Annex 1: Inventory of indicators from surveys and registries

• Comprehensive: It allows a full, and not partial or selective, review of the material
collected.
• Enables easy retrieval: It allows access to, and retrieval of, the original textual
material.
• Allows between-case and within-case analysis: It enables comparisons between, and
associations within, cases to be made.
• Accessible to others: The analytic process, and the interpretations derived from it, can
be viewed and judged by people other than the primary analyst.
The analytical process involved a number of distinct and interconnected stages, including
sifting, charting and sorting materials according to the key issues and themes. The five key
stages were familiarisation; identifying a thematic framework; indexing; charting; mapping and
interpretation. Although the presentation of the different stages might imply rigidity, in
practice, areas were often re-visited, re-examined or simply rejected and re-done. In more
detail:
Familiarisation
An attempt was made to become familiar with the range and diversity of the data within the
national reports and to gain an overview. Familiarisation involved immersion in the data: a
great deal of time was spent reading the reports. Key ideas and recurrent themes were listed
whilst reading material.
Identifying a thematic framework
Data were examined and referenced in order to identify key issues, concepts and themes. A
thematic framework within which the material could be sifted and sorted was established.
Special attention was paid to comments made by co-ordinators themselves, and analytical
themes arising from the recurrence of particular views or experiences. This was then applied
to transcripts and refined to become more responsive to emergent themes. Time was spent
making judgements about meaning, relevance and connections between ideas. The index
developed provided a means of labelling data in manageable ‘bites’ for subsequent retrieval
and exploration.
Indexing
The thematic framework (index) was systematically applied to the national reports. All data
were annotated according to the thematic framework.
Charting
Data were ‘lifted’ from their original context and rearranged according to the appropriate
thematic reference. Charts were devised with headings drawn from the thematic framework.
Mapping and Interpretation
Once all the data had been sifted and charted according to the themes, charts were reviewed;
patterns and connections were sought; emphasis was placed upon structure rather than a
multiplicity of evidence, the salience and dynamics of issues was considered rather than
simply aggregating patterns.
Remarks on the methodology
McKee and Jacobson (2000) warned that ‘an exploration of public health issues in Europe is
difficult’. They noted that compared with, for example, North America, the diversity of issues is
Report on the role of Health Promotion in Tackling Inequalities in Health
23