Record Details

Presenting a manual method for complex qualitative data analysis requiring a human perspective

Acta Commercii

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Presenting a manual method for complex qualitative data analysis requiring a human perspective
 
Creator Strydom, Carin van der Merwe, Stephan
 
Subject Entrepreneurship; Economic and Management Sciences thematic analysis; data analysis; manual method; wall coding; interrelated links
Description Orientation: In her 2024 study, the researcher, C.S., applied a process of manual qualitative data analysis on data from different scientific fields and did not want to take risk by using AI (artificial intelligence) or CAQDAS (computer-assisted qualitative data analysis systems) analysing this complex data, as human intervention was required to fully comprehend all nuances of the reasons for survival.Research purpose: The study aimed to as certain whether a manual method of data analysis incorporating the techniques and methods of well-known scholars was still feasible and would yield usable results.Motivation for the study: The study had to find a substitute way to analyse data, contradictory to the current popular trend of AI analysis, as businesses surviving the COVID-19 pandemic, had to be analysed from a human perspective. The data that had to be analysed were spanning various scientific fields, facts and emotions.Research design, approach and method: The empirical part of this qualitative exploratory study consisted of 16 face-to-face semi-structured interviews with successful small-, medium- and micro- enterprise (SMME) owners from the Western Cape in South Africa and used snowball sampling.Main findings: A framework for SMME survival was developed using this manual data analysis method.Practical/managerial implications: This study indicated that it is still possible to utilise a manual method for complex data analysis when a human perspective is required.Contribution/value-add: It was proven that CAQDAS programmes or AI-generated software are not the only solutions for analysing complex qualitative data.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2025-10-22
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Semi-structured interviews, qualitative research
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ac.v25i1.1461
 
Source Acta Commercii; Vol 25, No 1 (2025); 11 pages 1684-1999 2413-1903
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://actacommercii.co.za/index.php/acta/article/view/1461/2777 https://actacommercii.co.za/index.php/acta/article/view/1461/2778 https://actacommercii.co.za/index.php/acta/article/view/1461/2779 https://actacommercii.co.za/index.php/acta/article/view/1461/2780
 
Coverage Western Cape, South Africa COVID-19 Age; Gender; Years in business; Type of SMME
Rights Copyright (c) 2025 Carin Strydom, Stephan van der Merwe https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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