Qualitative Analysis of Teacher Interviews

Abstract

As education policy increasingly draws on teachers' own voices rather than quantitative indicators alone, interview data are frequently analysed in ways that remain insufficiently systematic or transparent, which weakens the credibility of the resulting claims. This paper sets out the methodological steps required for a defensible qualitative analysis of teacher interviews and discusses the criteria that make such analysis scientifically trustworthy. Thematic analysis, content analysis and grounded theory are compared, the six-phase coding procedure is outlined, and Lincoln and Guba's (1985) trustworthiness criteria — credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability — are specified for the context of teacher interviews, alongside Tracy's (2010) "eight big-tent" criteria for qualitative quality. The paper argues that the scientific value of teacher-interview analysis depends primarily on the researcher's reflexivity and on a documented, auditable coding trail rather than on software choice or sample size alone.