Qualitative Research - Help Page

Qualitative Research Coder


QuiRC stands for 'Qualitative Research Coder'. QuiRC performs many of the tasks of NViVo, but it is web based. It is a CMS used by psychology researchers. It was developed at SUNY New Paltz. The sourceforge.net unix name for this project is 'research-coder'.

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Overview
User Information
Basic Usage (How to)
Account Preferences (How to)
User/Project Relations Chart
FAQ
How do I start coding!?!?
How do I change the current project I am coding?
How do I open a project to work on?
How do I change my password?
How do I send my work to my professor?
Administrator Information
Create New Users
Manage Users
User Info
Change Password
Create/Delete Projects
Copy Projects
Manage Codewords
Copy Codewords
Administrator Editor Page Options
Code Words
Statistics
Overlaps
View User's Coding


Overview


Professor Tabitha Holmes of SUNY New Paltz requested that someone re-create NViVo, a qualitative analysis software that she uses to analyze interviews for the psychology department. Chirakkal Easwaran enlisted part of his Spring 2008 Software Engineering class to create a web-based CMS to perform the functions of NViVo. This is the program that Group 1 developed.

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User Information


Each user has a user interface with a left panel, a center (main) panel, a right panel, and a top panel. The top panel links the user to the functionality of the program. The top panel links the center panel to the following:

Home: The main page of the program. It has basic information about the program and how to use it.

Editor: A shortcut to the interview editor. This will use either the default project and document in the editor or the last one that was selected.

Files: The file manager of the program. You can select your current project here. The rest of the options are for administrators.

Administrative: The administrative tasks. Coders do not have any administrative access, since they are only meant to code the assigned interviews. Any user can change their password here.

Project/Docs: The project and document quick selector page. Select the active project you want, along with the associated active document in it.

Help: The help page. You are reading it!

Logout: Log out of the program.

The right panel shows either the keywords associated with the current document, or a list of users associated with the current project. The left panel shows the current projects assigned to you. You can put your mouse over them and a list of the documents in those projects will pop up. You can select one of these documents to code it.

Each user is meant to use this program to code interviews given by the professor. Coding is when a user reads through a interview and highlights certain text relating to certain keywords. The keywords are given by the administrator. Examples: sadness, anger, happiness. Each user will not be able to see what other users have coded. Each user's progress can saved and accessed and updated at a later time.

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Basic Usage (How to)



Logging In
After logging in, just click the "Editor" tab to start coding the current project, or click on the "Projects/Docs" tab and select a certain project and document to work on. You can also select a project and document from the menu to the left of the screen. When you enter the editor page no codeword is automatically selected.



Highlighting
Once in the editor screen, select a certain keyword from the list on the right side. Click the circle in front of a codeword to select it. The circle will fill in.(1) Now search through the document and highlight the parts of the interview you deem relevent to this certain keyword. As you highlight each different part of text, click the "Highlight" button at the bottom. You should see the text change color. Your work is saved automatically when you highlight or unhighlight something.



Codewords
To add a new heading, click the 'Add Heading' bar to the right of the document pane.(2) A box will open that will allow you to edit the name of your new heading. The default name is 'newHeading'. When you are done editing your new heading, click on the open padlock icon on the right of the edited name. It will change to a closed padlock, and your name will be useable. To delete a heading click the small red 'x' to the right of the heading. All of a heading's codewords must be deleted before you can delete the heading itself. You will not have the option of adding or deleting headings if you are working on a 'group coding' project and you are not an administrative user. See Manage Codewords below.



To add a new codeword, click the 'L' shaped arrow to the right of the heading that you want to put the new codeword under. A box will open that will allow you to edit the name of your codeword. The default name is 'newCode'. When you are done editing your new heading, click on the open padlock icon on the right of the edited name.(3) It will change to a closed padlock, and your name will be useable. To delete a codeword click the small red 'x' to the right of the codeword. You will not have the option of adding or deleting codewords if you are working on a 'group coding' project and you are not an administrative user. See Manage Codewords below.

