Contemporary planning practice draws ideas and inspiration from the discourse between communities and professionals. To make plans truly equitable and inclusive, it is critical to understand the nuances of community feedback and involves far more than a simple record of comments or quantitative survey data. This presentation highlights qualitative data analysis (QDA) methods as a potentially game changing tool for planners. The objective is to equip planning professionals with practical methods and tools to decipher community feedback, sentiments, experiences, and aspirations into actionable information. The content introduces the importance of considering community outreach and engagement as qualitative data. Drawing parallels with anthropology and ethnography, it underscores how planners can benefit from the tools used by anthropologists. It will also highlight the role QDA plays in enriching quantitative data and demonstrate software and methodologies that facilitate analysis.
The impacts of this approach lead to a rounded understanding of community needs, encourages inclusivity, and promoting equitable planning. This presentation will be more than a methodological overview—it is a call to action. It implores planners to embrace Qualitative Data Analysis, adding rigor to community feedback and values meaning over the loudest voices in the community.
