How to Visualize Qualitative Data?

Extracting actionable insights from qualitative data is not easy.

You can easily get overwhelmed, especially if the data is complex and bulky. It would help if you had a tool that can scan through the qualitative data to cherry-pick low-hanging insights.

This is where a Word Cloud Chart comes in.

The chart uses simple text analysis to help you visualize and summarize qualitative data, such as customer feedback and search terms.

So how can you access a Word Cloud Chart?

You don’t have to do away with Google Sheets for other expensive tools. You can supercharge it by installing third-party add-ons to access an easy-to-use awesome Word Cloud Chart.

In this blog, you’ll learn the following:

Table of Content:

1. What is Qualitative Data?
2. Understanding Qualitative Data Visualization
3. Why Should You Analyze Qualitative Data?
4. Qualitative Data Collection Methods
5. Different Sources For Qualitative Data
6. Top 6 Qualitative Data Analysis Methods
7. Qualitative Data Analysis Steps
8. Tools for Creating Qualitative Visualizations
9. How to Visualize Qualitative Data?
   • How to Visualize Qualitative Data in Google Sheets?
   • How to Visualize Qualitative Data in Excel?
10. The Pros of Visualizing Qualitative Data
11. How to Visualize Qualitative Data FAQs
12. Wrap Up

What is Qualitative Data?

Definition: Qualitative data provides rich insights into human experiences. It’s a window into the intricate tapestry of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It’s non-numerical, focusing on meanings and contexts.

Qualitative data interpretation is subjective, considering emotions and nuances. Researchers immerse themselves in the data to identify patterns and themes. Then use the insights to inform decision-making.

Understanding Qualitative Data Visualization

Qualitative data can be observed and recorded.

Besides, the data type is non-numerical, and it’s collected through methods such as observations, one-to-one interviews, and conducting focus groups. Qualitative data is categorical because it can be organized based on the attributes and properties of the data.

Utilizing data visualization tools can further enhance the analysis of qualitative data by categorizing and displaying these attributes visually, making the insights easier to interpret.

We recommend tested and proven charts, such as Tag Cloud, to display insights into qualitative data, such as keywords or search terms.

Take a look at the table below.

How easy is it to tell a reliable data story by simply looking at the chart?

Feedback	No. of Feedback
Good	247
Very Good	499
Super	303
Satisfactory	105
Acceptable	415
Bad	435
Worst	191
Normal	382
Substandard	117
Poor	195
Awful	400
Terrible	390
distressing	421
regretful	345
unpleasant	308
nasty	193
Good Taste	125
Recommended	380
Outstanding	290
Satisfactory	391

Note the difference after visualizing the data above. You can easily tell what’s going on. For instance, ‘satisfactory’ and ‘very good’ are widely repeated in the qualitative data.

Qualitative Data Collection Methods

Qualitative data collection methods are research techniques used to gather non-numerical information. They include interviews, focus groups, observations, content analysis, and more. Understanding human behavior, beliefs, and experiences lies at the core of these techniques.

Qualitative methods explore the depth of human insights, motivations, and cultural nuances. Thus, they provide rich, narrative-based data rather than numerical statistics. Researchers use these methods to uncover hidden meanings and offer a deeper understanding of complex social phenomena, such as client journey maps, which detail the experiences and interactions a client has with a service or product over time.

Different Sources For Qualitative Data

Following sources you can consider to collect qualitative data.

• One-to-One Interviews

One-on-one interviews are commonly used in gathering qualitative data due to the personal approach.

You can easily collect data directly from respondents on a one-on-one basis. The interview may be informal and unstructured conversational. Use the Open-Ended Questionnaire spontaneously.

• Focus Groups

Focus groups are done in a group discussion setting.

The group is mostly limited to 6-10 people, and a moderator is assigned to steward the ongoing discussion.

In most focus groups, the respondents usually have something in common. For example, a researcher conducting a study on track runners will likely choose athletes who specialize in track and have sufficient knowledge of the subject matter.

• Record Keeping

This entails the use of the already existing documents as the key data source. You can use this second-hand information to inform your new research.

• Process of Observation

This method entails keeping a close eye on your research subjects for in-depth insights.