To change the name of a codeword, click the padlock symbol to the right of the codeword name. The padlock icon will appear to open, and a box will appear for editing the stored name. When you are finished editing the name, click the padlock again and the box will dissapear leaving only the edited name behind. You will not have permission to edit a codeword name if you are working on a 'group coding' project and you are not an administrative user. See Manage Codewords below.



When you create a codeword or heading you can use the highlighting currently on the screen as a template. To do this, click the 'Copy highlights' checkbox at the top of the codeword list. When the checkbox is selected, create your new headings and codewords as you normally would. You can copy one codeword to another new codeword by selecting the first codeword, selecting the 'Copy highlights' checkbox, and creating a new codeword as you normally would.

Copy and Paste
For options like 'copy' and 'paste'(4), only one codeword needs to be selected at a time. Select an option using the circle to the left of the codeword name. Click the 'copy' icon above the editor window. Create a new codeword using the 'add codeword' form to the right of the editor window. Select the newly created codeword. Click the 'paste' option above the editor window and all the highlighting from the first codeword will be pasted into the contents of the second new codeword. Existing codewords can be used too, you need not create a new codeword every time you use copy and paste.



Special Functions
For options like 'union' and 'difference' (5) two codeword options must be selected at the same time. This is done by 'control-clicking' the second desired codeword. Select the first codeword as you usually would. To select the second codeword hold down the 'control' key on your keyboard and click on the circle in front of the option you would like to select. You will notice that the second selected item is denoted by a small filled circle to the left of the codeword. Once both codewords are selected press the icon associated with the operation of your choice. There are four to choose from: 'union', 'difference', 'subtract', and 'intersect'. The result of your selection will appear in the editor window. You may then copy and paste the results to a codeword, or perform another operation to achieve different results.



Sticky Notes
A coder can place short notes in the document they are coding. Click on the editor pane where you wish a note to go, or highlight an area that you want a note to apply to. Click the 'Note'(6) button below the editor pane. A short form will pop up with an area to enter text. Close the form by clicking on the padlock image. Close the sticky note itself by clicking on the 'close' box that looks like an 'x'. You can view a sticky note at any time by clicking on the note icon in the interview text itself. It looks like a little page of yellow paper. You can erase a sticky note by clicking on the note icon (as if to view the note) and then clicking on the trash can icon at the top of the sticky note.



Document Notes
A coder can keep notes on their coding progress as they go by using the Document Notes feature. To open the document notes area, click the button that says 'Show Document Notes'(7) , found under the main document window in the center panel of the editor page. Type notes in the box and save your notes by clicking the 'Save' button or closing the note area by clicking the 'Hide Document Notes' button. Your notes can be viewed by an administrative user at their discretion.

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Account Preferences (How to)

With a student user account, the only account options you can change are your password and your user info. New User, Manage Users, and Manage Projects are only available to administrators. The purpose of a user account is solely to code the documents that are given to you.

To change your password, click the "Administrative" tab and select "Change Password" from the bar on the left. Enter your username, desired new password (twice), and your old password and click Submit. To change your user info, go to the "User Info" page in the "Administrative" section. You can also click on your user name in the user/project relations chart. On the "User Info" page you can view your user info and change it as well. When you change your user info you will be asked for your password in order to save the information.


User/Project Relations Chart

This area lists the relations between all users and all projects on the system. It does not show documents, but it shows the name of every user, and a list of the projects that they are connected to, along with a list of that user's permissions (or roles). The listing for each user begins with the user's name in bold, followed by one line that says weather that user is a 'coder', an 'uploader', or an 'admin user', followed by a list of the projects they are associated with. Each user is listed in this way, including the root user. Also, an asterisk appears next to the name of the user that is currently logged in.

Hover the cursor over a user name to see a tool-tip showing the user's full name and contact info. You can also view information about any user by clicking on their user name. This will bring you to the 'User Info' page. If you click on your own name, you can edit your user info there as well.

