I thought Alan Cartwright succinctly identified the distinguishing features
of C-I-Said. Allow me to try to point out the distinguishing features of
Qualrus.
Qualrus is newer than the others and hence less well known. Its key
features are 1) it is very easy to use, 2) it is very powerful, and 3) it
supports diverse approaches. (For more details and to download a free demo,
see www.qualrus.com ).
1) EASY TO USE
Over 400 beta testers around the world reviewed earlier versions
of Qualrus and find it to be “one of the easiest qualitative analysis
programs to use,” “much easier than (other programs),” with “clear and
well-written” manuals, and “intuitive and easy to use from coding decisions
to analysis.” (See user comments at the following site:
http://www.qualrus.com/CommentsByUsers.shtml).
2) POWERFUL
Qualrus also offers greater functionality, making coding and
analysis easier by doing more for the researcher at each of the three major
stages of qualitative research: coding, analysis, and application.
HELP WITH CODING. Between the first and last codes entered in a
project, a wealth of information has been amassed in the computer.
Traditional coding programs are unable to take advantage of this information
and offer no more help at the end of the project than at the beginning. In
contrast, Qualrus 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.
RIGOROUS. The automatic comparison of codes assigned by coders
with those recommended by the program provides an ongoing measure of coding
consistency throughout the project. This and the built-in merge facility
provide support for true TEAM RESEARCH.
INTELLIGENT ANALYSIS TOOLS. Qualrus offers a range of tools
specifically designed for the common tasks of qualitative research,
including a categorizing tool to facilitate the emergence of categories from
the data, tools to help identify codes to generalize or refine, and still
other tools to compute commonly used summary statistics, perform Boolean
searches, and test hypotheses. These diverse tools support many different
styles of research and THEORY DEVELOPMENT.
Comments by beta testers support this. By using intelligent
strategies to suggest codes, Qualrus makes the coding and analysis process
easier “I really enjoyed the experience of working with the Qualrus analysis
tools. They made a portion of my literature review a dream.” “Qualrus
provides the best software to help qualitative researchers develop theory.
Thanks to its unique features, Qualrus delivers great value to researchers.”
“Qualrus does all the jobs a field researcher needs done, quickly and
efficiently, and then it does some things you never knew you needed until
Qualrus made them possible.”
3) SUPPORTS DIVERSE APPROACHES
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 the program is illustrated with detailed
example projects, including two classic works by Howard Becker in which he
describes how he did the research in the 1950s and 1960s by hand, and how it
could be facilitated by Qualrus. Other examples show the flexibility of the
program by using it for theory construction, coding open-ended questions,
analyzing multimedia files, managing diverse documents in a family history,
grading essay questions, and conducting a literature review.
Qualrus can be used to code and analyze a wide range of
unstructured data, including open-ended survey questions, observations,
focus groups, interviews, field notes, web pages, video, audio, and graphics
files. Results can be saved to HTML reports, and data can be both imported
and exported to spreadsheets and statistical programs.
Ed Brent
Edward Brent, Ph.D.
President, Idea Works, Inc.
100 West Briarwood
Columbia, Missouri 65203 USA
(573) 445-4554
(573) 446-2199 (fax)
[log in to unmask]
www.ideaworks.com
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