Welcome!
This page has been developed by Dr. Rhodesia McMillian and Dr. Penny A. Pasque for the AERA Professional Development session “Qualitative Research from Literature Review to Large Dataset Analysis.” There were over 70 people in attendance – thanks for the great reception! We revised this site so it is useful for all who stop by the Quallab’s Dashboard of Resources. If you like something we say or that you learn on this page, please cite:
- Citation: McMillian, R. & Pasque, P. A. (April 14, 2023). Professional Development Workshop: Qualitative Research from Literature Review to Large Dataset Analysis. American Educational Research Association. Chicago, IL.
- The slide deck from the session may be found here.
Software Links, Training Videos, and Free Trials
There are a number of the qualitative research analysis tools listed below. This list is not exhaustive and we do not endorse any particular software (use what works best for you). We do argue that it is the researcher who conducts the analysis, not the software. The software is a useful tool for qualitative analysis processes – one tool of many. If there is software you’d like us to add to this page, please email us at QualLab@osu.edu.
We start with NVivo & Transana because they’re available FREE for the EHE community via EHE OIT’s Computer Labs. Also, we’ve added a quick bio about people mentioned below. Why? ~ Not to name drop, but to make the large, often impersonal qualitative software community seem more personal and accessible.
- NVivo by Lumivero
- NVivo offers a 14-day free trial here. Please download this before our workshops.
- NVivo is compatible with other software, for example Zotero or Citavi are often utilized for library searches.
- NVivo offers an additional package that includes artificial intelligence (AI) transcription capabilities.
- Rhodesia McMillian presented a QualLab Lunch on the Basics of NVivo. The YouTube video may be found on the QualLab’s Dashboard of Resources.
- Who is Dr. McMillian? She’s an assistant professor at Ohio State, QualLab Faculty Fellow, and a stellar educational policy scholar. This PD is up her ally as she teaches courses on critical race policy research, software tools for dissertation research, and is a key presenter at the Advanced Methods Institute 2023 (virtual).
- Dave Kolodny presented a QualLab Lunch on an Introduction to NVivo. The YouTube video may be found on our QualLab’s Dashboard of Resources.
- Who is Dave Koldny? Dave works with QSR International who operated NVivo at the time of the lunch. He runs numerous trainings across the globe. He’ll be at AERA 2023, so feel free to stop by this vendor booth and say hello!
- NVivo podcasts with detailed information on how to use specific features for your research project by Stacy Penna is available here.
- Who is Stacy Penna? Stacy is the Engagement & Enablement Director who works with NVivo. She has a number of different resources online, creates community between qualitative scholars, and beyond. She & Dave (above) helped Penny Pasque gather some of the swag provided at the PD session for you.
- NVivo licenses run July – July for a year for us at Ohio State, so we / EHE recommend our community try to purchase it in July so it can be used the entire year.
- This is available free for Ohio State’s EHE community in the Ramseyer computer lab or through virtual access.
- Transana
- Transana is a software designed to theme and code directly in a video. Other software packages can do this but, Transana is designed specifically for this capability.
- Brian Seilstad (PhD from Ohio State) presented a QualLab Lunch on the Basics of Transana. The YouTube Video may be found on our Dashboard of Resources.
- Who is Dr. Seilstad? Brian Seilstad received his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University’s department of Education/Teaching and Learning with a focus on Multicultural and Equity Studies. He serves as Director of Internationalization and Partnerships at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco.
- This is available free for Ohio State’s EHE community in the Ramseyer computer lab or through virtual access.
- ATLAS.ti
- dedoose
- dedoose (lower case) is a web-based app for analyzing qualitative research with text, photos, audio, videos, spreadsheet data and more.
- Great for collaborative research projects.
- dedoose – useful training videos are here.
- Excel
- Excel information and a free trial may be found here or through your college or university.
- Teaching and Learning Excel for Data Analysis YouTube video is a useful resource. This is an interview of Charlotte Brookfield by Janet Salmons offered by METHODSPACE by SAGE.
- MAXQDA
- MAXQDA (upper case) is used for analyzing qualitative and mixed methods research. They tout “one software, many solutions” to organize, analyze, visualize and present.
- Free trial of MAXQDA is available here.
- QDA Miner
- Qualtrics
- Qualtrics is a powerful survey tool and may be a nice complementary resource for recruitment, demographic information, etc. Note that there are many qualitative scholars who argue open-ended survey questions are a part of survey research and not necessarily qualitative research, whereas others argue open ended surveys are useful for some forms of content analysis.
- Qualtrics is available free to Ohio State faculty, staff and students.
- The EHE Office of Research has created and curated several resources, including webinars and FAQs, to help users get the most out of Qualtrics. Access them here.
- Quirkos
- Quirkos is a simple “drag and drop” type of software tool that can help in the analysis of qualitative data. It is affordable and is popular in the field of education.
- Free trial of Quirkos is available here.
- Taguette
- Taguette is a very simple and free open source qualitative data analysis tool that allows you to tag your data – that way you can export it for analysis. It’s a great free resource, but therefore a bit limited/specific in it’s capabilities.
- AERA QualSIG “Qualitative Conversations” Podcasts about software
- Episode 36: Digital Tools and Technology in Qualitative Research – Jessica Lester is interviewed by James Salvo.
- Episode 26: CAQDAS, Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis – Christina Sliver is interviewed by Amir Michalovich.
- Reserve a recorder
- This service is offered by the QualLab for EHE Ohio State faculty, postdocs, researchers, and graduate students only.
- Want more info about “how to” employ various research methodologies and methods? See the book Advancing Culturally Responsive Research & Researchers: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods (Pasque & alexander, eds., 2022, Routledge) with chapters from the Advanced Methods Institute 2021 workshops.
- The website includes a 20% off coupon code.
- The 2023 Advanced Methods Institute book (McMillian & Pasque, eds.; Reyes, managing ed) is being written now and will be available in 2024. Find out more about AMI 2023 presenters / authors here.