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FAQ

How do I start coding!?!?
After logging in, just click the "Editor" tab to start coding the current project, or click on the "Projects/Docs" tab and select a certain project and document to work on.

Once in the editor screen, select a certain keyword from the list on the right side. Now search through the document and highlight the parts of the interview you deem relevent to this certain keyword. As you highlight each different part of text, click the "Highlight" button at the bottom. You should see it change color.

How do I change the current project I am coding?
Click the "Projects/Docs" tab on the top and select a new project and document to work on.

How do I open a project to work on?
Click the "Projects/Docs" tab on the top and select a new project and document to work on.

How do I change my password?
Click the "Administrative" tab and select "Change Password" from the bar on the left. Enter your username, desired new password (twice), and your old password and click Submit.

How do I send my work to my professor?
The nature of this web-based program enables your professor to view your progress on the fly. You do not need to submit, print, email, or upload anything you do in the program. It is linked directly with your professor's account!

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Administrator Information


Administrators have substantially more user permissions than a Coder. In addition to having access to the same functions as a Coder, an Administrator has the ability to create and manage users and projects. These functions can be found by clicking the Administrative link in the top panel. While Administrators have access to much of the functions of the program, Root users have the highest level of access. Specifically, Root users have exclusive access to the creation and deletion of any user (Uploader, Coder, and Administrator), can change any user's permissions, and can assign Administrators to any project.


Create New Users

An Administrator may create Uploaders and Coders with this function, however only Root users may create or change others to Administrators. To create a user, enter the Username, Password (twice), and your password. Also select the permissions - Uploader (upload interviews to a project), Coder (tag keywords in a document) or Admin User (user and project maintenance). If no role is selected, the user will default to the role of a Coder. The pulldown menu allows you to assign the created user to a specific project. If no project is specified, the user will be placed in the 'default' project, and can be changed using the Manage Users function. Administrators may only assign users to projects they create.


Manage Users

Change user permissions and reassign project associations. Administrators can reassign Uploader and Coder permissions for yourself and others, whereas Root users can reassign these as well as Admin permissions to anyone. Select the appropriate user from the dropdown menu and assign their new roles. Enter your password and click 'Submit'.

To manage project relations, select a user from the dropdown menu. Then select the project to work with, and choose 'Add' or 'Delete' to create or remove the link between the specified user and project. Enter your password and click 'Submit'. Administrators may only assign and remove users from projects they create. In addition, users may be associated with multiple projects.


User Info

Here you can edit information about yourself for other users to see. You can also see the information that other users have saved by clicking on their user name from the 'User/Project Relations' chart at the right of this page. If you are the root user you can edit anyone's saved user data here, as well as your own.


Change Password

Enter your username, desired new password (twice), and your old password and click 'Submit'. IMPORTANT: Passwords can not be retrieved. Users who forget their passwords must have the root user modify their account.


Create/Delete Projects

This page allows Administrators and Root Users to create projects. An Administrator can only delete a project they create but a Root user can delete any project. A project folder must be empty in order for the project to be deleted.

To create a project, enter the project name and your password and click 'Submit'. To remove, highlight the project, enter your password and click 'Submit'.


Copy Projects

This page allows Administrators and Root Users to copy entire projects. The project being copied can either be empty or have documents, and the list of users that have access to the project can be also copied. After the copy process is complete, users and documents can be added and removed from the project as well.

To copy a project, select the project's name from the list, choose weather the project will include copies of the original documents, and choose weather the project will have all the same users as the original. Select an option for 'group coding' or 'individual coding' project, and enter the new project's desired name. Enter your user's password, and click 'Copy'.


Manage Codewords

This page allows Administrators and Root Users to manage how codewords are used in their projects. There are two types of coding, individual coding and group coding. In individual coding each coder creates their own list of codewords. Then they code the documents in the project based on those codewords. In group coding the administrator creates a list of codewords and everyone in the project uses those same codewords. In effect everyone has a copy of the same codeword list. No one but the administrator can delete codewords. This also applies to renaming them or creating new codewords.

