[Air-l] AoIR Toronto: Qualrus workshop

[Rhiannon Bury]

Jeremy Shtern has asked that I forward this announcement to the list. 
Note that Jeremy did not give me the exact starting times. Contact him 
directly at the address at the bottom of the message.




Qualrus Qualitative Analysis Software I Wed. Oct 15 (morning) [pay what 
you can].
Organizer: Ed Brent, Professor of Sociology Missouri Univeristy, IdeaWorks.

The morning portion of this workshop will give an overview of the 
qualitative analysis program, Qualrus, followed by hands-on 
demonstrations of key features, with a special emphasis on applications 
to Internet research. Example applications to be discussed include the 
analysis of open-ended responses in Internet surveys, the use of Qualrus 
to parse input for interactive natural language web interfaces, and 
strategies for automating or semi-automating the coding of text with 
scripts.

 Qualrus is easy to use because it was designed with the advice of 
internationally respected qualitative researcher, Howard Becker, relying 
on the concepts and methods from the qualitative literature and with 
careful attention to making the interface similar to familiar programs. 
It is more powerful because it uses intelligent computational strategies 
to do more for the researcher at each of the three major stages of 
qualitative research: coding, analysis, and application. Qualrus 
provides a wide range of tools to support diverse coding styles in 
addition to the customary coding of successive segments one at a time. 
Qualrus' categorizing tool (based on Howard Becker's preferred coding 
method) lets researchers sort segments into stacks and then apply codes 
to the entire stack simultaneously-supporting diverse research styles 
and emphasizing emerging concepts. A graphical interface displays 
standard and user-defined relations among codes in a semantic network. 
That network is then used to facilitate reasoning by the program. 
Qualrus also uses intelligent computational strategies to identify 
patterns in data, suggest codes to users, and learn from user responses, 
providing more intelligent help as the coding progresses. Researchers 
can code independently, with computer-assistance, or even apply codes 
automatically, at their own discretion-in some cases achieving dramatic 
gains in coding speed and accuracy. The automatic comparison of codes 
assigned by coders with those recommended by the program provides an 
ongoing measure of coding consistency throughout the project. Qualrus 
offers a range of tools specifically designed for the common tasks of 
qualitative research. Concept formation and the emergence of categories 
from the data are facilitated by the categorizing tool, while other 
tools help researchers identify codes that are good candidates for 
generalization or refinement. Still other tools compute commonly used 
summary statistics, perform Boolean searches, and test hypotheses. These 
diverse tools are designed to support many different styles of research. 
Multimedia support is included for text, rich text, and a wide variety 
of video, audio, and graphics formats. Results can be saved to HTML 
reports, and data can be both imported and exported to spreadsheets and 
statistical programs. Qualrus' powerful scripting language permits users 
to adapt the program to their own research style and to a wide range of 
practical applications. The versatility of this scripting language is 
illustrated by two specialized applications of Qualrus to 
non-traditional qualitative analysis tasks of grading essays for an 
introductory college-level course, and conducting a literature review.




Qualrus Qualitative Analysis Software II Wed. Oct 15 (afternoon) [pay 
what you can]
 Organizer: Ed Brent, Professor of Sociology Missouri Univeristy, 
IdeaWorks With the byDesign eLab and eCommons/agora and McLuhan global 
research network: Dr Liss Jeffrey, with Jeremy Shtern, Univerity of 
Montreal, Christie Hurrell, York Ryerson Communication and Culture, Elic 
Chan, Sociology, University of Toronto.

The afternoon portion of this workshop will extend and explore the 
functions and application of Qualrus with respect to a recent national 
e-governance consultation. Analysts from the Foreign Policy Dialogue/ 
Dialogue Politique Etrangere ( www.foreign-policy-dialogue.ca ) will 
present a case study on the uses of Qualrus for an online 
consultation.=20 This Dialogue is worth examination for at least four 
primary reasons: Linkage between government and civil society. The 
electronic side of the Dialogue was developed and hosted through a 
partnership between a civil society network (led by the byDesign eLab) 
and the Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy Development (CCFPD) at the 
Department of Foreign Affairs and Internatinal Trade (DFAIT). Innovation 
with new media in digital democracy. No national government had ever 
before invited its citizens to take part in the shaping of foreign 
policy online, normally considered the exclusive preserve of a small 
elite. The Foreign Affairs Minister, backed by the Prime Minister's 
Office, was instrumental in this process. Historical coincidence with 
major world events. The Iraq situation became a focal issue in the 
foreign policy concerns of most citizens, dominating media, public and 
government agendas, with significant impacts on the response to the 
invitation to shape longer range policies online. Ecology of information 
and communications media channels. The Foreign Policy Dialogue featured 
multiple tracks (including Minister's Town Halls, responses by regular 
mail, MP consultations, Expert round tables, a Youth forum, the Foreign 
Affairs Parliamentary subcommittee ) thus permitting some understanding 
of the contemporary practices of citizen and government policy dialogue, 
and the potential and actual uses of an ecology of channels of 
democratic discourse. This half of the workshop will report on the uses 
of these methods, notably the incorporation of Qualrus in the data 
analysis and reporting process. If eConsultation is to make a difference 
to democracy, then it is necessary to answer the question: How can 
policy relevant advice be extracted from the Internet-mediated 
communication of the public in a large scale consultation? In the course 
of this online consultation, thousands of Canadian citizens 
electronically provided their input into the process of foreign affairs 
policy formation through e-mails, answers to questions posed by the 
Minister, and discussion forums. To meet the challenge of analysis, the 
Foreign policy dialogue civil society partnership team used a 
combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. This workshop will 
report on the uses of these methods, notably the incorporation of 
Qualrus in the data analysis and reporting process. This seminar is 
about research, NOT just about technology.

 Morning and Daylong Qualrus workshops are taking place at: 40 St George 
Street, Bahen Building, University of Toronto, Bell University Labs BA 
7256=20 (Just north of College Street on St George).
 Directions: walk down from St George subway station or walk along 
College Street to St george and turn north. Researchers are welcome, 
especially graduate students.

For further information please contact Jeremy Shtern: jeremy at ecommons.net
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