A note on qualitative data analysis: for Housing Studies students

A note on qualitative data analysis: for Housing Studies students

 

Highlight 4 main ideas of the following qualitative data analysis methods in Housing Studies. Also provide a few simple examples to illustrate the 4 main ideas of each of these methods:

1.    thematic analysis

2.    content analysis

3.    narrative analysis

In Housing Studies, these three methods all analyse qualitative material—such as tenant interviews, resident focus groups, housing-policy documents, or community consultation records—but they ask different questions: thematic analysis looks for shared patterns of meaning; content analysis systematically classifies and often counts what appears in texts; narrative analysis interprets people’s stories and how experiences unfold over time.

1. Thematic analysis

Thematic analysis identifies, analyses, and reports recurring patterns or “themes” in qualitative data; it can be data-driven (inductive) or theory-driven (deductive).

Main idea	Meaning	Housing Studies example
Coding meaningful segments	Break interview text into meaningful units and label them.	In interviews with public-housing tenants, “long waiting time,” “poor maintenance,” and “no lift access” are coded as separate issues.
Grouping codes into themes	Combine related codes into broader themes.	Codes such as “leaking pipes,” “broken lifts,” and “slow repair” form the theme inadequate estate management.
Identifying latent meaning	Look beyond literal words for underlying meanings.	Tenants repeatedly say “we are not heard”; the latent theme may be powerlessness in housing governance.
Relating themes to the research question	Explain how themes answer the study’s aims and connect with one another.	The theme inadequate estate management may interact with low income to explain why residents feel trapped in poor-quality housing.

Simple illustration: If 15 tenants describe safety concerns, a thematic analysis would not merely count “safety”; it would develop themes such as fear of crime, poor lighting, and lack of security staff, then explain how these together shape residents’ sense of insecurity.

2. Content analysis

Content analysis systematically codes and categorises text to identify concepts, patterns, frequencies, relationships, and communication structures; it may use manifest content (explicit words/categories) or latent content (underlying meaning).

Main idea	Meaning	Housing Studies example
Systematic classification	Use clear categories applied consistently across documents or transcripts.	Code Housing Authority consultation submissions into “affordability,” “waiting time,” “estate facilities,” and “location.”
Counting or comparing occurrences	Record how often categories appear, where relevant.	Find that “rent burden” appears in 40 of 60 submissions, while “estate cleanliness” appears in 12.
Analysing manifest or latent content	Examine either explicit wording or implied meanings.	Manifest: the word “overcrowding” appears frequently. Latent: complaints about “children having nowhere to study” imply overcrowding.
Examining context and relationships	Consider who says what, to whom, and with what effect.	Compare whether tenants, landlords, and officials use different language when discussing “affordable housing.”

Simple illustration: In analysing 30 newspaper articles on subdivided flats, you might code each article for “safety hazards,” “rent levels,” “government regulation,” and “tenant rights,” then report that safety hazards are the most frequently discussed category.

3. Narrative analysis

Narrative analysis focuses on the stories people tell: how events are sequenced, what the story means to the teller, and how social and cultural contexts shape its telling.

Main idea	Meaning	Housing Studies example
Understanding lived experience as a story	Treat an interview account as a story with a beginning, middle, and end.	A tenant explains moving from a private subdivided flat to public housing as a journey from insecurity to stability.
Examining time and sequence	Analyse how past, present, and future events are ordered.	A resident recounts applying for housing, waiting years, being offered a flat, and adapting to estate life.
Interpreting plot, turning points, and meaning	Identify key events that change the person’s situation or self-understanding.	Receiving a public-housing allocation is a turning point that changes a family’s sense of security and future plans.
Recognising social context and voice	Consider how identity, audience, culture, and power influence the narrative.	An elderly tenant may frame relocation as “being moved by the government,” highlighting limited control over housing decisions.

Simple illustration: Rather than coding all mentions of “waiting,” narrative analysis would follow one applicant’s story: initial hope, repeated disappointment, family stress, then relief after allocation. The focus is on how the waiting period is experienced and given meaning, not simply how often it is mentioned.

Quick distinction

• Thematic analysis: “What shared patterns of meaning appear across participants?”
• Content analysis: “What categories, words, or concepts occur, how often, and in what context?”
• Narrative analysis: “How does this person construct and give meaning to their housing experience over time?”