On this page the administrator can set the type of coding for each project they are associated with. To set the coding to group or individual, click the radio button next to the project's name and then click the 'SET ALL' button. When changing a project from group to individual, all codes are unlocked for editing. They can be renamed and edited by users at will. When changing a project from individual to group, all codewords currently in use by any user in the project are copied to all other user's work areas. Then the codes are locked to all users accept the admin user. This means users can no longer edit the names of their codes. It also means that everyone has a copy of everyone else's codewords -- not the highlighted areas, just the names.

Since all the codewords are copied to everyone else's work area, a tool has been included on this page to help the admin user decide weather or not a change from 'individual' to 'group' should be made. A selection box on the page shows the projects that an administrator has access to. Pick a project from the selection box and a list appears with all the codes currently being used in that project. These are the codes that will be copied to every user's workarea if the 'group' option is chosen. Viewing this list does not affect the actual state of coding on any project.

Copy Codewords

This page allows Administrators and Root Users to copy the highlighting found in projects and documents. First select the project, document, user and codeword for the source of the material that you wish to copy, then select the destination project, document, user and codeword. Then check weather or not you want to copy the sticky notes from the source location along with the highlighting. Enter your root password and click 'COPY' or the red arrow. Your highlighting will be copied.

For the highlighting to be copied there must be a codeword set up in the destination project as the new home for the copied information. You can set up an empty codeword before hand especially for this purpose. Any highlighting or sticky notes in the destination codeword will be erased in the copy process. The source highlighting and sticky notes will be unaffected.

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Administrator Editor Page Options


Code Words

The project's administrator can change the name of any codeword in a 'group coding' project. The administrator can also change a project from an 'individual coding' project to a 'group coding' project. The implications of this are that the codewords from all the users in the project are merged together and applied to everyone's work area.

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Statistics

Statistics for 'group coding' projects are available to the administrative user. These statistics show the relations between different users coding within a project and all its documents. The statistics page can be reached by clicking the 'Statistics' link located in the center panel of the screen, below the document being coded on the editor page.

The statistics page shows number of words in a document, and number of words in an entire project, as well as info on all codings, all codewords, the percentage of conformity between a coders work and the project administrator as well as other data. It shows frequencies of words repeated in the entire document and project and also frequencies of words repeated for the selected codeword. The statistics page can be printed out by your browser.

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Overlaps

The overlap page is available to the administrator in all 'group coding' projects. There are two color schemes for the overlaps page. One is color overlaps by coder name, and the other is color overlaps by number of codings, or overlap depth. To exit the overlaps page the user clicks the 'editor' option on the main menu, or any other menu option.

The 'by name' view of the overlap page takes the currently selected document and the currently selected codeword and shows in color how many coders have coded the same text. Each coder is given their own color and text they have coded is highlighted in that color. When two coders have highlighted the same thing the overlaps in the text show a separate color representing that overlap. All users in the project can be selected, or individual users and user combinations can be specified.

The 'overlap depth' view of the overlap page takes the currently selected document and the currently selected codeword and shows how many coders have coded the same text by darkening the highlighted text each time the individual coders agree on the same text. This is to say that if one coder highlights a piece of text the color will be yellow. If two coders highlight the same text the color will be a darker yellow. If three coders highlight the same text the color will be an even darker yellow. All users in the project can be selected, or individual users and user combinations can be specified.

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View User's Coding

As an administrator you can view the coding entered by coders in your projects. In the right panel of the editor page is a dropdown box that lists all the users that are available for viewing. Select a user and click the 'View' button. The editor page will change so that no highlighting is possible, and the codeword list will change to the one that the respective user sees. You can now select codewords and view the coding that the user has finished up to that point.

While viewing a coders' page you can also read their 'Document Notes'. Simply click on the 'Show Document Notes' button to view this material. You cannot edit the user's saved Document Notes or their saved coding. When you are finished viewing the user's saved work you can return to your own work by clicking on the 'Return' button, found in the right panel of the editor page next to the 'View' button.

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