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CaseStudiesinATLAS.tiDr.SteveWrightLancasterUniversityInthisissueofInsideATLAS.ti,weinterviewDr.SteveWright,aLearningTechnologistfromtheFacultyofHealthandMedicine at LancasterUniversity-aleadingresearch-intensiveinstitutionintheNorthWestofEngland.HehasbeenusingATLAS.tiformorethanthreeyearsandisproficientontheWindowsandMacversionsofthesoftware.Couldyoutellussomethingaboutyourprofessionalbackgroundandresearchinterests?IworkatLancasterUniversityintheacrosstheFacultyofHealthandMedicinewhereIdevelopmaterialsandprovidesupportonbothlearningandqualitativeresearchtechnologiestostaffandstudentsbothinthefacultyandacrosstheUniversity.Irunblended-learningtrainingsessionsatLancasterUniversitywhicharebothface-to-faceandonline(viaalivestreamandsubsequentrecordingofthef2fsessionalongwithwebinarsandforums).ThesecoverchoosingandusingaCAQDASpackage,andthenbuildonthatthroughintroductory,advancedandbring-your-own-datasessionsforbothATLAS.tiandNVivo.IamacertifiedATLAS.tiprofessionaltrainerandhaveprovidedbespokeconsultancyforteamsusingATLAS.tionanumberofresearchcouncilfundedprojects.IhaverecentlyestablishedaconsultancybusinesstoworkwithATLAS.tiacrosstheUKbuildingontheseskillsandthisexperience.AsalearningtechnologistIworktoensurethatthewedeliveraqualityprogramandsupportforourdis-tancelearningprograms,I'malsokeentoexperimentwithandassessthepotentialofnewtechnologiesandsystemstosupportlearningandresearch.IcompletedmyPhDinE-ResearchandTechnologyEnhancedLearningin2014,andmadeextensiveuseofATLAS.tiinmythesisresearchwork[1].IcanhonestlysayIcouldn’tpossiblyhaveworkedwiththedatainthewayIdidwithouttheuniquefeaturesATLAS.tihas(myforthcomingpaperfromtheATLAS.tiusercon-ferenceexploresthat).Iaminterestedinmobilework,mobilemethodsanddevelopingtheoryaroundtheuseoftechnologiesincomplex,fluidmobileenvironmentsandresearchmethodsforexploringthese.Idrawextensivelyonactor-networktheory,ethnomethodologyandethnographicmethods.Ihaveundertakensmall-scaleresearchprojectsintomobilelearningininformallearningcommunities.PriortoworkingatLancasterIworkedduringthedot.comboomasawebdesigneranduserinterfacede-signerforaninternetsecuritystartupandthencontractingintheUK,SouthAfricaandAustraliaforadi-verserangeofcompanies.Withtheburstofthedot.combubbleImovedintoeducation-gaininganEnglishTeachingqualificationandthenteachingEnglishinMexicoataprivatelanguageschoolandthenatUniver-sidadAutónomadelaMixteca.IstudiedforanMScinComputerApplicationsforLanguageLearningatStir-
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lingUniversityin2003-4andthenworkedwithataBBCLearningCentreondevelopingsitesandsoftwarefordigitalliteracyandadultskills.InwhatstudyareyouusingATLAS.ti?Tellussomethingaboutit.MycurrentprojectwithDrIbrarBhatt(inEducationalResearchatLancaster):CAQDASinScienceandTech-nologyStudies,seekstoexplorehowsoftwareaffects,changesandmediatesthewayqualitativeresearchisdone.Thecapabilitiesofcomputerassistedqualitativedataanalysissoftware(CAQDAS)havemassivelyincreasedsincethe1990s,usageisfarmorepervasive,andthecostsandpressuresforinstitutionallicensinghavegrown.Concomitantlytheapproachestoresearchingsociallifehavebecomemorecomplex,digitalandmobile.InthiscontexttherelativelackofsystematicresearchonCAQDASusesinceFielding,1998[2]isstriking–therehasbeenalotofpublishedwork,however,thedatainformingthesepublicationsislargelycomposedofsingle-personorsingle-projectcase-studies.CAQDASisoftenstronglyassociatedwithparticularapproachestoengagingwithqualitativedatasuchascodingdataandretrievingthecodes,abstractingandreducingdatatothemesandrelatingdatatofixedlocations.Books,trainingcoursesandmarketingmaterialsforthesepackagesactivelypositionandpromotethemasbeingsupportivebutlargelytransparentinthequalitativeanalysisprocess.Suchsimplisticposition-ingischallengedbyscholarshipinscienceandtechnologystudies(STS)andpracticesinmobilitiesresearchthatexplorethemediatingeffectsofsoftwareonworkpractices.ThemethodologicalconcernsoftheseinterdisciplinaryresearchareasalsoposesignificantchallengestoconventionalCAQDASapproaches–forexampletheideaof“followingtheactors”isdifferentfromidentifyingtheme,asareexplorationsandcon-cernswithmovementandmobility.Webelievethatattheirintersectionthereissubstantialpotentialforexploring,reformulatingandbetterunderstandingwhatCAQDASdoes,cando,andcouldpotentiallydo.Throughexploringtheexperiences,practices,uses,andthetheorizationofthesoftwarebyresearchersworkinginSTSandmobilitiesresearchwe’reworkingtoexploreandinterveneinthatarea.Theresearchproposalseekstoinvestigatethefollowingresearchquestion:Howdosocialscientistsstudyingscience,technologyandmobilityintheirresearchconsider,engagewithandaccountfortheeffectsofusingCAQDASontheirinvestigationsandanalysis?Specificsub-questionsthenguidethemethodsandanalysis:
• Whatinfluenceschoiceofsoftware?• WhichtoolsandoptionswithinCAQDASareadopted,andhowaretheyused?• Howistheuseofsoftwareaccountedforinpublicresearchoutputs?• Howistheuseofsoftwareaccountedforinprivateresearchoutputs?• Howarebreakdowns,limitsandworkaroundsunderstood,drawnon,incorporatedortheorized?