This method involves taking notes, video and audio recording, photography, and other similar methods.

• Longitudinal Studies

It entails collecting data on the same source repeatedly over an extended period, often referred to as a longitudinal survey.

It’s a form of observational research method that goes on for a few years and, in some cases, decades. It aims to find correlations through an empirical study of subjects with common traits.

• Case Studies

This method entails gathering data via case studies.

The versatility of this method is demonstrated by how you can easily analyze simple and complex subjects. The strength of this method lies in the combination of one or more qualitative data collection methods to draw inferences.

Top 6 Qualitative Data Analysis Methods

• Thematic Analysis

This approach involves identifying and analyzing recurring themes or patterns within the data. Researchers systematically code segments of text, recognizing meaningful concepts. These codes are then grouped into overarching themes that reflect the underlying content of the data. Thematic analysis is versatile, making it suitable for various research questions and data types.

• Grounded Theory

Grounded theory aims to develop theories grounded in empirical data. Researchers start without preconceived notions, allowing concepts to emerge organically from the data. Through iterative data collection and analysis cycles, researchers create a theory that explains the observed phenomena. This approach is particularly useful for exploring social processes and interactions.

• Content Analysis

Content analysis objectively and systematically categorizes textual, visual, or audio data. It involves coding content into specific categories, revealing patterns and trends. It’s commonly used to analyze media, documents, or any form of communication to extract meaningful insights.

• Narrative Analysis

Narrative analysis centers on understanding the stories people tell. Researchers examine narratives’ structure, content, and context to reveal how individuals construct their experiences and identities. This approach is often employed in studying personal accounts, interviews, and life histories.

• Phenomenological Analysis

Phenomenology aims to delve into the core of firsthand experiences. Researchers immerse themselves in participants’ narratives, striving to unveil the intrinsic characteristics that shape these encounters. This method centers on grasping the participants’ realities from a subjective standpoint.

• Discourse Analysis

Discourse analysis examines how language and communication shape and reflect social realities. Researchers scrutinize spoken and written language, considering the power dynamics, ideologies, and cultural contexts embedded in the discourse. It’s useful for studying how language constructs social meaning and influences behavior.

Qualitative Data Analysis Steps

The following steps should be considered when doing qualitative data analysis.

Step #1: Arrange Your Data

Once you have collected qualitative data, it’s essential to organize and clean it.

The first step entails arranging it systematically.

Arranging data means converting all the data into a text format. You can either export it into a spreadsheet manually or by using computer-assisted analysis tools.

Step #2: Set a Code to the Data Collected

Coding is one of the best ways to compress a tremendous amount of qualitative data. Besides, it entails categorizing and assigning properties and patterns of the data points.

After assigning codes, build on the patterns to extract in-depth insights into your qualitative data.

Step #3: Validate Your Data

Validating data is one of the crucial steps of qualitative data analysis.

Since data is quintessential for research, it’s imperative to remove incomplete variables and other errors. Data validation is a recurring step that needs to be followed throughout the research process.

There are two dimensions to validating data:

• Accuracy of your research design.
• Reliability is the extent to which the methods produce accurate insights consistently.

Tools for Creating Qualitative Visualizations

NVivo

NVivo is a leading software for qualitative data analysis. It allows users to organize, code, and visualize qualitative data such as interviews, surveys, and focus groups. With features like word clouds, cluster analysis, and mind maps, NVivo helps uncover patterns and trends in qualitative data for easier interpretation.

ChartExpo

ChartExpo is a simple yet powerful data visualization tool that integrates with Excel and Google Sheets. While it’s widely used for quantitative data, it also provides excellent options for visualizing qualitative data, such as word clouds, sentiment charts, and other customizable visualizations. ChartExpo is easy to use, even for those without technical expertise, making it ideal for transforming qualitative insights into clear, compelling visuals.

Atlas.ti

Atlas.ti is another comprehensive tool for qualitative data analysis, offering features like coding, organizing, and visualizing data from interviews, surveys, and multimedia sources. Its visual tools, such as network diagrams and concept maps, allow users to explore relationships between different themes and concepts, enhancing the understanding of complex qualitative data.

How to visualize qualitative data should never be stressful or even time-consuming. Keep reading to discover more.

