Much of what can be described as online learning research and analysis advocates the use of software not only to collect the data, for example via an application such as a virtual learning environment, but also to analyze it, using a package such as NUDIST© or NVivo©. The intention of this article is to provide an alternative method of data analysis for online learning and VLE related research that is essentially paper based. The article describes the use of a paper-based method for data analysis of online learning type research that involves the collection and collation of electronic (and possibly also paper based) data. This method partly builds on the work of Tyler (2001) and has been used on research projects that investigated online learning as a method for widening participation (Hramiak, 2001a, 2002a) and also on a project that involved the e-professional development of staff at a Further Education (FE) college (Hramiak, 2004). Starting with the raw data sets, a distillation process for the data is described. This is followed by an explanation of how the data sets are examined for common themes.