Many PhD students use qualitative research methodology, either as their core approach to data collection and analysis, or as part of a mixed methods approach. As with any research approach, qualitative research methodology must be conducted and presented in a rigorous and defensible manner. PhD examiners and journal publishers expect qualitative research to demonstrate the use of robust analysis, and clear presentation. There are now several excellent computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software(CAQDAS) packages available to researchers, ensuring that qualitative analysis meets these requirements. NVivo is the most cited and widely used qualitative data analysis software used by researchers.

Contrary to many perceptions, such software rarely does the analysis for the researcher. The primary advantage of using packages such as NVivo is to help the researcher to organise his/her data. This allows the discovery and building of themes and connections, enabling order to be achieved among often complex relationships. In a typical large-scale interview-based study, the ability to organise and interrogate the data becomes increasingly difficult as the volume of data increases. The built-in analytical tools in software like NVivo not only allows the researcher to make sense of large amounts of data, but also facilitates sophisticated analytical approaches to be applied.

The webinar will take place at 1.00pm UK time and we look forward to a lively discussion.

To maximise the learning for participants, questions may be posted to the webinar discussion board after your registration. These will be addressed during the webinar.

Following the presentation of the webinar, the hosts will be available to answer any research-related questions you may have in an open door session with no agenda other than your own questions.

This webinar will assist doctoral students in:

• Becoming broadly familiar with the process of qualitative data analysis using computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software

• Gaining an understanding of the key steps involved in using NVivo for qualitative data analysis

• Acquiring knowledge of the various ways in which qualitative data analysis can be reported in the context of a PhD thesis or journal publication.