Visualizing the qualitative: making sense of written comments from an evaluative satisfaction survey

Purpose: Satisfaction surveys are common in the field of health education, as a means of assisting organizations to improve the appropriateness of training materials and the effectiveness of facilitation-presentation. Data can be qualitative of which analysis often become specialized. This technical...

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Main Author: Keith V. Bletzer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute 2015-04-01
Series:Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.jeehp.org/upload/jeehp-12-12.pdf
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author Keith V. Bletzer
author_facet Keith V. Bletzer
author_sort Keith V. Bletzer
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description Purpose: Satisfaction surveys are common in the field of health education, as a means of assisting organizations to improve the appropriateness of training materials and the effectiveness of facilitation-presentation. Data can be qualitative of which analysis often become specialized. This technical article aims to reveal whether qualitative survey results can be visualized by presenting them as a Word Cloud. Methods: Qualitative materials in the form of written comments on an agency-specific satisfaction survey were coded and quantified. The resulting quantitative data were used to convert comments into “input terms” to generate Word Clouds to increase comprehension and accessibility through visualization of the written responses. Results: A three-tier display incorporated a Word Cloud at the top, followed by the corresponding frequency table, and a textual summary of the qualitative data represented by the Word Cloud imagery. This mixed format adheres to recognition that people vary in what format is most effective for assimilating new information. Conclusion: The combination of visual representation through Word Clouds complemented by quantified qualitative materials is one means of increasing comprehensibility for a range of stakeholders, who might not be familiar with numerical tables or statistical analyses.
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spelling doaj.art-54c45e2bee33487697d3bd623dab420e2023-09-02T06:30:48ZengKorea Health Personnel Licensing Examination InstituteJournal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions1975-59372015-04-011210.3352/jeehp.2015.12.12138Visualizing the qualitative: making sense of written comments from an evaluative satisfaction surveyKeith V. BletzerPurpose: Satisfaction surveys are common in the field of health education, as a means of assisting organizations to improve the appropriateness of training materials and the effectiveness of facilitation-presentation. Data can be qualitative of which analysis often become specialized. This technical article aims to reveal whether qualitative survey results can be visualized by presenting them as a Word Cloud. Methods: Qualitative materials in the form of written comments on an agency-specific satisfaction survey were coded and quantified. The resulting quantitative data were used to convert comments into “input terms” to generate Word Clouds to increase comprehension and accessibility through visualization of the written responses. Results: A three-tier display incorporated a Word Cloud at the top, followed by the corresponding frequency table, and a textual summary of the qualitative data represented by the Word Cloud imagery. This mixed format adheres to recognition that people vary in what format is most effective for assimilating new information. Conclusion: The combination of visual representation through Word Clouds complemented by quantified qualitative materials is one means of increasing comprehensibility for a range of stakeholders, who might not be familiar with numerical tables or statistical analyses.http://www.jeehp.org/upload/jeehp-12-12.pdfCapacity building assistanceQualitative analysisSatisfaction surveyWord Clouds
spellingShingle Keith V. Bletzer
Visualizing the qualitative: making sense of written comments from an evaluative satisfaction survey
Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions
Capacity building assistance
Qualitative analysis
Satisfaction survey
Word Clouds
title Visualizing the qualitative: making sense of written comments from an evaluative satisfaction survey
title_full Visualizing the qualitative: making sense of written comments from an evaluative satisfaction survey
title_fullStr Visualizing the qualitative: making sense of written comments from an evaluative satisfaction survey
title_full_unstemmed Visualizing the qualitative: making sense of written comments from an evaluative satisfaction survey
title_short Visualizing the qualitative: making sense of written comments from an evaluative satisfaction survey
title_sort visualizing the qualitative making sense of written comments from an evaluative satisfaction survey
topic Capacity building assistance
Qualitative analysis
Satisfaction survey
Word Clouds
url http://www.jeehp.org/upload/jeehp-12-12.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT keithvbletzer visualizingthequalitativemakingsenseofwrittencommentsfromanevaluativesatisfactionsurvey