Quirkos Qualitative Research Blog

The uses of Memos and Notes for analysis in Quirkos Web

There is more to analysing data than coding and labelling it. Analysis comes from thinking about your data. Our most immediate thoughts are often fleeting, random and we don't want to lose them. So we create a memo. If you want to know more about analytical uses of memos and notes, read on.

A short guide to getting published

From the outside, getting an academic journal paper published can look pretty straight-forward. Write a ‘good’ paper about your research, submit it to a journal, get some comments back from the referees or reviewers, make some edits, re-submit and wait for the accolades to pour in once it’s been

Quirkos is 10!

I'm not sure how it's snuck up on us, but Quirkos is 10 years old today! It was on October 8th, 2014 that we released the first public version of Quirkos, at a party at a pub in Leith, I pressed the 'upload' button,

MOOC

Learning to do Qualitative Research? You don't have to be alone!

Why not try our Guided Group programme Resources for Learning Qualitative Research. It has some advantages that other online courses and MOOCs do not, whilst maintaining the advantage of having personalised support for your learning.

Co-producing analysis: exploring together

This guest blog-post ties in with the International Creative Research Methods Conference 2024, by Dr Jess Mannion: a Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Social Care and Social Work at Manchester Metropolitan University. She specialises in co-produced research with people with learning disabilities on sexual citizenship using visual and

Applying feminist theory to qualitative research: intersectionality, reflexivity and social justice

Knowing a range of theoretical frameworks can help you examine your qualitative data through a new lens. So, I invite you to keep reading even if you don't consider yourself a 'feminist researcher'. This post will talk about some important concepts in feminist research and how

Quirkos Web - July 2024 Updates!

We've just made a buck of improvements to Quirkos Web - our simple qualitative software tool that works directly in your browser. The biggest new feature is the Merge functionality, allowing you to easily merge one or more projects together. This helps working with team-members who are offline,

Gatekeeper

Gatekeepers in qualitative research; not so scary after-all

In our collective conscious gate-keepers have a scary image. They don’t just let people in and out of places, they may control who gets in (and out). Gatekeepers to watch out for and tips for handling

NOT Coding Qualitative Data, and Delayed Categorisation

When you finally get qualitative data in your hands, after planning, ethics approval, sampling and recruitment, collecting your data and getting it transcribed, it’s an exciting, and long-awaited moment. It's almost impossible to resist the temptation to jump straight into coding and exploring this intriguing and rich

Free qualitative research course anytime, anywhere…

We have created a course to help you learn qualitative research step-by-step by carefully selecting from our large collection of Quirkos blogs, webpages, and videos. The theme is ‘Doing Qualitative Research’ and you can take the course right now for free. The benefits of the Quirkos curated course: Doing Qualitative

analysis

Outsourcing decision making: AI, ethics, and qualitative research

In my own testing with ChatGPT (3.5 Turbo) it almost seems to deliberately ignore some things. A interview where a person clearly discussed a research project in Africa, ChatGPT refused to see the context

Quirkos Unwrapped 2023: An Amazing Year in Qualitative Research!

Our users have had some fantastic achievements this year. Just from Google Scholar alone, in 2023 they completed and published approximately 20 monographs and book chapters, 170 journal articles and 180 doctoral and master's theses...

ai

Comparing the best automated transcription services for qualitative research

In the last couple of years, several qualitative analysis software providers have added extra add-ons for automatic transcription of qualitative data. But are they worth the extra money, and how do they compare with more mainstream options? And what about free alternatives?

unstructured interview; interviews; research conversation; narrative; rapport;

Unstructured interviews: Less like ‘a chat’ and more like a research conversation

At its most simple, if you are simply using the unstructured interview as tool with minimal reference to epistemological positions, an unstructured interview is an opportunity for your participants to talk and determine the direction of that talk, and for you to listen.

updates

Quirkos Web: More updates! (Nov 2023)

It's only been two months since our last major updates to Quirkos Web launched, but we've got more improvements, available now!

Star Trek

How Star Trek helps me when I “... boldly go where no one has gone before"

Star Trek can remind me of the small ways in which dominant cultural norms prevail in human encounters and relationships: the level at which qualitative research data is gathered in practice. Here's how.

updates

More improvements to Quirkos Web (September 2023)

We've been working hard behind the scenes on some new improvements to Quirkos Web - our simple qualitative analysis software that works directly in your browser

analysis

Delphi interviews: Are structured interviews a fading fashion or still a relevant method in qualitative research?

I hadn’t heard of Delphi for many years, so I wondered what it can offer today’s researchers.

Research interviews

In-depth interviews in qualitative research: Not 'just a chat'

In-depth interview, that's just a chat', you might say. Well, no, it's not, and here's why, and when to use it.

transcription

Transcribe everything! Formal and informal data collection in qualitative research

this post focuses on ways that the speed and volume of our transcription service can change how you design research, and think about data.

analysis

Analysing Qualitative Research with Quirkos: interactive workshops

Hundreds of codes, grouped into descriptive themes; what are you going to do with all those codes? Come to our workshop and find out...

process

Automated transcription and some risks of machine interpretation

Automated transcription systems can be negatively affected by systematic cultural prejudice... it's important to understand that, just like us, these machine learning systems have learnt from our dominant global culture and society

Research interviews

How can I get them to talk? Talking naturally in qualitative research interviews

I once did some auto-ethnography in nightclubs. I didn't have difficulty getting people to share their stories with me even though we had to take turns shouting into each other's ear. So what is going on, what's getting in the way of talking and sharing?

analysis

What’s in the Black-Box of the Quirkos Qualitative Researcher Journeys Project?

When learning about qualitative research methodology, novice researchers want to see and use practical examples of how research was undertaken that go beyond the kind of overview found in research outputs

process

Researching apart, together: the power of working in tandem

I want to explain why I think this form of social co-working can be so helpful for work and research.