In this two-webinar series, I'll show you how to organize Data Jams in your organization, institution or research team. Data Jams are a powerful Research & Evaluation Capacity Building model that focuses on concrete analysis techniques and guided collaborative data exploration, unlike top-down software or methods trainings that are disconnected from the analysts' projects and needs.
Read MoreIn this guide you will learn how to seamlessly import data from Qualtrics into MAXQDA. The guide specifically focuses on data cleanup in Excel, common mistakes, and on import options in MAXQDA. This guide was made in collaboration with Ellen Bechtol, for the Program Development & Evaluation Unit, UW-Cooperative Extension.
Read MoreCoding is easily misunderstood as the ‘basic’ or ‘essential’ function of qualitative data analysis software. In this essay, I discuss how this misunderstanding connects to the technical ease of coding in software; to wide-spread anxiety concerning doing methodologically driven analysis; and to common contexts in which software use is taught.
Read MoreIn this guide (PDF), you will learn how to pull a random sample from a CAQDAS dataset, using the random cell function in Excel. Ellen Bechtol and I will introduce this process using MAXQDA11. The process in Excel can also be applied to data from other Qualitative Data Analysis software packages. This guide was produced in the Program Development & Evaluation Unit, University of Wisconsin - Cooperative Extension. Download the guide here from the UW-Extension website.
Read MoreAfter looking at my curriculum on question generation using QDA software, Daniel Turner (founder & director of the QDA software company Quirkos) pointed me to a recent article on CAQDAS pedagogy by Silver & Woolf. I was happy to see that the discussion around QDA software and teaching is picking up – and I think the article is a must-read for anyone reflecting on their own teaching strategies and teaching experiences. Daniel asked me whether I think that my curriculum is complementary to Silver and Woolf’s approach. I think it is – so I jotted down a few thoughts.
Read MoreWith this modularized curriculum, participants can generate a question guide for open and semi-structured interviews while actively using basic functions of a qualitative data analysis software. The idea behind this curriculum is to facilitate the meaningful, critical, and task-centered integration of qualitative data analysis software into methodology teaching.
Read MoreThis is a brief intro video on what qualitative data analysis software can do, and what it can't do. It explores the functionality of qualitative data analysis software by distinguishing four main functions: Organization of Data, Annotation of Data, Searching of Data, and Display of Data.
Read MoreIn this series of intro videos, i provide an overview over the general functionality of Qualitative Data Analysis software, the academic discourse around the tool, and I give some hints on choosing the right software for your project.
Read MoreIntegrating QDA software into undergraduate methods instruction may seem challenging because another topic is added to already tightly packed syllabi. However, this tool should not be viewed as yet another challenge, but rather as chance to nurture methodological reflection in novices and to provide students with the experience of analysis as a process of decisions.
Read MoreMy wife Jesse indexed a book recently, and I’ve suggested to try to use MAXQDA. Turns out that the functions of QDA software can be quite helpful for a book indexing project (this guide applies to both MAXQDA 10 & MAXQDA 11). Here’s what she did:
Read MoreQDA software such as MAXqda and OpenCode enables you to export your text as a table. In this guide, I will show how you can use these tables in Microsoft Word in order to create worksheets for working on paper and/or in Word.
Read MoreNot all steps of analysis can be easily (or conveniently) undertaken in QDA software – depending of course on the program and methodological approach, but also on your personal preference of working with text. Many researchers feel awkward, or at least ‘different’ when they analyze data on screen, instead of working with a pencil and paper – I find this especially true for people who work very closely to their texts, doing for example very fine-grained, multi-layered analyses of spoken conversation.
Read MoreEvaluating which specific software to use (and, in extension, how to use it for what) is not a trivial process. While larger commercial programs offer a wide variety of tools, they are still profoundly different in terms of detail. In this guide, I provide a few hints on the matter of choosing a software package that fits your project.
Read MoreIf you check out the websites of the companies selling QDA software, you will come to the conclusion: Of course! I do I have to spend that kind of money, otherwise I can’t do the analysis I want to do. It is not surprising that you might get this impression – of course the companies want to sell their products.
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