Are you running around looking for something to help you create meaning out of seeming chaos?

 

Technological Resources for Qualitative Data Management, Analysis, and Presentation
A.K.A. "The NUD*IST Class"

 
 

 

INSTRUCTOR

Professor Maureen Porter

• mporter@pitt.edu

• 648-7041 (5M30)

Geok Hwa Kee

• gekst9@pitt.edu

 

• mikst21@pitt.edu

PREREQUISITES

Students should come to the class with at least an introductory course in qualitative data collection and interpretation techniques. Students who have successfully completed the Field Methods -  Introduction to Qualitative Research - Ethnography of Education Seminar sequence (or another similar qualitative data analysis course sequence) will be able to put use of this software into better perspective. Past experience has shown that those who have more background in qualitative methods gain more than a basic technical proficiency in the software, that is, they are able to use this tool to shape their own research and understanding. This aids them in the course and in their own dissertation or thesis work.

This course in itself has become something of an informal prerequisite for students who wish to gain employment as a data analyst during their graduate school years and beyond. Many course participants have won well-paid research assistantships doing data analysis with NUD*IST as a result of doing well in this course. Please let me know if you would like to be put on a referral list.

OBJECTIVES

The course centers around using NUD*IST  (that is, the Non-numerical Unstructured Data-Indexing, Searching, & Theorizing software) to conceptualize, organize, understand, and present qualitative data of diverse kinds and in varied media.  According to the designers: Q.S.R. NUD*IST 4 is a multi-functional software system for the development, support and management of qualitative data analysis (QDA) projects. These are projects involving the analysis of unstructured data such as text from interviews, historical or legal documents, or non-textual documentary material such as videotapes, in order to develop an analysis or understanding of the underlying patterns and meanings. QDA techniques are used in many forms by social scientists, historians, literary critics, health researchers, education professionals, business and market analysts, legal researchers, and others.

MODES OF INSTRUCTION

Successful participants in the course have come from many fields and schools.  Students at all levels of data collection, analysis, and synthesis who have an appropriate background are welcome. They may use the instructor’s, their own, or, with permission, others’ data.  This course offers the exciting opportunity to work with data "in progress," that is, in its raw, unpolished, unanalyzed form.  In this way, participants learn to work with data that is much like that which they will encounter in their own studies.

The 03-1 cohort is an especially interesting group, as many of the participants will have come from a summer Fieldwork Practicum, in which they will have done the fieldwork to generate the data that they will be using. In this way,they will be able to do a thorough analysis and learn about the life cycle of research, analysis, and presenting results. Completion of this two-course sequence can be used to fulfill the Supervised Research requirement for the doctoral degree in the SCAE program. Other students are working on overviews, qeustioning data from a joint project with a faculty sponsor and PI, and still others are well along in their dissertation writign process.

We have found that work in small groups is a critical part of effectively learning this software and of becoming proficient in learning to think, question, organize, and speak publically as a research team. Students should expect to seek out partners with whom to work and to be flexible in which data sets they use for the duration of the workshop.  Students are encouraged to continue their data analysis education beyond this workshop, and to seek out opportunities to work with other data sets and research projects in the future.

In the course of the class, we will be doing individualized assessments of discrete core skills as well as assessments of more advanced clusters of skills. Students will have the chance to demonstrate their emerging expertise in public settings, one-on-one, and to one another. Participants are expected to be active collaborators and to help one another. At the graduate level, I expect that participants will independently read the supporting materials in order to complete their labwork and to complete the methodology section. We will offer core readings and will provide other readings in a central location as appropriate. As members of a research community, they are asked to be reflective and analytical about their own process of learning. They are expected to contribute feedback to the instructors, assess their own learning strategies and identify areas of confusion. They need to ask for help as well as to offer it freely to others in a constructive fashion.

TIME

Thursday 1:30 am to 4:10 pm. The computers are also available to students during regular lab hours. Students may also apply for use of the 24-hour computer room.

LOCATION

We will meet at 5L22 (fifth floor Cooley computer lab).

TEXTS

Additional Readings are available in a comon box outside the instructor's office area..

ASSIGNMENTS

GRADING

In order to receive a "B" students must complete the required essay, the methodological sections, and the preliminary and final presentations in such a manner that they demonstrate competence. In order to receive an "A," students must complete all the required elements, but at a greater level of mastery and artistry. The essay, method sections and presentations must show creativity, clear mastery of the forms and content of the analysis, and the ability to synthsize and integrate results with meaningful questions. Presentations should be on the caliber of research presented at a professional conference. Because of the indiviudalized nature of the the course, motivated and skilled students may learn new skills and develop a complex NUD*IST system at a quick rate, and may progress significantly beyond the basic expectations of the course syllabus. Grading will also take into account students’ regular attendence, constructive and collegial class participation, and effectiveness in groupwork.
 