Finally, we’re in the section, where you get to learn how to visualize qualitative data in Google Sheets. You don’t want to miss this.

How to Visualize Qualitative Data?

How to Visualize Qualitative Data in Google Sheets?

The add-on you need for visualizing Qualitative Data in Google Sheets is ChartExpo.

So, what is ChartExpo?

ChartExpo is an add-on you can install in Google Sheets to access visually appealing and ready-made qualitative data charts, such as a Word Cloud.

ChartExpo produces charts that are incredibly easy to interpret. Besides, it comes loaded with a lot of ready-made and visually appealing CSAT charts you’ll never find in Google Sheets.

You don’t need to learn programming or coding to use ChartExpo.

Yes, you read that right.

Benefits of ChartExpo

• ChartExpo is cloud-hosted, which makes it extremely light. You have a 100% guarantee that your computer or browser won’t be slowed down.
• You can export your beautiful, easy-to-read, and intuitive charts in JPEG, PDF, SVG, and PNG formats.
• ChartExpo add-in is only $10 a month after the end of the trial period.
• ChartExpo has an in-built library with many easy-to-customize and ready-made charts for your data stories.

Example

This section will use a Word Cloud Chart to display insights into the table below:

Feedback	No. of Feedback
Good	247
Very Good	499
Super	303
Satisfactory	105
Acceptable	415
Bad	435
Worst	191
Normal	382
Substandard	117
Poor	195
Awful	400
Terrible	390
distressing	421
regretful	345
unpleasant	308
nasty	193
Good Taste	125
Recommended	380
Outstanding	290
Satisfactory	391

Install the ChartExpo add-on for Google Sheets by clicking this link to learn more. Then follow the simple and easy steps below.

• Open your Google Sheets application.
• Open the worksheet and click the Extensions
• Then go to Charts, Graphs, and Visualizations by ChartExpo.
• Finally, click the Open button in the dropdown as shown below.

• Click the Add New Chart button to get started with ChartExpo.

• Look for “Word Cloud Chart” in the list of charts.

• Select the sheet holding your data and select the Feedback option. Fill in the numerical numbers (in our case, we’ll use Feedback count).
• Select the Words of Data Column button and fill in the dimensional data (in our example, we’ll use feedback).
• Finish the simple process by clicking the Create Chart button.

• Check out the final Chart.

Insights

• ‘Very good’, ‘satisfactory’, ‘Bad’, and ‘Acceptable’ are repeated widely in the qualitative data gathered
• The terms with the least frequency are ‘substandard’ and ‘good taste’.

How to Visualize Qualitative Data in Excel?

Let’s say you conduct a salon customer satisfaction survey with the following questions;

• Are you satisfied with the experience at our salon?
• Are you satisfied with staff behavior?
• Are you satisfied with cleanliness?

Customers respond to these questions using the Likert scale below.

1. Very dissatisfied
2. Somewhat dissatisfied
3. Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied
4. Somewhat satisfied
5. Very satisfied

Assume your survey yields the data table below.

Are you satisfied with the experience at our salon?	Are you satisfied with staff behavior?	Are you satisfied with cleanliness?
Somewhat dissatisfied	Very satisfied	Somewhat satisfied
Very satisfied	Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Very dissatisfied
Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied	Very dissatisfied	Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied
Somewhat satisfied	Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Very dissatisfied
Somewhat satisfied	Very satisfied	Very satisfied
Very satisfied	Very dissatisfied	Somewhat satisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Somewhat satisfied
Very satisfied	Very dissatisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied	Very satisfied	Somewhat satisfied
Very satisfied	Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied
Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied	Very satisfied
Somewhat dissatisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied	Somewhat satisfied
Somewhat satisfied	Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Very dissatisfied
Very dissatisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied	Somewhat satisfied
Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied	Very satisfied	Very dissatisfied
Very satisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied
Somewhat satisfied	Very satisfied	Somewhat satisfied
Very satisfied	Very satisfied	Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied
Very dissatisfied	Somewhat satisfied	Very satisfied

This table contains example data. Expect many responses and questions in real life.

• To get started with ChartExpo, install ChartExpo in Excel.
• Now Click on My Apps from the INSERT menu.

