Part II of VI

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Video Featuring Dr. Eli Lieber and Dr. Tom Weisner

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Written By Kris Castner, M.A., M.A., A.B.D.

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Dedoose History 101: Episode Two

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In our premiere episode about the origins of Dedoose as a company, we learned first about the early days of Dr. Eli Lieber and Dr. Tom Weisner’s mixed methods research. Their projects utilized the Ecocultural Family Interview, also known as the EFI.  

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Today, we will pick up at the point where one participant’s circling of the number three helped to ignite Dr. Weisner’s curiosity about the capacities of analytical research solutions of the time.

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Listen and watch as both researchers continue to give their insights about the subsequent process of locating a single tool that would be capable of displaying and analyzing quantitative and qualitative media (hint: there was not one- yet!)

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This video blog also links you over to our YouTube channel, where you can catch up on Episode One while finding other helpful content.

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Watch videos ranging from basic how tos, to advanced topical webinars, on Dedoose Support.

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Part Two of Six: Navigating Methodological Complexities

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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

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TW: So, we tried in this work to combine statistical expertise and statistical significance from these various measures with significance drawn from interpretation. Interpretive significance and understanding are just as important- as Eli was describing, as statistical significance and statistical patterns that you find in these families’ lives.

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TW: The question then was, “Well, let’s go and find the software and methods that will allow us to simultaneously put up on the screen, or on the paper.”

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TW: The quality of life, experiences, stories, narratives, parents, and kids were telling us, along with our quantitative information on how they were doing on various scales. There was no such software.

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EL: Can I interrupt just for a second Tom, because one of the things that is specific to the EFI that is a pivotal moment for me was the ratings. The ratings, as part of this. And so, you are describing you know, a lot of the stories and how it combines with other quantitative measures that were being applied in the same study, or related studies. But, built into the EFI- well, you are getting there…just gathering all the data we needed. OK, excuse me…

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TW: So, Eli is capturing the exact situation that we were in.

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(Laughter)

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TW: Because on the one hand, we had the problem which we can summarize or crystalize as,

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“What does a three mean? If a parent circles a three, on a seven-point scale, why did they circle that three? What does that mean?”

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TW: And if you asked them why, they would tell you a story, or a narrative, about why they circled a three instead of a seven. The next parent will circle a three and give you a different story. A different interpretation of why they circled a three. So, we had to solve the “Why people circle a three” problem.

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TW: So, to do that, you needed to take the quantitative data and provide and interpret a story, an account of that, on the qualitative side we had a similar problem. People told their stories and narratives, and there were themes, and topics, that came up again and again.

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TW: “How do you deal with siblings? With therapists? With the medical community? What about your spouse or partner? What about schools? How do you finance the medical services that the child might need? What do you do about your relatives?”

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TW: Many, many parents talked about religion. So, there were all these common themes cross cutting all the 102 families we had in the study, and that is where the scales and ratings came from. Because you could look across all the families.

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TW: OK let us summarize what they said about siblings, and religion, and therapists. And we can make an interpretation, a judgement as to whether they were extremely satisfied or dissatisfied. Whether it was extremely helpful to them or not helpful to them.

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TW: Whether there was a lot of hassle and trouble with the siblings, or whether there was extraordinarily little trouble. That is where the ratings came in.

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So, on the one hand, we tried to answer the question of what a three means. On the other hand, we tried to summarize across many families, the narrative stories that they talked about related topics.

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TW: That is where we wanted some tool that would help us to put all that information together and allow us to understand it.

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EL: Yes, that is it, that was the magic for me!

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TW: …that is where the ratings came from.

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TO BE CONTINUED IN NEXT MONTH’S (VIDEO) BLOG...

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Can’t Wait 'til April for Episode Three? Enjoy More Dedoose Content.

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Hungry for more specific topics Dedoose videos? You’re in luck. Check our YouTube offerings frequently, as we have started adding more content for users.

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This month, we recommend watching the Survey Data webinar hosted by our friends at the Institute for Mixed Methods Research if you missed it (recording date February 2023).

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You’ll learn all about the Institute’s background, how it can support your research experience with Dedoose, foundational elements of our app, data preparation, importing spreadsheets, and additional helpful resources!

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New to Our YouTube Channel? Be Our Guest!

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We humbly suggest the best (most fun?) method to learn Dedoose is one of our free weekly webinars!

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In the event you cannot attend one, however, our YouTube channel is a good substitute depending upon what you are trying to learn.

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If you are just getting started, there are many of the basic how-to’s are featured on our channel (see our list below of top choices for new Dedoosers).

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If you are familiar with the basics already, you will enjoy our premium offerings, including topical webinars and those hosted by sources outside of Dedoose (also below).

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A Beginner’s Guide to Our Videos (With Goodies for More Experienced Dedoosers)

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• "Getting Started with Dedoose” is quite literally the best video for newbies to start with. You’ll learn the basic features, charts, data prep, and import procedures.

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• “Create a Project in Dedoose” A step by step, simplified guide to beginning a new project in Dedoose. No, you don’t have to copy/paste to demo project!

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• “Helpful Charts in Dedoose: 5 Key Visualizations” if you’re curious about some of the main data visualization features that Dedoosers love at-a-glance,

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• “Training Center: Create Code Application Test (Part I) considered a “goodie item” for those with more experience in Dedoose. Ideal for those managing other team members in projects.

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• “Training Center: Take a Code Application Test (Part II)” The second part in our training center series. Learn how to master inter-rater reliability (IRR) assessment with Dedoose.

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Have you recorded your own Dedoose-in-action video? Simply tag us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or YouTube, and we’ll feature your content.

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We appreciate you helping us spread the good word about Dedoose. We’re committed to helping researchers make great research easier.  

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