Qualitative Research: Why here?

A few days back, a young friend of mine Br Ishaq from Nigeria come all the from Tronoh (he's studying at UTP), to see me to ask some questions on qualitative research. I did give him a small help with his Master's research while I was at IIUM (full study leave). He did quantitative research then. Then, a dear sister-friend of mine, Sr Azeemah from Singapore, replied my email with some questions also on qualitative research. It was when I was replying to her, then I thought, why not I start a qualitative research blog, to share what I know and experience not just with them but also with others like them who are new to qualR. This is a sharing knowledge session. I'm don't regard myself as an expert, but I'll share what I know, and I hope also to learn from others through discussions that arises from it. So, help me God, the Most Knowing and the Owner of Knowledge.

Wassalam,
Khairiltitov
Taman Keramat
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Thursday, 8 April 2010

Do I need a software?

Back to Sr Azeemah question (in the email) on software.  Do you need a computer software to do the analysis?
Answer:  It depend on the amount of data you have.  If you data is huge, like having 40 interviews each at 1-2 hr, then you really need one. 1 hr interview = 8 hours of transcription.  It's not compulsory, but it does help you with your analysis.  Bear in mind that qualitative research software function differently from the quantitative research software like SPSS.  It only help you with the analysis, not doing the analysis for you.  The two most well known software are NVivo (V8), and Atlas.ti (version 6).  They cost around USD600.
I'm using NVivo, not that I prefer NVivo, but its the one I first encountered and learned to use. I hope someone could give the comparisons between the two. You need to have some training to use them.
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1 comment:

  1. Michael Jefferies6 June 2013 at 15:57

    There are free qualitative research software however I wouldn't actually trust their validity. I'd rather just code my own by personal preference anyway. But hey, the choice is ultimately yours to decide and to figure out which is best.

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