Whatmethodsareyouusing?Thisprojectusesweb-basedscreen-captureinterviewsofaroundanhourwith13researchersworkingin
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STSormobilities.We’vetestedseveraldifferentwebinarplatforms(includingtestingWebex,Zoom,GoToMeetingandAdobeConnect)toengagewithdistributedresearchersacrosstheUK,Europe,Australa-siaandtheAmericas.Thesesystemsenablerecordingon-screensoftwareuseandanexperiential,demon-strativeinterviewapproachtoexploresoftwareuseandissues.Byusingthatmethodwe’vegeneratedarichviewofthelayeringofresearchactivityandinteractionbetweenthesoftware,researchworkandwrit-ingpractices.Ofcourse,it’salsosubstantiallyreducedfieldworktravelcostsandtime.Additionaldatahasbeencollectedthroughparticipantssharingdocumentsandnotestheyhavemadeaboutsoftwareuseintheirwrittenmemos,notes,blogpostsorsimilarreflectivewriting.Thereflexive,iterative,technology-mediateddevelopmentofourdataanalysisproceduresisalsoasignifi-cantpartoftheresearchproject.Howitisproceedingisbeingshapedbythepractices,suggestionsandapproachesoftheparticipants.Thematicanalysisusingcode-and-retrievalisformingaonecomponentofthis,asarenetworkedandhyperlinkedexplorationsoftheconnectionsbetweenelementsoftheinterviewaccounts,documentaryevidenceandliterature.How,precisely,thiscontinuestodevelopisthereforeakeypartoftheresearchprocessandprojectratherthanjustameanstoaconclusion.Thetranscriptshavebeensynchronizedwiththescreenrecordings(withtheprocessesofdoingsodocu-mented–seeFigure1below)andinitialanalysisofthatdatatogetherwithadditionaldocumentsfrompar-ticipantsandrelevantliteraturearebeinganalyzedusingseveralsoftwareassemblages.Theseincludethesoftwareusedbyparticipants-primarilyATLAS.tionPCandNVivoonPC.
Figure1.SynchronizedtranscriptandscreenrecordingTheATLAS.tiiPadappisalsobeingusedextensivelyforworkingwiththeliteraturefortheprojectaswell-enablingthedevelopmentofaliterature-informedcodingsystemandworkingwithliteratureforthepro-jectwhilemobile.SeeFigure2below.
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Figure2.AdocumentontheATLAS.tiiPadappFortheprojectdevelopmentanalysisisalsobeingundertakenintheMacversionsofthesepackages(Figure3).FurtherpossibilitiesandapproachestoanalysisarealsobeingexploredthroughothersoftwarepackagesthatformpartofparticipantspracticessuchastheActor-NetworkTextAnalyser(ANTA),Gephi(seeninfigure3)andtheAI-baseddocumentorganizationsystemDEVONthink.
Figure3.TheprojectinATLAS.tiMacAcoreprincipleofthisresearchisthatthedatashouldbere-usableforsecondaryresearchandinthetrain-ingofhighlyskilledresearchers-withashareddatasetacrossseveralpackagestosupportbettercompari-sonofsoftwareratherthanabeautycontestbetweeninterfacesordisciplinarytaste-testinresponsetothe
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topicofdisciplineofexampleprojects.Byincludingdatawhichdiscussesrealworldresearchers’experienc-eswithsoftwareuseselectionsfromthisshouldhelpbuildausefulandrelevantdatasetforthoselearningtousesoftware.TheresearchisatanearlystagebutworkingcomparativelybetweenMacandPCversionsofATLAS.tiandmakinglivecomparisonswiththeprocessesinNVivoisprovingveryenlightening.Iamreallyexcitedaboutthenewpossibilitiesthatwillcomewithversion8havingseenanearlybetaattheATLAS.tiuserconferenceandbuildingthatintotheproject.Anyfinalwords?Iamparticularlyinterestedintheinteractionsandchallengesofmethodsandtheirepistemologicalandontologicalassumptionswithsoftwareandhowdifferenttraditionsandapproachescanchallengethese.InmyresearchworkIdrawextensivelyonideasfromActor-NetworkTheory(whichisn'tatheory)andethno-methodology(whichisn'tamethodology)andfindtheseaproductivesetofideasandtoolswithwhichtoexploreandunpacktheagenciesandeffectsofsoftwareuseontheresearchprocess.ThemostinfluentialbookthusfarinthisisJohnLaw's"AfterMethod:MessinSocialScienceResearch"[3]whichIwouldhighlyrecommendforthoseseekingtorethinkandreimaginewaysthatthediverseandpowerfultoolsinATLAS.ticouldbeusedtocreativelyexploreandworkwithdataoutsideofconventionalapproachesofidentifyingthemes. Thank you! References Cited [1]Wright, S. 2014. Accounting for taste: Conversation, Categorisation and Certification in the Sensory As-sessment of Craft Brewing. PhD thesis in Educational Research – Lancaster University. http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/71741/ [2]Fielding,N.1998.ComputerAnalysisandQualitativeResearch,London:Sage [3] Law, J., 2004. After method: Mess in social science research. London: Routledge. Contact information for Steve Wright Lancaster University Faculty of Health and Medicine Furness College Lancaster, Lancashire UK LA1 4YT [email protected]+44 1524 594492