT want to make claims about relationships, influences, etc, between variables - this is just not something that qualitative research can address

[@sarahcurrie375]

Hi Dr Kriukow, I would like to purchase your Nvivo online course. Once I purchase the course is there a time limit on access? Really love your videos, they’re super helpful & easy to digest. Kind regards, Sarah

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Hi Sarah, once you purchase the course you get the lifetime access to it, you can view the videos as many times as you want at your own convenience

[@NamrataLund75]

Thank you for this video. It sure brought down my anxiety levels and smile on my face :-) I have a question. I am looking for the UN Sustainable Goals in a curriculum. Do my codes have to be related to each goal and look for these codes in the curriculum?

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Whilst I imagine this is what you would be Mostly focused on, there is no rule that says what exactly your codes should be about - meaning, that if there is something else that you, for some reason, believe to be relevant, you can code it too, and possibly later use in your final thematic framework

[@NamrataLund75]

@@qualitativeresearcher Thank you so much :-)

[@olliebunbun]

Thanks! This is helpful. I'm about to embark on coding my enormous data set. I've been procrastinating because I'm afraid of making mistakes, so it's good to know that I should just do it without fear. I have one question. Do you think it's better to use NVivo from the get go? Or, is manual coding better? Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

NVivo all day long! I know you may be anxious about having to learn new software but: 1) it really is not that difficult to learn the basics of NVivo (and the basics are all you need) 2) you will save Plenty of time this way. If you don't use it, trust me you will waste much more time in the long run Regarding your point about just analysing the data and not worrying about making mistakes - absolutely, this is the main thing I try to communicate in both the videos and the private tutorials - just do it, try to use the common sense, focus on answering your research questions. Do not let the guidelines and complex step by step approaches restrict you! you will find plenty of useful videos on this channel and also do not hesitate to ask me questions whenever in doubt

[@olliebunbun]

@@qualitativeresearcher Thank you so much for your reply! I didn't think you would answer, so I really appreciated it.

[@tuesdayschild007]

How do i cite you Dr Kriukow? I love the way you explain things and would like to use your technique but i need to cite where i get my method from in my report.👍👌 Excellent work.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

you don't :) Firstly, not the best idea to cite a KZbin video, and secondly the whole point I was trying to make is that this is supposed to be a common sense process, not an official framework. I suggest that you follow your common sense when you code, but then if you need to refer to anyone, just refer to someone who talks about thematic analysis in general. What I discuss in the video is not a particular method but rather how to approach the task of coding

[@tuesdayschild007]

@Research with Dr Kriukow Thank you, much appreciated! 😀👍

[@lumadaradkeh6869]

Hello Dr Kriukow thank you for your useful videos. My question is before importing interviews transcriptions into Nvivo 12 should I separate entry single interview in one file or all interviews in the same file? would this make a difference?

[@qualitativeresearcher]

You need to have each transcript in a separate file. Otherwise NVivo will treat all transcripts as one participant, and you don't want that

[@cecyliasky7854]

Hello, are you Polish? Great video, thank you.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Thank you for the kind words and yes, I am :)

[@destination_lockdown9280]

hi, do you have a video on how to download the thematic framework into graphs and tables? hope im making sense.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Do you mean export it from NVivo? To export the coding framework there, right click on the blank space around the codes and choose to "export codebook". Same thing about graphs or any other visual outputs - most of the times you just need to right click and then choose the option that you need

[@duwayne077]

Thank you for this video, I'm using Atlas ti 9 and am about to start with my coding. Already have my transcripts. My question is, would it be advisable to consolidate all the transcripts into 1 document or work on each transcript document separately?

[@qualitativeresearcher]

I am not familiar with Atlas ti, but I'm guessing (because this is the case with other software) that it would not be advisable to merge all transcripts into 1, because later when you code you want to see how many people said something or expressed a given view, and for this you need to have their transcripts separated. If you have 1 document, you will not be able to see how many participants said something because for the software, all these transcripts will be 1 file

[@duwayne077]

@@qualitativeresearcher Thank you Dr Kriukow. I'm assuming it's very similar to the software you're using. Thank you for the insights. I'm really enjoying your videos. It's very helpful.

[@farheenzeb5539]

I need license key for nvivo version 12 .... I need to use it for my Masters thesis ... Can u help me from where to get or if someone can provide me license key ?? As trial version is only for 13 days :(((

[@Mskhosravi5506]

Hello Dr. excuse me Do you have research gate account for following you in order to read your articles related thematic analysis or etc...?? I am so interested to read your articles. If you have it, could u please share it for me?

[@qualitativeresearcher]

I do not :(

[@ruthmpirirwe8020]

Hi Dr. Kriukow, your videos have lessened my fear of qualitative research. I would like to contact you as soon as possible for a one-to-one t the soonest. How can I reach you?

[@qualitativeresearcher]

through my website - www.drkriukow.com

[@okunyikwotojulu562]

How Do I draw a good table to display themea on?

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Column 1 - theme name, Column 2 how many participants discussed it. This should be good enough

[@Pilot-oy7dw]

Hi there. For referencing you in a bibliography, can you let me know your first initial please? Thank you.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

J :) Kriukow, J.

[@arabellacox]

Dzień dobry - you're funny!

[@2375nikhil]

Where are you located Dr Kriukow?

[@qualitativeresearcher]

Scotland : )

[@2375nikhil]

@@qualitativeresearcher Thanks!

[@nsastef]

Student: and what is the correct way of coding data? Kriukow: bro just group data however you want.

[@qualitativeresearcher]

although you have obviously simplified what I said here, yes, you pretty much nailed it

[@lukreecelupe8849]

My codes are definitely too long 😅

[@qualitativeresearcher]

They probably aren't :) Better to have codes that are long than codes that are really short :)