Matrix Analysis as a Complementary Analytic Strategy in Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract

In the current health care environment, researchers are asked to share meaningful results with interdisciplinary professional audiences, concerned community members, students, policy makers, planners, and financial officers. Emphasis is placed on effective health care outcomes and evidence, especially for underserved and vulnerable populations. Any research strategy that facilitates the clear, accurate communication of findings and voices will likely benefit groups targeted for intervention with scarce resources. In this example, matrix analysis contributes to the display, interpretation, pragmatic evaluation, and dissemination of findings in a study of rural elders. The author proposes matrix analysis as a strategy to advance knowledge and enhance the development of evidence in qualitative research.

A randomized controlled pilot trial to improve advance care planning for LVAD patients and their surrogates

“…Qualitative content analysis was used to distil the relevant aspects of the participants’ experiences of the intervention. 35–37 Team members initially conducted parallel analyses. Results were compared to assess agreement, and later analyses were reviewed as a group.…”

Feasibility of Popular m-Health Technologies for Activity Tracking Among Individuals with Serious Mental Illness

“…We used an interview topic guide with questions about participants' behavior, experiences, and preferences using the wearable activity tracking devices and smartphone. In our qualitative analyses, our team used data reduction 21 to independently summarize participants' responses, followed by matrix analysis 22 to group responses into broad categories. Differences were discussed until consensus was reached.…”

An analysis of humor orientation on Facebook: A lens model approach

“…As a result of the matrix and thematic analyses, the eight catego ries were collapsed into three themes that best captured the kinds of humor pre sented on a FB profile: life event oriented, pop culture based, and self related. Coupled with a thematic analysis, the matrix analysis gives added support for the conclusions of the qualitative analysis (Averill 2002).…”

“…The cre ation of a matrix to establish themes and relationships creates a systematic ap proach to further understand the data, beyond what would be illustrated by content codes alone (Miles and Huberman 1994). Averill (2002) notes "matrices can be valuable agents in the search for relationships between/among categories of data" (856). As a result of the matrix and thematic analyses, the eight catego ries were collapsed into three themes that best captured the kinds of humor pre sented on a FB profile: life event oriented, pop culture based, and self related.…”