On Sep 9, 2022, at 11:25 AM, Kimberli Kelmor <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> A while back we kind of talked around qualitative analysis tools. I'd like to query the group about it directly, though.
>
> What do people use for qualitative data analysis and storage? I've used NVivo before and liked it, but it is pricey and maybe both under and overkill. What else is out there?
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> A related question, is there an open data platform that is geared toward qualitative data instead of quantitative data? I'm looking to find something already available that has a strong data/document repository layer, a strong analysis layer, and a strong and flexible presentation or publishing layer.
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> Many thanks for any information you can share!
>
> --
> Kimberli M. Kelmor
Please correct me if I'm wrong. In this case, "qualitative analysis tools" are applications where one: 1) assembles a corpus of one or more documents, 2) articulates a vocabulary of topics or themes, 3) peruses ("reads") items in the corpus assigning vocabulary terms to parts or the whole of the items, and 4) does statistical analysis against the assignments. In the end the student, researcher, or scholar will address questions such as "How did a given idea ebb and flow over time?", "To what degree do these sets of people express a given thing?", or "How often was such and such mentioned?" Correct?
If this be the case, then I believe the same research questions can be addressed more consistently and at a larger scale if natural langauge processing (NLP) methods were applied to the corpus. At the same time, the application of NLP ought not be considered a replacement for qualitative analsysis tools nor tradidtional reading. Instead, the application of NLP ought to be considered a supplemental method of analysis.
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Eric Morgan
Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship
University of Notre Dame
