Qualitative Analysis on Friendship: Importance, Activities, and Gender Differences

This qualitative analysis explores the importance of friendship, activities with friends, and gender differences in friendships. The study is based on interviews with two participants and highlights themes such as the meeting point of friends, the importance of friendship, acts of kindness, and friendship with the opposite gender.

Qualitative analysis on Friendship
Contents
Qualitative analysis on Friendship...............................................................................................................1
1.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................1
1.2 Participants and procedure..........................................................................................................2
1.3 Results.........................................................................................................................................2
1.3.1 Friendship (Theme 1)...........................................................................................................2
1.3.2 Activitieswith friends (theme 2)...........................................................................................3
1.3.3 Importance of friendship (theme -3)...................................................................................3
1.3.4 Friendship with opposite gender (theme -4).......................................................................5
1.4 Discussion....................................................................................................................................5
1.1 Introduction
The current research is aimed to conduct the qualitative analysis about friendship based on the
two interviews conducted. The interviews were extracted from the study space and the interviews
watched repeatedly before writing the analysis. The first interview was of Mr Alexander who is
male studying in United Kingdom. Similarly the second interview Ms Louise who was also
studying in UK. Open end questionnaire was used to collect the data and the similar types of
questions were asked to both the respondents so that the different views on the friendship can be
analyzed. The male and the female combination of the respondents were taken for the analysis so
that the different perspective of both the gender can be analyzed. Both the interview was taken
separately by the same interviewer so that there is no bias in the data collection process. After
analyzing the interviews closely some themes has been developed which has been explained in
detail below. For the analysis purpose the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) which
focus mainly on the response of different person in different context and situation.

1.2 Participants and procedure
In this research interview of the two respondents have been taken into consideration. The first
one is Alexander, who was born in Austria and now studying in UK. Second participant is
Louise, who is also staying in Liverpool and studying. The open ended questionnaire was used
for the analysis
1.3 Results
1.3.1 Friendship (Theme 1)
The first theme to analyze the friendship is to analyze the first step of friendship i.e how the two
friends met for the first time and where. In the current research the meeting point about their
close friend was asked. The first respondents Alexander said that he met his close friend at the
history class. In the initial period they do not have much interaction, however with time they
became friends and after some time close friends. Alexander was very excited when he mention
his friend which shows that he is very happy to have such a close friend in his life. Since
Alexander have rough childhood as his parents separated when he was still a kid, a close friend
was very helpful for him. On the basis of this analysis it can be said that the importance of friend
on someone’s life also depends on his childhood and family. Another key takeaway from
Alexander response was that the meeting point for most of the friends are in the academic
institution be it school, high school of college(Adams & Berzonsky, 2002; Demetriou, Goalen, &
Rudduck, 2000).
On the other hand when the interviewer asked Louise about the meeting point with her close
friend, she respond that the kitchen of her new apartment was their meeting point. There were
five members in the house who share the same kitchen. She also said that in the initial stage it
was just the normal conversation. However with time they get along and became good friends.
They share some common interest which also help them to make close friends. Furthermore
when asked about the male friends, and the starting point of friendship with them, Louise said
that the college halls was the starting point. However Alexander do not talk much about his
female friends and their starting point.
This shows that the most common staring point of friendship were common place such as the
classroom, college hall of the common Kitchen. It also shows that the no one became close
friend at first meeting. With some regular conversation, common interest the normal friends are
converted to the close friend.

Another important observation from the interview is that the girls make more friends as compare
to the boys. In other words girls make close friends whenever they go, be it at school, high
school, or college. They have different friends at different places. On the other hand boys stick to
their friends from childhood and avoid making new close ones.
1.3.1.1 Real vs virtual friends (sub-theme)
Another important theme in the research is about the virtual and the real friends. With increasing
use of various social media platform, it is possible to become friends without meeting the person
in reality. In this cases both the respondents said that most of their friends on social media are the
same friends whom they have met. Alexander said that he has joined some forum and blog while
he was traveling to USA and there he became friends with some people. Later he met those
friends in USA. Similarly for Louise also most of the friends are same and there are only few
friends whom she does not know personally or have not met yet. Another interesting point raised
by the Alexander about the friends is that initially the group of friend is quite big. In his case, at
college there were 15 friends in his group. However over the period of time the group keep
breaking and max 2-3 members are in each group. This also depends on the common interest
and understanding among each other.
1.3.2 Activitieswith friends (theme 2)
The second theme in the current research is based on the activities one do when they are with
friends. Interviewer asked both the respondents what they do, when they are with friends.
Alexander said that he goes out with his friends and visit different place or else just stay in the
room and discuss about different topics. He seems to enjoy his time with friends and he was very
happy explaining these things. On the other hand when same question was asked to Louise, she
said that she watch television or just gossip when she is with her close friend. On the basis of
these responses it can be concluded that irrespective of the gender and the type of the person,
people seems enjoy spending time with their friends.
1.3.3 Importance of friendship (theme -3)
One of the main motive of those interviews was to analyze the importance of friendship in a
person’s life. With the same motive the interviewer asked the importance of friendship to both
the respondents.
Alexander respond that friends are very important in his life. He says that friends are like family
and they play very important role in his life. According to Alex “ Friends are the most