Additional Resources for NUD*IST analysis:

http://www.qsr.com.au/

The Software Distributor's Page

A NUD*IST Support Page with Frequently Asked questions

A comparison of Qualitative Data Analysis Programs (albeit sponsored by NUD*IST)

Discussions on Qualitative Computing

References on Qualitative Analysis

A listserv for NUD*IST users

Teaching Materials for NUD*ISThttp://www.qsr.com/au/Training/USN/index.htm

User Support Notes for NUD*IST
 

Back to the homepage of Dr. Maureen Porter

COURSE CALENDER

Date	Topic	Reading	Assignment
8/29	OVERVIEW AND INTRODUCTIONS Who is here? Which teams are possible? Why did you sign up for the course? What do you want to achieve? How is the course organized? What is QSR NUD*IST 4.0? Where do you get help?	Gahan & Hannibal, p. 1-4 QSR NUD*IST 4 User Guide, p. 2-3, 11	Log in and access due
9/5	NONNUMERICAL, UNSTRUCTURED DATA Setting Up Your Projects How do you create a new project? What are the functions of the different folders in your project? How do you back up? Preparing Your Documents What is a document? What are the properties of a document? How do you prepare your documents? How should you save your documents? How can you modify your documents?	Gahan & Hannibal, p. 5, 18-24, 26-34, 42-43, 45-52 QSR NUD*IST 4 User Guide, p. 28-29, 33 Becker, Sampling
9/12	Making a Document System What is a document system? How do you import your documents? Where do you store your documents? How do you delete your documents? How do you make and print a document report? Labeling and confidentiality What is a "problem?"	Gahan & Hannibal, p. 35-36, 44 QSR NUD*IST 4 User Guide, p.4, 54-55 Morse, 3,11
9/19	INDEXING Why do you develop an index system? What is an index system? How do you relate your documents with your index system?	Gahan & Hannibal, p. 8-9 QSR NUD*IST 4 User Guide, p. 74-75	Commitment to basic problem and to research teams due Preliminary statement of research goals due
9/26	What is a node? How do you create nodes? What can you do with your nodes? What is an index tree? How do you display and print a tree? Where can you get a list of all the tree nodes? Categories and images	Gahan & Hannibal, p. 58-63, 74, 84-86, 86-88 QSR NUD*IST 4 User Guide, p. 75-78, 81-84 Becker, Imagery
10/3	Exploring & Coding What is a document explorer? How do you edit your document texts? How do you spread and unspread your document texts? How do you create a document memo? What is a node explorer? How do you examine your coding? How do you add your coding? How do you delete your coding?	Gahan & Hannibal, p. 37, 89-98 QSR NUD*IST 4 User Guide, p. 53-54	Reflective Essay Due
10/10	SEARCHING Why do you conduct a text search? What is a text search? What is a string search? How do you conduct a string search? Why is a pattern search? How do you conduct a pattern search? Refining concepts and questions	Gahan & Hannibal, p. 101-103, 106-112 Becker, Concepts
10/17	Presentations, Working Session How do you share constructive criticism?	Morse, 7,8	Intermediate Presentatons due
10/24	Why do you conduct an index search? What is an index search? What is a collect search? How do you conduct a collect search? What is a matrix search? How do you conduct a matrix search? What is a vector search? How do you conduct a vector search?	Gahan & Hannibal, p. 113-122, 136-137 QSR NUD*IST 4 User Guide, p. 136-137
10/31	Conferences, Working Session
11/7	Making Tables & Reports What is a coding table report? How do you make and print a coding table report? How do you export your coding table report? How do you make a matrix (or vector) table report? How do you export your matrix (or vector) table report? Why do you export and import your table reports?	Gahan & Hannibal, p. 146-148 QSR NUD*IST 4 User Guide, p. 164, 181-185 Becker, Logic I	Methodology Section Draft Due
11/14	THEORIZING What are the questions that you may ask in NUD*IST? How you use the operators to ask questions? What is knowledge? So what?	Gahan & Hannibal, p. 123-124 QSR NUD*IST 4 User Guide, p. 126-130 Becker, Logic II Morse, 4,5,6,9,12,15
11/21	Anthropology Conference - Work Session
11/28	Thanksgiving Recess
12/5	Final Presentations		Methodology Final Section Due , Summary Evidence of Tips due
12/15	Final Presentations		Final Presentations Due