Improving confidence in smaller data sets through methodology: The development of a coding scheme

Content analysis is a valued method of data analysis, used for qualitative and quantitative data. During its use, there are many considerations that must be made to ensure rigour, validity and reliability in results and conclusions drawn. This paper presents several important considerations and how they can be addressed in the context of engineering through the example of a coding scheme for creative designer behaviour. Although important in all cases, careful methodology is vital during preliminary research to provide confidence in results and future research directions that they provide.