The face of emergent categories

Introduction - The study arises from the need for a more informed understanding of data collection and analysis within qualitative research methods. The focus is on exploring the links between interview design and content analysis of the interviews conducted. Qualitative research is essentially exploratory, it is not expected to strictly follow a pre-defined script and during the process it is possible to have unexpected ideas and explanations, albeit in a unique or idiosyncratic way, which may lead to new interpretations or a better understanding of the situations or issues being analysed.
Goals and Methods - the aim of this study is to explore the emergent categories and themes that shape the interview scripts and category systems. The study is descriptive in the sense that it seeks to understand how the preparatory information for the interviews relates to the categories that emerge from their analysis. It represents a line of research that is concerned with the role of thematic content analysis in identifying aspects that contribute to a better understanding of the subject under study, as well as identifying related challenges and limitations. The data collection focuses on documents from the research processes of 10 empirical studies in the field of education. These data are processed by means of thematic content analysis.
Results - The results indicate that there is not a total correspondence between the design of the interview content and the resulting category system. Furthermore, the findings provide insights into the design of interview topics and the themes associated with the emergent categories.
Conclusions - It is concluded that qualitative research can produce unpredictable results and that the relationship between interview design and thematic content analysis is not linear.