Author: Francesca Williamson
Graduate school is the prime time to try out and learn new research tools. This practice often takes place in required courses, through work with research groups, and can provide a good foundation for later dissertation work (and beyond). In quantitative courses, I learned how to use SPSS, R, and MatLab with assignments that required printouts of software outputs. Most of my qualitative courses had limited introductions or use of qualitative data analysis tools for assignments. For this blog, I’ll share key resources and things to consider when exploring qualitative research tools. I won’t spend time on the specifics of tools or the range of options available – there are a lot to explore! My hope is that this blog can provide an entry point for those interested in further exploring digital tools for qualitative projects. As a first-year graduate student, I enrolled in a special topic course titled Digital Tools in Qualitative Inquiry. This was my first introduction to common tools used for transcription (e.g., Transana), analysis (e.g., Nvivo), and project management (e.g., Google). I had no idea that folks used more than highlighters and sticky notes to code and sort transcripts. The Digital Tools course and book, Digital Tools for Qualitative Research by Trena Paulus, Jessica Lester, and Paul Dempster, provided an entry point for me to think about how I might use digital tools in my work. Digital Tools explores a range of considerations when using digital tools in the research process, such as ethics, collaboration, and analytic practices to support qualitative projects.
Before considering the use of digital tools in you work, reflect on the following questions:
Digital tools for qualitative work can do a lot to enhance the research process, but they won’t do the analysis for you. “You as the researcher do 100 percent of the intellectual work” (Woolf & Silver, p. 2). With this idea in view, it can be helpful to move forward with explorations thinking about digital tools as support for the work you already do.
Paulus, T., Lester, J. N., & Dempster, P. (2014). Digital tools for qualitative research. London, UK: SAGE
Woolf, N. H. & Silver, C. (2018). Qualitative analysis using ATLAS.ti: The five level QDA method. New York, NY: Routledge
Graduate school is the prime time to try out and learn new research tools. This practice often takes place in required courses, through work with research groups, and can provide a good foundation for later dissertation work (and beyond). In quantitative courses, I learned how to use SPSS, R, and MatLab with assignments that required printouts of software outputs. Most of my qualitative courses had limited introductions or use of qualitative data analysis tools for assignments. For this blog, I’ll share key resources and things to consider when exploring qualitative research tools. I won’t spend time on the specifics of tools or the range of options available – there are a lot to explore! My hope is that this blog can provide an entry point for those interested in further exploring digital tools for qualitative projects. As a first-year graduate student, I enrolled in a special topic course titled Digital Tools in Qualitative Inquiry. This was my first introduction to common tools used for transcription (e.g., Transana), analysis (e.g., Nvivo), and project management (e.g., Google). I had no idea that folks used more than highlighters and sticky notes to code and sort transcripts. The Digital Tools course and book, Digital Tools for Qualitative Research by Trena Paulus, Jessica Lester, and Paul Dempster, provided an entry point for me to think about how I might use digital tools in my work. Digital Tools explores a range of considerations when using digital tools in the research process, such as ethics, collaboration, and analytic practices to support qualitative projects.
Before considering the use of digital tools in you work, reflect on the following questions:
1. What aspects of the research process would I like to use digital tools for?
Once I learned about some of the possibilities of digital tools, I was sold on the idea of using a combination of Google Drive, transcription software, and a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) package. While it requires an investment of time to learn how to effectively use these tools, it can pay off with efficiency for maintaining research projects, the ability to quickly search for excerpts, and for using specialized features. I use Google Drive to organize literature searches, keep logistical notes, and collaborate with co-authors on manuscripts. With ATLAS.ti, a robust CAQDAS package, I upload and code literature, data, and videos. I also use ATLAS.ti to keep reading notes, document analytic decisions, and create audit trails. Transana provides keyboard shortcuts for transcription, supports for audio-visual data analysis, and includes Jeffersonian transcription symbols often used in discourse and conversation analytic work. Each tool will have affordances and constraints, but figuring out which aspects of the research process would be enhanced by digital tools is worth thinking about before jumping all in.2. What tools are already available on campus?
Institutions and research groups sometimes purchase licenses to make software packages available to students and faculty. At my institution, for example, all students have access to SPSS and MatLab. We also have computer labs with a limited number of stations with ATLAS.ti, Nvivo, and Transana, for example. It is good to try out different tools before committing to one, especially if the tools require users to purchase (pricy) licenses.3. How much would you spend for a software package?
If you don’t have access to license-based software on your campus, there are options for free transcription (e.g., InqScribe) or qualitative data analysis (e.g., Dedoose) software packages. Licensed software packages sometimes offer free trial periods as well, but can be costly once the trial is up. For comparison of student license prices, Nvivo for Mac is $85, ATLAS.ti is $99 for a two-year period, and Transana is $75. If you decide to use one or more software package, the long term costs, especially beyond student access on campus, will be important to weigh before investing time and funds into research tools.Digital tools for qualitative work can do a lot to enhance the research process, but they won’t do the analysis for you. “You as the researcher do 100 percent of the intellectual work” (Woolf & Silver, p. 2). With this idea in view, it can be helpful to move forward with explorations thinking about digital tools as support for the work you already do.
Further reading:
Bazeley, P., & Jackson, K. (Eds.). (2013). Qualitative data analysis with NVivo. London, UK: SAGE.Paulus, T., Lester, J. N., & Dempster, P. (2014). Digital tools for qualitative research. London, UK: SAGE
Woolf, N. H. & Silver, C. (2018). Qualitative analysis using ATLAS.ti: The five level QDA method. New York, NY: Routledge
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