• Choose ChartExpo from My Apps, then click Insert.

• Once it loads, choose the “Likert Scale Chart” from the charts list.

• Click the “Create Chart From Selection” button after selecting the data from the sheet, as shown.

• When you click the “Create Chart From Selection” button, you have to map responses with numbers manually. The Likert scale has this arrangement:

• • Very dissatisfied=1
  • Somewhat dissatisfied=2
  • Neither dissatisfied nor satisfied=3
  • Somewhat satisfied=4
  • Very satisfied=5
• Once all is set, click the “Create Chart” button.

• ChartExpo will generate the visualization below for you.

• If you want to have the chart’s title, click Edit Chart, as shown in the above image.
• Click the pencil icon next to the Chart Header to change the title.
• It will open the properties dialog. Under the Text section, you can add a heading in Line 1 and enable Show.
• Give the appropriate title of your chart and click the Apply button.

• Let’s say you want to add text responses instead of numbers against every emoji.
• Click the pencil icon next to the respective emoji. Expand the “Label” properties and write the required text. Then click the “Apply All” button.
• Click the “Save Changes” button to persist the changes.

• Your final chart will appear below.

Insights

• 50% of customers express satisfaction with the salon’s cleanliness, while 35% are dissatisfied and 15% remain neutral.
• 45% are satisfied with the staff behavior, 35% are dissatisfied, and 20% respond neutrally.
• 50% have a positive experience with your salon, but 35% are unsatisfied.
• Overall, 48% of customers responded positively to your survey questions, while 35% expressed dissatisfaction and 17% maintained neutrality.

The Pros of Visualizing Qualitative Data

• Summarize Large Amounts of Text

You can easily highlight key terms in a series of texts, and categorize text by topic, sentiment, and more, saving hours of reading time.

With a qualitative data dashboard, you can extract high-level insights.

• Make Text Data Easy to Understand

Our brains process visual data 60,000 times faster than texts and numbers.

Qualitative charts, such as Word Cloud, simplify complex qualitative data and communicate actionable insights to team managers.

• Find Insights in Qualitative Data

Customer feedback holds a trove of insights.

Through a qualitative data chart, you can easily get an overview of the features, products, and topics that are most important to your customers.

• Discover Hidden Trends and Patterns

You can easily analyze and visualize insights over time to detect problems and their root causes.

How to Visualize Qualitative Data FAQs

How do you visually present qualitative data?

The tested and proven way of visualizing qualitative data is using a Word Cloud Chart.

The chart is amazingly easy to decode.

Frequent words or phrases are shown in larger, bolder fonts. On the other hand, less-frequent words or phrases are shown in a smaller font.

What is the greatest strength of qualitative research?

Our brains process visual data 60,000 times faster than texts and numbers. Qualitative charts, such as Word Cloud, simplify complex qualitative data and communicate ideas and concepts to team managers.

You can easily analyze and visualize insights over time to detect problems and their root causes.

What are the 4 methods to analyze qualitative data?

Four common methods for analyzing qualitative data are thematic analysis, grounded theory, content analysis, and narrative analysis. These approaches involve systematic coding, categorizing, and interpreting data to uncover patterns, theories, meanings, and narrative structures.

Wrap Up

Extracting actionable insights into qualitative data is not a walk in the park.

You can easily get overwhelmed, especially if the data is complex and bulky. It would help if you had a tool that could scan through the qualitative data to cherry-pick low-hanging insights.

This is where a Word Cloud Chart comes in.

The chart uses simple text analysis to help you visualize and summarize qualitative data, such as customer feedback and search terms.

So how can you access a Word Cloud Chart?

Google Sheets does not natively support Word Cloud Chart. You don’t have to do away with Google Sheets for other expensive tools.

To access ready-made qualitative-based charts, such as Word Cloud, we recommend you install third-party apps, such as ChartExpo, into your Google Sheets.

Essentially, ChartExpo is an add-on you can easily download and install in your Google Sheets app. More so, the tool comes with insightful and ready-to-go qualitative-oriented charts.

How to visualize qualitative data should never consume your precious time.

Sign up for a 7-day trial to enjoy unlimited access to simple and visually appealing qualitative data charts, such as a Word Cloud.