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Link to beginning section of An Introduction to Qualitative Analysis with ATLAS.ti

The Coding Process

Creating codes typically requires several iterations of trial and error to decide which codes will be used and which codes will be discarded. The coding process consists of three main phases, or types of coding, each of which builds upon the work of the previous step.

The three main levels or types of coding

Open coding

  • The process of creating many codes as one takes an initial look at the data
  • Allows the researcher to mine the data for all possible analytic ideas and theoretical possibilities that have the potential to develop

Axial coding

  • The process of selecting the key codes and concepts of interest
  • Involves a regrouping of the data into the main coding scheme.

Selective coding

  • Seeks to identify the central code in the study, the one to which all other codes are related

Once a coding scheme is finalized, to the extent that any coding scheme is “final,” the researcher will then assign codes to the entire data set (i.e., you have to stop building a coding scheme at some point to complete the task of coding).