Adaptation k-means technique for qualitative data analysis

Abstract

Statistical techniques for the analysis of quantitative data allow finding numerical results of association between different variables, however, in various investigations the information is not always quantitative but it is also possible to consider qualitative elements that contribute to the true meaning of the data with a response that is closer to the reality of social phenomena such as the associations that are generated by students in an educational institution in which academic performance can be related to socioeconomic and demographic variables in addition to the perception that individuals have regarding education and its importance. for the personal development of students. The paper deals with quantitative data obtained from the results of numerical and qualitative evaluations obtained by qualitative methods and techniques in which emerging categories of analysis are generated considered in designs based on grounded theory, which include methods such as participant observation and personal or group interviews that facilitate issuing various responses and criteria that, after an analysis by the researcher and the arguments of the responses, can be subjected to a coding that allows processing these data through statistics.