42 What is Research Support Software?
Research Support Software are software tools which aids the researcher in the conduct of their research. Most of these software focus on facilitating analysis of their research data. Some software also supports data collection and data presentation.
43 Types of Research Software
Research Software can be classified according to what type of data analysis is being conducted e.g., qualitative data analysis or quantitative data analysis. They can also be classified according to what phase in the research they will be used e.g. data collection, data analysis, and data presentation.
43.1 Qualitative vs Quantitative
Quantitative Data Analysis Qualitative Data Analysis
SPSS* (in PSE 221-224) NUD*IST * (eZone 3)
OStat * (all public machines)
43.2 Research Phase
Steps in Qualitative Research Computational Aid Data Collection
• Interviewing
• Focus groups
• Participant observation
recording hardware & software transcription hardware & software
Data analysis
• Text coding
• Thematic Analysis NUD*IST, NVivo
Steps in Quantitative Research Computational Aid transcription hardware & software survey software
Data analysis
Simple statistical analysis Excel, SPSS, SAS
Simple Regression SPSS, SAS, AMOS
Multivariate Data Analysis: SPSS, SAS, AMOS
Multiple Regression SPSS, SAS, AMOS
Factor Analysis SPSS, SAS, AMOS
Principal Component Analysis SPSS, SAS, AMOS
Structural Equation Modelling LISREL, AMOS, smartPLS
44 Brief Description of the Software
Software Description
NUD*IST a multi-functional software system for the development, support and management of qualitative data analysis(QDA) projects. It is used in a wide range of research for handling Non numerical Unstructured Data by processes of Indexing Searching and Theory-building.
NVivo a program for qualitative data analysis that allows you to import and code textual data, edit the text; retrieve, review and recode coded data; search for combinations of words in the text or patterns in your coding; and import or export data from and to quantitative analysis software. As well as qualitative data analysis, you can use NVivo to support research project management and literature reviews; to share data and coding with students, supervisors, co-researchers and participants over the internal network or the Web.
Leximancer a software tool used for extracting the main concepts contained within electronic documents (such as word documents, web pages, pdf or text files).
These concepts are displayed visually on an interactive map that provides you with a birds-eye view of the information as well as allowing you to automatically search for instances of the text that contain given concepts. An interactive map is useful for helping you understand the content of large bodies of text.
Pajek Pajek is a package for the analysis of large networks. It can handle very large networks, with thousands of nodes and tens of thousands of links. Both single node and bipartite networks can be analysed. A wide range of published network analysis algorithms have been implemented in Pajek, including such staples as network diameter, cluster coefficient and density, and most run very rapidly.
UCINET a comprehensive package for the analysis of social network data as well as other 1-mode and 2-mode data. Can read and write a multitude of differently formatted text files, as well as Excel files. Can handle a maximum of 32,767 nodes (with some exceptions) although practically speaking many procedures get too slow around 5,000 - 10,000 nodes. Social network analysis methods include centrality measures, subgroup identification, role analysis, elementary graph theory, and permutation-based statistical analysis. In addition, the package has strong matrix analysis routines, such as matrix algebra and
Amos provides you with powerful and easy-to-use structural equation modeling (SEM) software. Create more realistic models than if you used standard multivariate statistics or multiple regression models alone. Using Amos, you specify, estimate, assess, and present your model in an intuitive path diagram to show hypothesized relationships among variables. This enables you to test and confirm the validity of claims such as "value drives loyalty" in minutes, not hours.
SPSS Solve business and research problems using SPSS, a statistical and data management package for analysts and researchers. SPSS provides you with a broad range of capabilities for the entire analytical process. With SPSS, you can generate decision-making information quickly using powerful statistics, understand and effectively present your results with high-quality tabular and graphical output, and share your results with others using a variety of reporting methods, including secure Web publishing.
SAS Provides a complete, comprehensive and integrated platform for data analysis.
SAS' extensive statistical capabilities can meet the needs of an entire organization. With SAS, you can easily access data from any source, perform data management, carry out statistical analysis and then present your findings in a variety of reports and graphs -- all within a single, easily managed software environment. SAS enables you to evaluate data from a variety of sources, including clinical trials, marketing databases, health surveys, customer preference studies, stock market research and so on, and our technology provides comprehensive statistical techniques for applications that span every industry. From traditional analysis of variance to exact methods and statistical visualization techniques, SAS provides powerful tools for both specialized and enterprise-wide analytical needs.
SmartPLS A software application for the design of structural equation models. (SEM) on a graphical user interface (GUI). These models can be measured with the method of partial least squares (PLS)-analysis. Hence, it is possible to import data of manifest (indicator) variables in the model. This software was created in a project at the Institute of Operations Management and Organizations (School of Business), University of Hamburg (Germany).
LISREL Combines linear structural relationships and factor analysis into one comprehensive model applicable to observational studies in many fields.
LISREL offers an impressive array of facilities for data analysis, including indirect and total effects and their standard errors; direct specification of mean parameters; a Ridge Option for handling covariance and correlation matrices that are not positive-definitive; and modification indices for all iterative estimation methods.
45 Other Research Skills
• How to conduct interviews o Unstructured o Semi-structured o Structured
• How to conduct focus groups and qualitative group techniques o Focus group
o Nominal group technique