Qualitative data analysis software developer QSR International has won the 2009 Market Research Society

Written by QSR International

Qualitative data analysis software developer QSR International has won the 2009 Market Research Society / Association for Survey Computing Award for Technology Effectiveness.

The company’s NVivo 8 software was awarded the top gong as part of Research Awards 09, the United Kingdom's premier awards program for the market research industry.

QSR International CEO John Owen said NVivo 8 had proved to be break-through software for both the market research industry and the company in 2009, contributing to no less than four award wins for QSR this year.

NVivo 8 is qualitative data analysis software that allows researchers and decision makers to import and analyze video, audio, images and text side-by-side in ways that aren’t possible manually.

Chairman of Judges for the MRS / ASC Technology Effectiveness Award, AJ Johnson spoke highly of NVivo 8, saying these were exciting times for research technology.

“Communication is changing with the evolution of the social web and we are starting to see some excellent examples of how research technologists are embracing these opportunities. 2010 promises to be the year when we focus truly on listening to our research participants, and provide them with the tools that allow us to gain insight. Technology will not only be vital in capturing what people do and why they are doing it, but also in managing and analysing the vast array of data we collect,” Mr Johnson said.

“QSR's NVivo 8 enables multimedia and web-based content to be more easily analysed through linking and annotating individual sections of images, audio and video. The data, along with other project sources, is then available for analysis and reporting using the sophisticated analysis, visualisation, collaboration and charting features. The software offered great promise in the automation of project management of qualitative research projects. Its multimedia handling has been adopted widely and enthusiastically by its user community.”

Mr Owen said NVivo 8 was developed in close consultation with more than 100 international researchers and decision makers. The software’s powerful analysis tools help people to interrogate their data - testing out theories, identifying trends and cross-examining information.

“This is an important win for us,” said Mr Owen.

“The MRS / ASC Award for Technology Effectiveness has been acknowledging innovative industry leaders and their contribution to research since 2003. We designed NVivo specifically for qualitative research and today it’s used by every major university in Europe, North America and Australasia, as well as by government and commercial organizations, including the UK Policy Studies Institute, global law firm CMS Cameron McKenna, and Loughborough University spin-off company Progressive Sports Technologies.

“It’s wonderful to have our contribution recognized at such a respected industry event.”

NVivo 8’s key features allow users to:

• Import, organize and analyze thousands of audio files, videos, digital photos, Word, PDF, rich text and plain text documents.

• Work with material in any language and choose to work with a software interface in one of six languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese and Japanese.

• Work with transcripts or work without them, analyzing material straight from audio and video files. Users can even create transcripts or text files within the software as they go.

• Query data to uncover patterns and themes with a powerful state-of-the-art search engine.

• Create and export professional models and charts, including three dimensional bar graphs and pie charts.

• Query the analysis completed by individuals or teams and run comparisons to show the percentage of analysis that is the same or different across users.

• Merge separate projects and still identify which work was completed by which person, as well as view the notes and analysis completed by each team member.

• Share files and findings, including audio, video or sections of documents with clients or colleagues who don’t have NVivo, using HTML web pages.