The 18th edition of the international annual MAXQDA user conference took place in Berlin on March 2-4. More than 100 researchers travelled to the capital of Germany for this vibrant event with 3 days of workshops, keynotes, poster session and time to discuss and reflect on the use of MAXQDA in many fields and methodological frameworks. The event is hosted and organized by the Marburg Research Group for Methods & Evaluation. It is the biggest MAXQDA event of the year.
Workshops
Workshops on research methods and MAXQDA are the heart of the CAQD conference. At any time there were at least 4 parallel workshop sessions – for beginners as well as advanced MAXQDA users. Somebody just starting their research journey might visit a workshop on qualitative text analysis, followed by a MAXQDA starter workshop and a session on visualization with MAXQDA. An advanced user might choose to sign up for a mixed methods workshop, learn about category building with Creative Coding and visit a workshop on teamwork with MAXQDA. Further workshop topics included the Analysis of Audiovisual data, Literature Reviews, Focus group analysis, and ethnographic analysis with MAXQDA. Workshops are available in English and German, with a large discount for participants who are students or PhD candidates.
Keynotes
The Keynote sessions had a strong focus on the conference theme “Mixed Methods” and were chaired by Anne Kuckartz (CEO of VERBI Software).
Prof. John Creswell – Advances in Mixed Methods Research
Prof. John Creswell (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), one of the leading voices and expert of the Mixed Methods research scene, held the first of two keynotes. Creswell spoke about the “Advances in Mixed Methods Research” from the last 5 years, especially the institutionalism and implementation of standards and skill assessment instruments.
Watch full length keynote speech by Prof. Creswell
The CAQD team has recorded this session. Watch Prof. Creswell’s keynote speech “Advances in Mixed Methods Reserach” here.
Prof. Udo Kuckartz / Dr. Stefan Rädiker – New Features in MAXQDA 12. Featuring Mixed Methods
The second keynote was held by Prof. Udo Kuckartz (University of Marburg) and Dr. Stefan Rädiker (CTO of VERBI Software) who introduced “New Features in MAXQDA 12. Featuring Mixed Methods“. Prof. Udo Kuckartz presented the “Joint Displays” (available since MAXQDA update 12.1), which allow users to create arrays of qualitative and quantitative data or results in a fashion often described in Mixed Methods literature. Dr. Stefan Rädiker introduced further features of MAXQDA 12 for Mixed Methods as well as qualitative data analysis.
Prof. Udo Kuckartz presenting new #mixedmethods features in MAXQDA 12 at the #CAQD pic.twitter.com/BsWYwnf9oO
— MAXQDA (@VerbiSoftware) March 3, 2016
Dr. Stefan Rädiker speaking about #mixedmethods features, here the survey import for qual & quan data together #CAQD pic.twitter.com/UqWRrHtQJe— MAXQDA (@VerbiSoftware) March 3, 2016
User Forum
The user forum that followed the keynote sessions is a rather unique conference component. Participants, keynote speakers, and workshop trainers gathered in a hall with 7 round tables. Each table was hosted by an expert on the tables topic: teamwork, mixed methods, teaching QDA, analyzing & transcribing media, organizing a project, visualization, and the implementation of research methods. For 1.5 hours everybody could join or leave any discussion table at any point. This is the ideal setting to get in touch with other researchers, exchange ideas and learn from other participants and expand the practical knowledge of MAXQDA.
Poster Session
8 posters presented different aspects regarding computer-assisted analysis of qualitative data with MAXQDA.
Congratulations to the winners of the poster prices:
- Prof. Lory Janelle Dance (University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA)
“Difference and Deviance and Threat, Oh My!”: Media Discourses of Social Death for Youths in Sweden and the U.S. - Gvantsa Salukvadze, Temur Gugushvili (Tbilisis State University, Georgia)
MAXQDA and MAXApp in the field of data collection and analysis in Tourism Study (Example of Kazbegi Municipality). - Frauke Düwel (Technische Universität Dresden, Germany)
“Fach- und fremdsprachliche Vorkenntnisse von Studierenden des Höheren Lehramtes Chemie (6. Fachsemester): Visualisierungsmöglichkeiten mit MAXQDA zur Auswertung qualitativer Daten “
A special poster price for “Teaching & Learning MAXQDA” was awarded to Dr. Antoni Casasempere (Cualsoft, Spain) for his poster “The Design Map as a heuristic tool to resolve a research and the implementation of MAXQDA 12 on the process”.
Dr. Antoni Casasempere receiving his price.
The day ended with a get together with wine & cheese and plenty of opportunities to chat with fellow researchers and form new connections across disciplines and contexts. We were delighted to see so many MAXQDA users – many of whom travelled halfway around the world for this event – come together to share best practises, discuss methodological advances and learn new MAXQDA skills during the workshops. If you were a part of the conference: it was a pleasure to meet you. If you could not make it to the CAQD this year: we hope to see you there next time!.
