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Hello, Ruth, Actually, we have a workshop tomorrow and the next day in Columbia, Missouri. This was a special course arranged for faculty at a university having a site license. We also will be running other courses and workshops during coming months. We will be doing one at the American Sociological Association meetings in San Francisco in August. We are coordinating with experienced users of Qualrus in Toronto to offer training there as well. We will be happy to work with you and others to find a time and place that will work. If you can contact me off the list at [log in to unmask] I'll be happy to see if we can work something out. 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 ----- Original Message ----- From: "rah0082" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2003 11:58 AM Subject: Re: since when is a qualitative package for qualitative analysis "too much" while a quantitative analysis program is not? > Ed, > I notice that you have a U.S. address. When will you be offering hands-on > courses for Qualrus in the U.S.? > Ruth > > Ed Brent wrote: > > > I really have to object to Ray's comment that qualitative analysis programs > > are too much program for doing simple qualitative analysis while > > quantitative databases or spreadsheets are not. > > > > Qualitative researchers have spent entirely too much time already tryng to > > limp along doing qualitative analyses on programs designed for quantitative > > purposes. Even for something simple like coding brief open-ended answers, > > any of the qualitative analysis programs are superior to a spreadsheet or > > database program. I'll let other developers speak for themselves, but > > Qualrus offers a number of significant advantages over a spreadsheet or > > database for this task. With Qualrus you can > > - use the categorizing tool to easily group similar responses and then > > assign a standard code in one step > > - use scripts and the intelligent tools to automatically assign codes to > > segments > > - use simple qualitatively oriented tools like search or scripts to examine > > segments having particular codes or code/text combinations to check coding > > accuracy > > - use logical relationships among codes to exploit hierarchies and other > > logical dependencies that can help you generalize your findings and refine > > your codes. > > > > The other qualitative analysis programs offer advantages over spreadsheets > > and database programs as well. The only advantage of a spreadsheet or > > database program is that the person may already have one of those on their > > computer. But isn't it rather short-sighted to encourage researchers to > > continue using programs because they have them rather than because they > > offer the best way to perform qualitative research? It seems to me we ought > > to be encouraging young qualitative researchers to explore the tools > > available and become competent in their use so that throughout their careers > > they can take maximum advantage of those tools and not be forced to continue > > limiting future projects to fit the standard mold of off-the-shelf > > quantitative packages. > > > > 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 > > www.qualrus.com > > > > > > > > If the open responses or only one or two words, you may be better off not > > using a qualitative software package and just entering responses into a > > quantitative database. > > > Bottom line - think about whether or not you are buying too much of a > > package for your purpose. > > > > > > Hope that helps, > > > Ray > > > > > > > > > Raymond C. Maietta, Ph.D., President >