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Foundation e-Learning · EL-112 Research & data

Creating a Coding Frame for Text Responses.

Thirty minutes on turning free-text answers into something you can count.

Recommended first Data analysis and report writing
01 Why it matters

Free text is evidence too

Coding is one way to organise non-numerical data so that it can be examined in a more rigorous and systematic way, so that some conclusions can be drawn from it.

This course sets out how to construct a coding frame that will help you to organise unstructured responses. We recommend you complete our course on Data Analysis and Report Writing first, as it provides background and context to the process of coding.

Thirty minutes, self-paced, and the last rung of the research ladder. It picks up where question design leaves off: the answers people wrote in their own words, and what you do with them. For the same method worked through with a trainer, there is an intermediate course.

02 Topics include

What the course covers

Four topics, in the order you would build a frame.

01
First passReading the responses before deciding on any codes. You cannot design categories for material you have not read. The first pass is about noticing what people actually say, including the things nobody anticipated when the question was written.
02
Top-level codesThe broad categories everything else hangs from. Few enough to hold in your head, broad enough that every response finds a home. Get these wrong and the whole frame has to be rebuilt once coding is underway.
03
Lower-level codesThe detail underneath, and how far down it is worth going. Each level down costs coding time and buys precision. The stopping point is the level at which the report would say something different.
04
PracticalitiesApplying the frame consistently once other people are coding too. Two coders working from the same frame should reach the same answer, and where they do not, the fault lies with the frame. Also what to do with responses that fit nowhere.
By the end of the session you have

A thorough understanding of the details of coding unstructured, qualitative data

03 Who is this course for?

No formal training assumed.

This course is aimed at those at an operational level who are likely to be analysing qualitative data, but who have had no formal training in this.

05Before you enrol

Common questions

Anything not covered here, ask us.

01

How long does the course take?

Approximately 30 minutes. It is self-paced, so you can stop and return, and your place is remembered.
02

Do I need to take anything first?

tCI recommends Data Analysis and Report Writing, which gives the background and context to coding. It is a recommendation, not a requirement. That course also runs with a trainer as RD-204.
03

What is a coding frame?

A structure for organising non-numerical data so it can be examined systematically. The course builds one in the order you would build it for real: a first pass through the responses, then top-level codes, then the lower-level codes underneath them.
04

Should I take this or the taught course?

This one for the method on your own time. The intermediate course if you have a real set of responses and want a trainer working through the frame with you.
05

How do I pay?

Pay by credit card when you book, or email contact@consultationinstitute.org if you prefer to be invoiced.
06

How many CPD points does it carry?

Five tCI CPD points, logged against your record when you finish, along with a certificate of completion.

Give the free-text answers a structure

£80 for a single licence, five CPD points, and a certificate at the end.

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