https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732317753586 Qualitative Health Research 1–8 © The Author(s) 2018 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1049732317753586 journals.sagepub.com/home/qhr Research Article The overarching aim of qualitative research, a form of social inquiry, is to gain an understanding of certain social phenomena (Mays & Pope, 1995). According to Denzin and Lincoln (2004), qualitative research involves the studied use and collection of a variety of empirical materials, such as the case study, description of personal experiences, life stories, interviews, observational, his- torical, interactional, and visual texts, all to describe moments and meanings in individuals’ lives. The data derived from these various materials require a form of analysis of the content, more commonly an analysis of the text. Content analysis is one of the numerous research methods to analyze text data, with other methods includ- ing grounded theory, ethnography, phenomenology, and historical research (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). Research that utilizes content analysis focuses on written or spoken language as communication with emphasis on the context of the text and/or the actual content and structure. As explained by Weber (1990), content analysis extends beyond the mere counting of words. This method seeks to provide knowledge and understanding of the phenomena under study through systematic method of coding and classifying text to reveal patterns and themes. Qualitative research often involves the collection of data through extensive interviews, note taking, tape recording, and the use of field notes that capture the researcher’s observations of the phenomena under study. Data analysis requires the researcher/s to review notes and begin to code data for categorization. Although soft- ware is available to assist with the coding process (e.g., ATLAS.ti), qualitative data analysis requires close read- ing of text, reflecting on data and writing down interpre- tations, and sequential text interpretations as examples (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). The software programs that are available do not analyze the data per se, but rather make the data more manageable and easier to handle. These methods are often time- and labor-intensive as data are analyzed step by step, following very specific rules of procedure to assure trustworthiness of the study’s meth- ods and findings (Lincoln & Guba, 1985). The entire pro- cess of managing and analyzing qualitative data, if done properly, is both systematic and rigorous (Pope, Ziebland, & Mays, 1999). With the advances in computerized text analysis software, the practice of combining methods to analyze qualitative data can assist the researcher in making large data sets more manageable and enhance the trustworthiness of the results. 753586QHR XX X 10.1177/1049732317753586Qualitative Health ResearchRenz et al. research-article 2018 1 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 2 The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA Corresponding Author: Susan M. Renz, University of Pennsylvania, 418 Curie Blvd., Room 344, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. Email: srenz@nursing.upenn.edu Two Strategies for Qualitative Content Analysis: An Intramethod Approach to Triangulation Susan M. Renz 1 , Jane M. Carrington 2 , and Terry A. Badger 2 Abstract The overarching aim of qualitative research is to gain an understanding of certain social phenomena. Qualitative research involves the studied use and collection of empirical materials, all to describe moments and meanings in individuals’ lives. Data derived from these various materials require a form of analysis of the content, focusing on written or spoken language as communication, to provide context and understanding of the message. Qualitative research often involves the collection of data through extensive interviews, note taking, and tape recording. These methods are time- and labor-intensive. With the advances in computerized text analysis software, the practice of combining methods to analyze qualitative data can assist the researcher in making large data sets more manageable and enhance the trustworthiness of the results. This article will describe a novel process of combining two methods of qualitative data analysis, or Intramethod triangulation, as a means to provide a deeper analysis of text. Keywords technology; use in research; methodology; qualitative; United States of America; North America; North Americans; triangulation; research design