[apsa_itp] Volunteer Beta Testers Needed

["Shulman, Stuart William" <shulman@xxxxxxxx>]

[Please forward this to any relevant list or individual]

 

I am recruiting volunteers to beta test my invention: the Coding Analysis Toolkit (CAT).

http://www.qdap.pitt.edu/cat.htm

 

Originally a tool for adjudicating text coding decisions made by multiple coders using ATLAS.ti, thereby making it easy to measure inter-rater reliability *and* coder validity, CAT has grown quickly into a promising new set of web-based tools for anyone who wants to code a lot of digitized text in a quick, efficient, effective, reliable and valid manner. By design, CAT is a mixed method toolkit, facilitating close qualitative analysis of text, accurate measurement of coder errors, and large scale, quantitative content analysis. The adjudication tool is the centerpiece; it helps users refine categories and resolve difficult manual coding problems.

 

Having worked with NUD*IST, nVivo, and ATLAS over the last eight years,  I have, somewhat out of frustration, designed a system that liberates the user from the evil scourge of the computer mouse. CAT users enjoy the advantage of automated text span loading as well as keystroke coding and adjudication functionality. The toolkit is designed to do a small (but growing) number of key coding, analyzing, and reporting tasks. For anyone who has ever struggled with the commercial off-the-shelf products, CAT is specially designed, from the ground up, to eliminate all the annoying things that have bugged text analysts for years. Whereas people spend 2-3 days learning the basics of existing qualitative data analysis products, I can train people in the use of CAT in about 5 minutes.

 

I therefore invite you, your team, or your graduate students to sign up for a free beta tester account.

http://cat.ucsur.pitt.edu/   

 

While CAT is scheduled to be commercialized later this year, for now, anyone can use it for free. When it does commercialize, it will be very cheap or free for graduate students. Beta testers will be asked to complete a web-based usability survey, however, we anticipate this feedback will result in an even better system. I predict there will be some spiffy dissertations that include megabytes of coded data.

 

You can learn more about CAT its origins at:

http://www.qdap.pitt.edu

 

I even have some interesting datasets I can share to get you started thinking a whole new way about text.  

 

~Stu

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Dr. Stuart W. Shulman
Associate Professor

Director, Sara Fine Institute
http://www.sis.pitt.edu/~fineinst/
School of Information Sciences
Director, Qualitative Data Analysis Program

University Center for Social and Urban Research
http://www.qdap.pitt.edu/
University of Pittsburgh
121 University Place, Suite 600
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
412.624.3776 (v) 412.624.4810 (f)
http://shulman.ucsur.pitt.edu
Editor, Journal of Information Technology and Politics
http://www.jitp.net

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