No job half-done

To better evaluate and analyse open, unstructured answers, we need a tool that offers both efficiency and knowledge in depth. With the VerbatimExplorer we present a tool that can deliver both.

The approach to dealing with open questions in quantitative studies lacks consistency. On the one hand, these can be found at central, sensitive points in the interview – for example, with questions concerning optimisation or when justifying KPI evaluations. And there’ a reason for this: To obtain a deeper understanding of abstract evaluation levels, we require the written word. On the other hand, when analysing open nominations we are left standing at the halfway point, to the extent that we do away with an elaborate analytical interlinking with their counterparts: Quotes are coded, enumerated and listed; individual citations are presented as representative of a group opinion. Using a case study on the individual and societal challenges of our time, this article demonstrates the level of knowledge potential that exists in open nominations, and how this can be rendered useful by way of a simple tool and smart analyses.

Publication download (published in Research & Results, edition 7, 2012)

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