Training Course for Postgraduate Students a Huge Success
Oohs and aahs were frequently heard during the two day course (27 and 28 August) on using NVivo software organised for the postgraduate students in our school
Oohs and aahs were frequently heard during the two day course (27 and 28 August) on using NVivo software organised for the postgraduate students in our school.
If you’re a researcher who collects qualitative data (like interviews and surveys) then you’ll know about this software.
Course teachers- Rachael Butler and Dr Lyn Lavery led eight students - over two days, into the advanced workings of this software and how to get the best out of it.
“Students often find it difficult trying to teach themselves how to use new software so learning all the tips and techniques in this format was a lot quicker”, says PhD student Rachal Tallon.
NVivo is the foremost data management tool in qualitative research in Australasia and increasingly government departments are requiring their researchers to have knowledge in NVivo. As an example, Rachael and Lyn were consulted to deal with all the submissions as part of Christchurch City Council’s ideas for the rebuild and NVivo enabled them to turn around a whole range of data very quickly for the planners.
The students found NVivo to be a powerful tool for literature reviews. They found that they could cross link papers and code text in pdfs and then link them to other data. “For my own learning curve, I’m going to download version 10 from the VUW downloads website and take my endnote library across to NVivo and work on establishing a few links with some of my key texts” explains Rachel Tallon. NVivo is compatible with Zotero as well.
The postgraduate students found the course very worthwhile. There is another one planned for later in the trimester.