One of the aims of qualitative data analysis is to

Concept

Qualitative data analysis examines non-numerical evidence such as interviews, observations, and documents to identify patterns, meanings, and themes.

Its purpose is interpretive and descriptive: it develops a rich account of how a phenomenon is experienced or understood, rather than reducing the evidence to a simple numerical or binary test.

Application

The task asks for an aim of the analysis itself. Organizing qualitative evidence into themes and meanings produces a description of the phenomenon under study.

Contrast

• Expanding selected text or material changes the size or detail of the source corpus; it is not an analytical aim.

• Analysing the researcher's credentials evaluates the investigator, not the qualitative evidence.

• Describing a phenomenon expresses the patterns, themes, and meanings derived from the evidence.

• Binary dissection reduces material to two divisions, whereas qualitative analysis can retain nuance and multiple categories.

Result

Therefore, the relevant aim is to describe a phenomenon.