Step 5: Apply Coding Scheme

Coding is an iterative process, often requiring several cycles. As you code additional transcripts, new themes and ways of thinking about your data are likely to emerge. This iterative process usually dictates that previously coded blocks of text will need to be uncoded and/or recoded, to check if there is any more data that should be coded as the newly created code.

• previously units of coded data,
• Then, new data being coded
• Followed by, create a new code,
• Next, apply to whole data set, then back to start.

It is important to apply all your codes to the whole data set because:

• Something you come across later on may change how you want to code the data.
• You may not have noticed a new pattern in the data until you had coded a number of interviews.
• If you only code the data units after you created the code, any previously coded data units will not be included in the searches involving this code; this will be especially important in later phases of analysis when using the ATLAS.ti software.