Analysis and Interpretation of Qualitative Data in Consumer Research

Abstract

This article presents a framework for thinking about the fundamental activities of inference—data analysis and interpretation—by researchers using qualitative data. I contrast these two activities. For analysis I describe seven operations: categorization, abstraction, comparison, dimensionalization, integration, iteration, and refutation. For interpretation I suggest metaphor and other literary devices as models for understanding the meanings of others, identifying patterns in these meanings, and representing how systems of meanings reproduce culture. The purpose of these descriptions is to suggest a vocabulary for and stimulate discussion about how researchers using qualitative analytical techniques arrive at conclusions and make sense of data.