Hi
As a fellow postgrad I well understand the financial constraints of buying
something like Nudist. Analysing my own data is, however, only part of the
picture for me. I would like to get a job at the end of my PhD and I think
that for that reason it is important to learn one of the packages that is
most widely used.
Sharon
> ----------
> From: Alain Vaillancourt[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: 17 June 1999 02:41
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Student Prices and Limited Versions
>
>
>
> Alexandre Enkerli wrote :
> >
> > Lyn says:
> > "With the introduction of NVivo, N4's price has dropped and a student
> price
> > is available, making it one of the most accessible qual software
> packages."
> >
> > Hm, this might be true but for some students, even a "mere" $175US
> really
> > is a lot of money to spend on an unfamiliar program.
> > Just a thought, would it be possible for a QDAS company to make a
> > bare-bones package available for free or for a very very low fee so that
> > QDA can become more pervasive among graduate students? Something like
> > "Eudora Light", "Photoshop LE", "OmniPage LE" or "Nisus Compact". As a
> > marketing strategy, it can make a lot of sense and it could help a lot
> of
> > us students get on the right track with QDA.
> > At least, it works very well in other software categories (such as word,
> > audio or image processing). And more specifically for QDA, it would
> justify
> > the investment in time needed to start with QDA.
> >
> > Again, this is just a thought. Although there are QDA packages available
> on
> > campus here, a free (but feature-limited) package would be a
> benediction.
>
> Yes, but what features would you put into such a piece of software?
>
> As part of my Ph.D. work I did a study of several QDA packages, mostly
> from a human factors point of view, but also looking at the features
> offered.
>
> I found all the packages I looked at usable and even useful but I found
> them very poor on several aspects of their interfaces. Most of them
> ignored basic human computer interface principles and practices and
> quite a few crashed regularly or led me astray with arcane menu
> arrangements. I started wondering if it would be possible to cobble up
> a limited but humanly decent QDA package from all the ready to roll
> modules available in advanced versions of Visual Basic and then
> distribute it as shareware. The idea would not be to compete with the
> top sellers in the field but just give an entry level package to those
> who could not afford the price or the complexity of the biggies.
>
> After months of study and watching two qual software lists regularly I
> am still wondering. In fact I am dumbfounded as to what could really
> constitute the basic featrures for such a package. I have the
> impression that the market, the user base, is too small and segmented to
> define "must-have" functions common to all. There are millions upon
> millions of users for Mail, WP or graphics software but potential QDA
> software users only number in the tens of thousands.
>
> In the meantime I will go on just dreaming of the small usable piece of
> QDA software I would like to see running on my machine instead of the
> labyrinthine beasts I currently have.
>
> Au revoir!
>
> Alain Vaillancourt
>
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