Building an Exploratory Visual Analysis Tool for Qualitative Researchers
论文作者：留学生论文论文属性：职称论文关键词： Exploratory Visual Analysis ToolQualitative Researchers

-  Abstract        
   Qualitative research is an integral part of both academic and non-academic research in various disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, geography, education, health sciences and other social sciences. In order to facilitate the expanding use of qualitative research in various disciplines, newer and more sophisticated exploratory tools that assist qualitative researchers in the entire research process ranging from exploration, analysis, synthesis to presentation of data is required. Visualization presents exciting possibilities in this regard and building an exploratory visualization tool for this purpose would be ideal. Current computer assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) have aided qualitative researchers in coding, searching, indexing and analyzing their data. However these software have several shortcomings in terms of supporting the entire research process including inability to deal with geographic and temporal analysis as well as limited exploratory capabilities. I posit that an exploratory visualization tool can overcome the limitations posed by current CAQDAS and expand many possibilities for qualitative researchers. For this purpose I draw upon tools and techniques from current geovisualization and information visualization literature to propose a visualization framework for qualitative researchers which can be later be extended into an exploratory tool.  留学生论文       
  Introduction            
  Qualitative research has always been an important mode of enquiry for social and human science exploration. There is also an increasing focus on qualitative methods of inquiry in multidisciplinary and cross disciplinary research areas in order to capture broader aspects of human and social behavior. Qualitative research also has a very broad range of enquiry methods, huge quantities of data, complex relationships between the researchers and participants, intricate theories and reflexive accounts. Exploring, analyzing, synthesizing these intricate maze of data requires understanding these complexities in detail and the multiple perspectives from which it evolves. To facilitate some of these complexities, certain computer assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) have evolved from the early 1990s which enable qualitative researchers with certain tasks such as organization, coding, sorting, searching and analyzing data. However with the expanding use of qualitative research in various disciplines with multiple perspectives and complex data types, more robust and sophisticated computer assisted tools are needed that would assist qualitative researchers in the entire complexity of the research process beginning with exploration, analysis, synthesis and presentation. Developing an exploratory visualization tools can help in this regard. In this paper, I outline in detail how visualization techniques and tools are greatly increasing in demand among qualitative researchers and how they can help qualitative researchers in the entire research process. I also argue that current CAQDAS do not have the capabilities of supporting the entire research process for qualitative researchers and have some s