Doctoral students working with visual data

Overview

Judy is the facilitator of UML’s cross-campus Qualitative Research Network. The Graduate School of Education at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell provides training for teachers, administrators, and other educational professionals in the region and beyond. Judy Davidson, the facilitator of the cross-campus Qualitative Research Network, works with doctoral students whose research work includes a range of visual data.

The organization supports and encourages the use of qualitative research among faculty, staff, and students and is currently championing the use of Qualitative Data Analysis Software (QDAS) across campus. Judy’s own research focuses on the use of QDAS and the use of visual data in qualitative research.

“Because my doctoral students include visual data of various sorts in their research work, the new visual components of NVivo 8 are absolutely critical for us.

“Many of our faculties also have research projects in the works or in planning stages that will be making strong use of NVivo 8 – without this tool they would not be able to conduct research of the level and quality required in today’s world. From music education, health promotion and disease prevention to regional economic development – we have researchers of many different kinds in our one institution who are making use of QDAS.”