Include qualitative analysis software in your qualitative courses this year

A new term is just beginning, so many lecturers, professors and TAs are looking at their teaching schedule for the next year. Some will be creating new courses, or revising existing modules, wondering what to include and what’s new. So why not include qualitative analysis software (also known as CAQDAS or QDA software)?

There’s a common misconception that software for qualitative research takes too long to teach, and instructors often aren’t confident themselves in the software (Gibbs 2014), leading to a perception that including it in courses will be too difficult (Rodik and Primorac 2015). It’s also a sad truth that few universities or colleges have support from IT departments or experts when training students on CAQDAS software (Blank 2004).

However, we have specifically designed Quirkos to address these challenges, and make teaching qualitative analysis with software simpler. It should be possible to teach the basics of qualitative analysis, as well as provide students with a solid understanding of qualitative software in a one or two hour seminar, workshop or lecture. One of the main aims with Quirkos was to ensure it is easy to teach, as well as learn.

With a unique and very visual approach to coding and displaying qualitative data, Quirkos tries to simplify the qualitative analysis process with a reduced set of features and buttons. This means there are fewer steps to go over, a less confusing interface for those starting qualitative analysis for the first time, and fewer places for students to get stuck.

To make teaching this as straightforward for educators as possible, we provide free ready-to-use training materials to help educators teach qualitative analysis. We have PowerPoint slides detailing each of the main features and operations. These can be adapted for your class, so you can use some or all of the slides, or even just take the screenshot images and edit the specifics for your own use.

Example qualitative data sets are available for use in classes. There are two of these: one very basic set of people talking about breakfast habits and a more detailed one on politics and the Scottish Independence Referendum. With these, you can have complete sources of data and exercises to use in class, or to set a more extensive piece of homework or practical assessed project.

We also provide two manuals as PDF files that can be shared as course materials or printed out. There is a full manual, but also a Getting Started guide which includes a step-by-step walkthrough of basic operations, ideal for following in a session. Finally, there are video guides which can be shown as part of classes, or included in links to course materials. These range in length from 5 minute overviews to 1 hour long detailed walkthroughs, depending on the need.

There is more information in our blog post on integrating qualitative analysis software into existing curriculums, but it’s also worth remembering that there is a one month free trial for yourself and students. The trial version has all the features with no restrictions, and is identical for students working on Windows, Mac or even Linux.

However, if you have any questions about Quirkos and how to teach it, feel free to get in touch. We can tell you about others using Quirkos in their classes, some tips and tricks and any other questions you have on comparing Quirkos to other qualitative analysis software.  You can reach us on email (support@quirkos.com) or by phone during UK office hours (+44 131 555 3736). We’ll always be happy to set up a demo for you: we are all qualitative researchers ourselves, so are happy to share our tips and advice.

Good luck for the new semester!