Qualitative Data Analysis Techniques

The systematic qualitative analysis approach proposed by Miles and Huberman (1994) that comprises preparing, classifying and interpreting data was adopted in this research as a general qualitative data analysis strategy. Moreover, a detailed checklist based on the work of McNamara (1998) and Taylor-Powell and Renner (2003) was followed for interpreting the collected qualitative data which includes five sequential steps, described below.

(i) Get to know the data is a preparatory step that is concerned with listening to the recorded interviews several times, then reading and rereading the transcribed text in order to familiarise oneself with the related information. At this step, the researcher had the opportunity to write down his impressions and considered the integrity and quality of data.

(ii) Focus the analysis includes reviewing the purpose of the evaluation and what researcher wants to find, then to deciding how to focus the analysis (by question or by group) based on the purpose of research.

(iii) Categorise the information refers to identifying the themes or patterns used, e.g.

ideas, concepts, behaviours, interactions, or phrases and organising data into these emergent categories.

(iv) Identifying patterns and connections between categories step is accomplished within three levels: (a) combining similar categories into larger categories, (b) considering the relative importance level of each category, and (c) identifying any connections or relationships between categories.

155 (v) Interpret the data represents the final step of qualitative data analysis that includes in-depth description of the results (i.e. what new things we learned, what has been learned and what is applicable (generalisable) to other settings, programmes or studies).

In addition, writing the final report and including descriptive examples, e.g. quotes or diagrams to illustrate points and bring the data to life are an expected outcome in this stage of the analysis.

In line with the checklist based on McNamara’s (1998) and Taylor-Powell and Renner’s (2003) work, the researcher was keen that transcription of each recorded interview should be carried out on the same day the interview was held in order to remain familiar with the context of the interview and not to miss any notes, comments or impressions related to participants’ answers.

It is worth mentioning that that each interview took between 45 and 80 minutes to carry out and record. However, the total actual time taken in many cases was about two times the recorded interview time as the researcher had to hold the recording device during the interviews because of important international phone calls, or interruptions because of some cases that needed urgent decisions by managers or directors. The researcher was informed prior to conducting this phase of data collection that, in some cases, participants may ask to pause the recording for urgent or unexpected circumstances. The researcher had taken the likelihood of this happening into account, due to the dynamic nature of these firms and the organisational positions of participants.

All interviews were recorded in Arabic, the native language of participants, in order to allow a comfortable environment and to motivate them to express their attitudes and opinions, and also to avoid the formal structured answers; i.e. the main theme characterising the in-depth interview. The same technique that was used to ensure the validity of the translation of interview questions is also adopted in the translation of interview transcriptions (i.e. the back translation) (Douglas & Craig, 2007) where English translation was translated back into Arabic by an independent assistant in order to ensure the accuracy of the final draft of translation. Figures 5.3 and 5.4 below highlight the practical steps followed by the researcher in analysing the conducted interviews.

In order to break down the collected data into separate units of meaning, the researcher started with open coding (figure 5.3) using specific questions as recommended by

156 Goulding (1999) and O’Callaghan (1996): e.g. ‘What does the word/\phrase seem to mean or what could it mean? What is this and what does it represent? What is happening in these data? What patterns are occurring here? Such questions helped in developing a list of meaningful categories (e.g. conditions, actions, interactions, or consequences, etc) which included 1388 codes. These codes were then allocated serial reference numbers (i.e.M1, M2,.., M1388) in a way that made it easier to refer to them during the subsequent different stages of data analysis. In other words, this initial step of data analysis helped in transforming raw data into 1388 meaningful codes as shown in figure 5.3 which presents a sample of open coding for the first part of interview transcripts starting with code M1.

Figure 5.3: A Sample of Qualitative Data Analysis/Open Coding

As a subsequent step of developing the list of codes, all 1388 codes were collected together in a spreadsheet. Based on the research framework, each code should be moved to a particular one of the eight main groups that constitute the components of customer satisfaction and customer retention; five comprising the behavioural dimensions of customer retention and the other three refer to the attitudinal aspects of customer satisfaction as detailed in figure 5.3.

Meanwhile, this process by which all codes were distributed in the spreadsheet was accomplished based on specific criteria; e.g. is this code a customer satisfaction- or

List of Codes

157 customer retention-related one? To which of the eight dimensions is it most relevant?

What its importance to this dimension from the viewpoint of participant? Does it include behavioural or attitudinal facets? In addition to the context of the participant’s answer as each question was designed to assess a specific component of the research framework dimensions.

Axial coding represents a subsequent step for the development of open coding and the spreadsheet. As shown in figure 5.4, axial coding is concerned with making connections between developed codes through combining similar categories into larger categories.

In practice, after all codes have been distributed to their appropriate sections on the spreadsheet, axial coding was undertaken to integrate and organise the possible linkages between the various sub-categories (codes) belonging to a central themes (i.e. nodes or families).

The outcome of this step represented in a list of themes constitutes the key factors for managing each sub-dimension of the eight components of research framework from the view point of each telecommunications operator which reflects his adopted level of marketing orientation.

Figure 5.4 describes the steps followed by the researcher in coding the qualitative data collected, starting from the interview transcription and ending with selective coding.

The figure, for instance, highlights a selected part of an interview transcript related to a participant from MNO-O (Mr Saeed Tareefi\Marketing Manager) regarding the utilitarian reinforcement (UR) aspect of customer retention (CR).

Steps 1 and 2 represent the processes relevant to open coding in which the researcher started with the interview transcript (step 1) with the aim of breaking down its included data into separate units of meaning (step 2). While step 3 refers to the process by which all codes were distributed in the spreadsheet, step 4 represents the axial coding process where the researcher identified the linkages between different codes under each dimension for each telecommunications operator in the spreadsheet, and integrated these into central themes (families).

shown in the above figure (5.4), the axial coding enabled the derivation of specific themes (e.g. customer orientation, technology & infrastructures, product development) which reflect each firm’s particular key factors in managing the utilitarian

158 reinforcements (UR) dimension of customer retention from the viewpoint of each firms’

participants.

Figure 5.4: A Sample of Qualitative Data Analysis/Axial Coding

Step 2: pen

coding starting with

interview transcript

Selective coding

(Chapter Six) Step 4: Axial

coding

Step 1: Interview transcript

Central themes (Families)\CR Step 3:

Spreadsheet

159 Selective coding: is viewed as an advanced stage of research analysis which refers to selecting the core category, relating it to other categories and confirming and explaining those relationships.