Directed Qualitative Content Analysis (DQlCA): A Tool for Conflict Analysis

Authors

Naupess K. Kibiswa PhD, Université Catholique du Congo (UCC)Follow

Abstract

Qualitative Content Analysis (QlCA) is a research methodology carried on in either an inductive or deductive way. The former way is widely used by qualitative researchers and is more presented in qualitative research manuals than the latter is. While in the inductive approach, the researcher draws categories/themes from data she collected to start her research, in the deductive, aka, directed approach, she rather draws them from (an) existing theory/ies to set up the categories/themes that guide her research. The deductive or directed qualitative content analysis (DQlCA) is used to test, to corroborate the pertinence of the theory/ies guiding the study or to extend the application of the theory/ies to contexts/cultures other than those in which that/those theory/ies was/were developed. It is more used by quantitative researchers than by qualitative ones. And while using it, these create their data. This article aims at reducing the above holes in the qualitative research tradition by proposing an 8-step DQlCA within three phases (Study Preparation, Data Analysis, and Results’ Reporting) to respond to the same purposes with data not created by the researcher. Some appendixes provide, in tables/displays, illustrations to serve as models to inspire conflict analyst researchers who choose DQlCA as their research methodology.

Keywords

Qualitative Content Analysis, Directed Content Analysis, Conflict Analysis

Author Bio(s)

Dr. Kibiswa is a 2014 PhD graduate in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from Nova Southeastern University, Davie, FL, 2004 Master in Peace and Justice Studies at the University of San Diego (USD), CA, and Professeur Associé in the Facultés des Sciences Politiques and Droit at the Université Catholique du Congo (UCC),Université Catholique de Bukavu (UCB), the Institut Supérieur de Techniques Médicales de Kinshasa (ISTM-Kin), and the School of Electoral Training of Central Africa (EFEAC) in the DRCongo (DRC). Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: naupesskib@yahoo.fr or naupesskibis@gmail.com.

Acknowledgements

I sincerely thank Professor Ronald Chenail for having introduced me to the field of Qualitative Research and Professors James Muvingi, Claire Michèle Rice, and Neil Katz who led me in my doctoral research that led me to define the Directed Qualitative Content Analysis (DQlCA) schema I put forward in this article. Let them find here the expression of my profound gratitude for their encouragement to get this text published.

Publication Date

8-25-2019

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3778

Recommended APA Citation

Kibiswa, N. K. (2019). Directed Qualitative Content Analysis (DQlCA): A Tool for Conflict Analysis. The Qualitative Report, 24(8), 2059-2079. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2019.3778