CHRG Seminar: Niro Kandasamy, Mia Martin Hobbs, 23 September, 11am

CHRG Seminar Series. 

23rd September: Niro Kandasamy and Mia Martin Hobbs. 

Contemporary Histories Research Group seminars are held at 11am via Zoom. To register, please contact Jacqui Baker ([email protected]

Mia Martin Hobbs. 

Title: Codes, Nodes, and Memos: Using NVivo to Map Themes and Analyse Dynamics in Oral Histories of the US Military Reconstruction of Iraq.

Abstract: Despite the widespread use of computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software in social science research, many historians primarily analyse their historical sources manually, or combine multiple digital technologies for different stages of analysis. Software such as NVivo supports most stages and aspects of historical research, including data storage, examination, organization, analysis, and interpretation. Rather than “doing the work for you”, NVivo facilitates deep qualitative analysis, encouraging review and refinement of concepts, themes, and connections.  

Drawing on research conducted with the United States Institute for Peace Oral History “Iraq Experience” Project, I will demonstrate how I use NVivo for mapping (“coding”) concepts and themes (“nodes”), reflecting on and interpreting dynamics (“memos”), and visualizing data in oral history research. I find NVivo useful for thinking through relationships between themes and concepts – such as interviewee observations on the impact of regime legacies on the occupied population – and attributes and meta-data – such as the interviewee’s gender identity, or the time of the interview – in historical research. I will also demonstrate how to use coding to create timelines in NVivo, allowing users to analyse change over time in qualitative data. 

Niro Kandasamy. 

Title and Abstract: TBA.