important thing in your life, you can share things with friends which you cannot share with your
family”. This shows that Alexander consider friends equal to his family members. One of the
reason behind such response from him is that his family history was not good. The parents got
separated when he was small and also his father died soon. He has not got the adequate
parenting, so all he has in his life were friends, especially the close ones. He also shared that in
school he was insulted and bullied by some people. So, for Alexander it was very difficult to
trust anyone quickly. On one hand bad family experience and then bullying so, he choose his
friends slowly but once they become close he share everything with them. They were like family
to him. So for Alexander friends were one of the most important of his life(Buote et al., 2007).
On the other hand when similar question was asked to Louise, she also agreed that friends are
very important in her life also. She also said that you need friends to share your feelings,
expression which you cannot share with other people. She also said that her family has also met
some of her friends in school and high school. However when she moved to Liverpool for higher
studies, her family has not met her new friends. She argued that one get all types of help from
friends such as the emotional, monetary or social help. However she argued that not all friends
are helpful all the times. There are some friends who just take the advantage and do not help
when you are in need. This is maybe she had some bad experience with her friends.
1.3.3.1 Give and take (subtheme 3.1)
In the previous theme the importance of friendship has been discussed and the next theme for the
current search is to look at some specific incidents which the friends have done. This can be
either the act of kindness or the betrayal.
When the interviewer asked Alexander about some specific act of kindness a friend have done
for him. Alex laugh and said there are many. When the interviewer asked to be specific, he said
once his friend’s parents invited him to their place and he was having a bad time those days.
Once he went to their house and interact with them he feel good and his friend’s parents and his
friend took care of him very well. While explaining the incidents Alexander was little emotional,
which indicates that he was really touched by the act of kindness. When asked if has been ever
let down by his friends he was not sure and do not respond instantly. This is may be has never
had such experience or he do not want to disclose.
Similarly when Louise was asked about the act of kindness by her friends, she laugh and thinks
for some time. This shows that she do not have any specific incidents which touched her. Finally
she said that when she is upset or sad, her friends cheer her up and support her. This indicate
friendship is also about give and take. In other words if you want to receive special act of
kindness from friend you should be ready to give also. However when she was asked if she was
ever let down by her friends, she respond instantly that one of her close friend cheated with her
boyfriend. Even though her friend cheated, she blame her boyfriend more than her friend. They

are still friends and Lousine do not raise any of these concerns with her close friend. She also
said that once you are cheated, it is very difficult to trust anyone else. So, after the incident she
became more careful in choosing friends.
1.3.4 Friendship with opposite gender (theme -4)
The last theme for the current research is the friendship with opposite gender. When Louise was
asked whether she have male friends she said that she has many male friends and most of them
are from her college. She has met most of them in college halls or classroom. She also said that
the male friends are better than the female ones as the male friends are not judgmental. Also it is
easy to talk to the male friends as compare to the female friends(Durell, E ., & Bair, 2007). She
even feels that most of the male friends are like brother from another mother, which indicates
that she is really close to them treat them as one of the family members. On the other hand when
similar question was asked to Alexander, he do not talk much about the female friends. This
indicates that he do not have more female friends and also that he do not like to discuss about
them(DeSousa1 & Cerqueira-Santos, 2012; Radmacher & Azmitiz, 2006).
1.4 Discussion
So on the basis of the both the responses it can be said the friends have special place in
everyone’s life. It has been seen from the other research that human are the social animal and
they need social interaction and continuous support. People having no friends have high chances
of depression and other social problems. Friends also help you to adjust in the environment,
especially if you are relocating to the new place. In nutshell friends are important part of
everybody’s life(Demetriou et al., 2000; Demir & Urgerg, 2004; Eggens, Werf, & Boske, 2008).
On the basis of the above analysis it can be said that the boys focus more on the positive things
about their friends and when it comes to the negative part, they refrain from mentioning it. It can
be said that they forget about the incident and move ahead. On the other the case is completely
different with the girls. They are not very enthusiastic to mention about the act of kindness,
however when it comes to complaining they remember each and every thing. So, there is
difference in gender about the act of kindness and the letting down by the friends. Boys often
forget about the past things (especially if they been let down) however girls keep bringing the
past incidence especially if they have been cheated by their friend(Nicolaisen & Thorsen, 2016).

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