When should you start writing up?

By Qual Academy partner Elly Phillips

A version of this post was first published on the Post-Graduate Proof-Reader blog in 2020. 

Qualitative research is not a linear process

Descriptions of research processes are typically written down as a series of steps. And descriptions might state that it's not necessarily a linear process, that image has a strong influence. Also, and totally understandably, many novice researchers are reluctant to move on from initial notes or codes and developing theme ideas until this stage is 'finished'. Perhaps there's an influence from more familiar quantitative approaches, where the results are written up to present to others.

So, how do you know when you're 'ready' to move on to writing?

Writing as part of your thinking and analytic process

The use of writing as an analysis tool crops up across social sciences and qualitative methods. You might have read about memo-writing in grounded theory, for instance. Hermeneutic psychologists have suggested that writing should be an integral part of developing an analysis.

In this vision, the writing is less about reporting your fully formed ideas and more about refining your thinking, ideas and arguments about your data. Codes only capture a small part of your thinking and don’t allow you to explain or explore. As you write, you can capture and develop ideas about your work, explain your reasoning, test your arguments and, often, find new avenues to explore.

How does writing help?

Initially, writing can be for yourself. You might start setting down your analytic claims about your data. How did you make sense of the participants’ words? Which parts of the text do you think were particularly relevant? These don’t have to be final ideas, but they can help you decide what might be useful. What works and what doesn't, and might it be useful to return to your data to investigate more ideas.

Writing can also help you get feedback from others. A narrative with quotes, analytic commentary and overarching comments communicates your ideas with more depth than code names or standalone quotes. A written account helps an outsider understand the reasoning that took you from data to themes and how you’re interpreting the data.

A short, written analysis example can reassure your supervisor that you’re engaging in a thorough analysis. They will then be able to see your work’s structure, content and analysis style, which can be vital to ensure you’re creating a well-developed piece of analysis.

Don't worry about writing style to begin with: focus on capturing your ideas and thoughts.

What to write?

There are many options for when to write and how much. Personally, I like to write often, even if many of those narratives only collect virtual cobwebs on my laptop (I always believe I’ll use them one day). You can write a brief reflection on each interview, and after transcription. You might write up some key themes from one transcript, explain what you think is important about a small group of quotes, or write a full analysis of each participant’s account.

Strange things happen when you write. Despite rigorous attention to coding, our analytic ideas can prove frustratingly slippery when we try to explain them. You might find that some themes develop beyond their original scope as you find more to say about them. Others may turn out to be uninteresting once you start writing. Either situation should nudge you to return to your data and see what was happening (moving back around the hermeneutic circle). Are there multiple ideas within one initial code that might benefit from more thought? Are there other parts of the data that might elaborate your ideas and develop those dull themes? If you encounter these questions early, it’s an exciting way to advance your analysis.

How we can help

If you like getting practical tips about doing IPA (or reflexive TA), you will find more in our workshops. We assume you've read the books, but we focus on working examples together and giving you practical tips based on our own experience of research and working with students.

If you'd like to share your developing writing and get ideas and feedback about how it's shaping up and ways you keep developing it, you could book a 1:1. This is great for students who don't have an IPA-expert on their supervisory or advisory team.