At 13:26 24/11/98 -0600, you wrote:
>
>As I embark on the which qualitative software to purchase, I find myself in
>the
>position of not knowing what questions to ask.  I am conducting a study of 63
>classrooms within 9 schools.  My data includes classroom observations,
>teacher,
>administrator, student and parent interviews.  The question I am
attempting to
>ask is "What works?" for at-risk students in terms of literacy development. 
>This open ended question requires that I have access to maximum analysis
>capabilities as I do not know what may be revealed from the data.  I am
really
>comfortable with windows and would like software that has some quantitative
>capabilities.  I've done a search on the internet and Winmax seems quite
>confident.  I was wondering if anyone has any experience with WinMax and what
>your reaction, issues and recommendations would be as compared to Ethnograph,
>Code-a-text and Nudist?



 - the problem is often that you will not know the questions (for you
personally - with your own data-mix, research questions etc) until you have
done some serious work with your data with all the s/w  - and hit the
problems and discovered for yourslef what the answers might be to the
questions you didn't know you wanted to ask - well I try to convey the
chicken and egg problem -

You mention the quantitative dimension and included in its other
quantitative support with WINMAX is the Code with weight tool - this allows
easy retrieval on the basis of weight attached to some codes - the
application of weight to a segment uses a neat slider indicator - (but you
don't have to use the weight dimension)
to my knowledge this tool isn't incorporated in other s/w in quite the same
way - though there is usally a work around to applying a measurement
element to a code. I find Winmax really user friendly and very logically
structured - the layout is easy -  quite complex retrievals are just based
on a simple principle of 'activation' - activating texts, or text groups,
activating selected codes, or hierarchies, but there are also more some fo
the more complex proximity etc operators provided to ask more precise
questions about incidence of coding - which are also on offer with the
other s/w's you mention.

Code-a-text offers real 'content' quantitative support, as well as 'some'
coding tools - with its most spectacular recent addition being a metered
graph window (can't think how to describe it!) which displays ongoing
volume information about your transcript (well you might already be
analysing direct from the sound file - so you might not need the volume
indicator). 

Another major question to ask in my mind(especially with observation notes)
is always - how do you want to see codes against text?  Are the dynamics of
interaction that you record or see later in your observation notes very
important?  If so you may always want to see your file and how it is coded
AS A WHOLE - and preferably with the text as uninterrupted as possible ....

Winmax does it well on screen - but doesn't very successfully give you an
uninterrupted print out of your whole coded file.

NUD*IST tries to do it for you, on screen and printed - but you have to
select up to 26 codes only : so you may have to make some compromises here
(slightly deductive in nature?) but the text isn't interrupted visually
output - so thats good.

The Ethnograph has always done it for you with line and symbol indicators
in the margin- but its 'code mapping' rather interrupts the text with code
headers - especially in the case of intensive coding of the text.

ATlas/ti is the most successful in this respect - the on screen margin
indication of objects applied to text - hyperlinks, codes, memos etc is
very interactive. And no interruption of text.
And a new Service Pack downloadable today - (SP2) allows the printing out
of the text with the margin display - I haven't tried it yet - but I have
seen an example of the output.

Well there are many other advantages for using each of these software
packages - I just mention one particular dimension which to my mind is
worth consideration  especially when field notes etc are involved.  For my
awareness in this respect I thank Davina Allen and a team project at UWIC!

cheers
Ann Lewins



>
>Thank you for your time,
>
>Ruanda Garth McCullough
>
>
>Ruanda Garth McCullough
>Consortium on Chicago School Research
>(773) 834 - 3697 
>Attachment Converted: "C:\TEMP\HowdoesW"
>
___________________________________________________________________________
Ann Lewins, CAQDAS Networking Project, Dept of Sociology
University of Surrey, GUILDFORD GU2 5XH, U.K 
tel +44(0)1483 259455 fax +44(0)1483 259551  
CAQDAS WWW page: http://www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/caqdas/

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