Researchware, Inc.

At Researchware, while we are a US-based company, we're always delighted by how many people around the world utilize our software. Seeing it pop up in new places is always exciting to us. We hope that our software enables researchers to explore new topics and areas of qualitative research that is their inspiration and passion as much as making these tools are to us.

Most recently, we discovered a guide to HyperRESEARCH, our simply powerful tool for qualitative research, in Serbo-Croatian. Here it is in .pdf format, for reference, for anyone else out there looking for a basic Serbo-Croatian guide to our product.

I'm a member of several discussion lists online involving qualitative research, and especially qualitative software.

One question that comes up frequently is: How do I choose the right software for my qualitative research?

When qualitative data analysis software first became available a little more than two decades ago, the conversation was about whether to use it at all! (See Smith, Beverly A., and Sharlene Hesse-Biber. "Users' Experiences with Qualitative Data Analysis Software Neither Frankenstein's Monster Nor Muse." Social Science Computer Review 14.4 (1996): 423-432)

While these days the use of specialized software for qualitative data analysis is widely accepted and even encouraged, the first question you should ask when considering QDA software is "What benefits will I get from using specialized software?"

“Coming at Things Differently”

Challenges, Advances and Diversity
Within and Across Mixed Methods Research Communities

June 27-29, 2014

Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA

Please join Researchware for the Mixed Methods International Research Association's inaugural conference, held at Boston College this June!

The conference will be a great opportunity to share ideas, along with research practices and findings surrounding Mixed Methods Research (MMR). MMIRA will provide a venue to explore and expand the conversation about what mixed methods is, simply by learning more about the diversity that lies within the mixed methods research community.

This year’s conference theme is “Coming at Things Differently.” And what better way to do that than to learn from others practices and findings via paper presentations, roundtable discussions, and panel discussions.

Researchware will be exhibiting at MMIRA 2014, and also presenting a workshop on qualitative data analysis, mixed methods, and theory building in HyperRESEARCH.

Dr. Sharlene Hesse-Biber is a Researchware Cofounder and Professor of Sociology and Director of Women’s & Gender Studies at Boston College. Her latest contribution to the literary world is a book about Women’s Experiences with Genetic Testing and Medical Decision Making for Breast and Ovarian Cancer. Titled “Waiting for Cancer to Come”, this book is a narrative-driven exploration of the effects of BRCA genetic testing on the lives of at-risk women. Through interviews and surveys, it details the stories of women who are struggling with their high risk for cancer, and pieces together the diverse yet  interlocking experiences of women who have tested positive for the BRCA 1/2 gene mutations, which indicate a higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer. 

Sharlene Hesse-Biber follows the women’s journey from the initial screening process, to learning of the positive results, and finally to dealing with their risk. Using the voices of the women themselves, Waiting for Cancer to Come looks at the varied emotional, social, economic, and psychological factors at play in women’s decisions about testing and cancer prevention.

See more at: http://www.press.umich.edu/5660855/waiting_for_cancer_to_come#sthash.TpidCQ5F.dpuf