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<jeremy @ecommons.net=""><rbury @wlu.ca="">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.<br>
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Qualrus Qualitative Analysis Software I Wed. Oct 15 (morning) [pay what you
can].<br>
Organizer: Ed Brent, Professor of Sociology Missouri Univeristy, IdeaWorks.
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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.<br>
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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.<br>
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Qualrus Qualitative Analysis Software II Wed. Oct 15 (afternoon) [pay what
you can]<br>
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. <br>
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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 (<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.foreign-policy-dialogue.ca">
www.foreign-policy-dialogue.ca</a>
) 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.<br>
<br>
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).<br>
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. <br>
<br>
For further information please contact Jeremy Shtern:<mailto:jeremy @ecommons.net="">
<http: //www.ecommons.net/aoir/conference.phtml#pre#pre=""></http:></mailto:jeremy></rbury></jeremy><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:jeremy@ecommons.net">
jeremy@ecommons.net</a>
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