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Below is a copy of an earlier announcement seeking beta testers for Qualrus, a qualitative analysis program using intelligent strategies to help researchers code, analyze, and apply qualitative or unstructured data.  We have just posted the final revision to the beta version for review.  Our beta testing process will end in one month.  So this is your last opportunity to review a fully functional complete version of the program at no expense.  If you are interested, you can sign up using the web interface at the links shown below.
 
Thanks for your time.
 
Ed Brent
 
----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask] href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">Ed Brent
Subject: seeking learning and instruction researchers to betatest a new kind of qualitative analysis program

We are seeking beta testers for a new qualitative analysis program, Qualrus™.  This program should be particularly helpful for analyzing field notes, observations, or existing documents in research.  It can also be used for novel applications including literature reviews and meta-analyses, managing multimedia data sources, and grading essays or open-ended questions.
 
This program marks a significant departure from existing qualitative programs by using intelligent computational strategies  to
1) help with coding by suggesting appropriate codes based on evolving patterns in data,
2) provide intelligent tools to address the common tasks of qualitative analysis, and
3) permit researchers to tailor the program to their specific applications.

Funded in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation, Qualrus is the product of over four years of development, consultations with many experts in qualitative analysis and qualitative computing,  and collaboration with Howie Becker, whose seminal research includes many exemplars of qualitative research, such as  BOYS IN WHITE, MAKING THE GRADE, and OUTSIDERS.

While we have already developed a wide range of applications of Qualrus to test the program’s capabilities, we would like to test its capabilities across the full range of qualitative research.  We are seeking beta testers who have interesting projects that could test the Qualrus program.  We hope some of these beta-test projects will eventually be the basis for examples we can publish on the web-site (with permission of course) to help other researchers see the possibilities of Qualrus for their own research.

If you are interested in participating in our Qualrus beta test program, click here (http://www.ideaworks.com/QualBetaSignup.shtml)  to complete our application form.  For a brochure describing Qualrus, click here (http://www.ideaworks.com/download/documentation/Qualrusbrochure.pdf).  For additional information on Qualrus and other programs for researchers developed at Idea Works, Inc., click here (http://www.ideaworks.com) .  If your mail program does not support html links, you can copy any of these links and paste it into the address line of your web browser.

Thanks for your time.  If you have any questions, email us at mailto:[log in to unmask].

______________________________________________________________________
Ed Brent, Ph.D.
President, Idea Works, Inc.
Professor and Associate Chair of Sociology, University of Missouri
Visiting International Fellow, 2002, University of Surrey, UK

Idea Works, Inc. was founded in 1981 and specializes in developing intelligent programs for research and teaching.  Other products include the Methodologist’s Toolchest, a program that helps researchers develop research proposals, distributed by Sage/Scolari.