There are now numerous books which attempt to give guidance to researchers about qualitative research While much has been written about the collection of data the books are often silent about the processes and procedures associated with data analysis Indeed much mystery surrounds the way researchers analyse their data Accordingly we invited a range of social scientists who have engaged in qualitative projects to discuss the approaches that they used The idea was to share insight and understanding of the process of qualitative data analysis rather than to produce a guidebook for the intending researcher Such a task involves a process of demystification of making implicit procedures more explicit While this may sound straightforward we have found it far from simple We have therefore given our contributors the opportunity to present their work in a range of styles which include autobiographical narratives and more impersonal forms