QUERI Citations
Maietta R, Mihas P, Swartout K, Petruzzelli J, Hamilton AB. Sort and Sift, Think and Shift: Let the Data Be Your Guide. An Applied Approach to Working With, Learning From, and Privileging Qualitative Data. The qualitative report : an online journal dedicated to qualitative research since 1990. 2021 Jun 1; 26(6):2045-2060.
Abstract: The Sort and Sift, Think and Shift qualitative data analysis approach is an iterative process where analysts
dive into data to understand its content, dimensions, and properties, and then step back to assess what
they have learned and to determine next steps. Researchers move from establishing an understanding of
what is in the data ("Diving In") to exploring their relationship to the data ("Stepping Back"). This process
of "Diving In" and "Stepping Back" is repeated throughout analysis. To conclude, researchers arrive at an
evidence-based meeting point that is a hybrid story of data content and researcher knowledge. To
illustrate core tenets of Sort and Sift, Think and Shift, we analyzed three focus group transcripts from a
study of postnatal care referral behavior by traditional birth attendants in Nigeria; these transcripts came
from Syracuse University's Qualitative Data Repository and were unfamiliar to the analytic team prior to
this exercise. We focused on letting the data be our guide into not only the explicit purpose of the
interviews, but also into the unexpected discoveries that arise when inquiring about people's lived
experiences. Situating our efforts within an Initial Learning Period, each member of the team closely read
each transcript, and then identified powerful quotations that made us pause and take note. We
documented what we learned from each transcript in an episode profile which contained diagrams and
memos. Episode profiles were shared and discussed across the team to identify key points of interest,
such as the role of faith in women's decision-making processes related to their pregnancy and delivery
preferences, and concepts of who bears what knowledge about reproductive health. Our engagement in
this analytic exercise demonstrates the applicability of qualitative inquiry and Sort and Sift as flexible
approaches for applied research.