Draft Data Analysis Plan

Research Question

The research question that I am working to answer is “how would you as a Latina/o immigrant living in the United States describe your experience regarding your protection from racial nativists?”

Qualitative Research Approach

I chose the basic qualitative inquiry approach as the framework for conducting my qualitative study. The method’s principal focus is on the exploration and description of experiences, and the goals of my research are to explore and describe the experiences of Latina/o immigrants concerning protection from racial nativists. My study fits well within the basic qualitative inquiry framework.

Sampling Criteria

The following criteria were used to determine the individuals who are qualified to participate in the research:

1. Must be a Latina/o immigrant living in the US.
2. Must be 18 years or older
3. Must be experienced regarding the protection of immigrants from racial nativist groups and individuals
4. Must be a friend, relative, or acquaintance of mine

Interviews’ Transcription

Data was collected from two interviewees who met the set sampling criteria. I conducted the interviews over the phone and recorded the same. I am also the one who transcribed the two recorded interviews to create transcripts. The transcripts will be analyzed to generate information that will help answer the research question.

Coding and Data Analysis Method

The method of coding used in the study is manual coding. I read through the interview transcripts and identified passages that contained information that is important in answering the research question. I assigned a code, i.e., a word or phrase that summarizes the content of the identified passage, to each identified passage. The identified codes will be grouped into categories. The categories will be analyzed, and insights that are needed to answer the question will be obtained.

The data analysis method that I selected to analyze the collected data is content analysis. The content analysis method works well with the basic qualitative inquiry approach which is the framework guiding my study. The technique involves coding, categorization, classification, summarization, and tabulation of collected data. Techniques like relational analysis will help identify the relationship between collected data and answer the research question.

Summary of Codes and Categories

            I identified six codes in the transcripts of the two interviews. The responses of the two interviewees were quite similar that similar codes were used to summarize important passages. The codes shared by the two interviews are “Encountered Racial Nativists,” “Feeling Awful,” “Satisfactory Government Protection,” and “Satisfactory Social Protection.” The two codes not shared by the two interviews are “Adapted” and “Protection Improvement.” I derived five categories from the six codes.  Table 1 below summarizes the codes and categories.

Table 1: Summary of Codes and Categories