Sharp tools make good work

Qualitative research is a kind of situational activity that puts the observer in the real world. It is composed of a series of interpretive and perceptive physical practices that transform the world (Denzin & Lincoln). When we replace the four words "qualitative research" with "life", we find that there is no sense of contradiction, because the essence of qualitative research is the essence of life. When we count human situational activities, we find that the world is full of qualitative (non statistical) data.

According to Denzin and Lincoln, qualitative research in American academic history began in 1900 and has gone through 11 stages: the traditional stage (1900-1950); the modernist or golden age modernism / golden age stage (1950-1970); blurred genres type ambiguity stage (1970-1980); the paradigm war debate (1980-1985); the paradigm war stage (1980-1985); The crisis of representation represents the crisis stage (1986-1990); the post modern stage (1990-1995); the post experimental inquiry stage (1995-2000); the methodologically contested presentation stage (2000-2004); the paradigm amplification stage (2005-2010); and the fractured stage, Post humanist present: Post humanist present: Post humanist stage (vs. test driven managerialism academic circle) (2010-2015); utopian future stage (2016 -).

Babbie (2007) believes that the method of qualitative research originates from sociological and anthropological research. It has a history of at least 200 years since the 19th century sociologist aguste Comte Comte. If we calculate from the perspective of archaeology, the objects of qualitative analysis and human situational activities, qualitative research covers the whole human history. In the era of no words and numbers, the living utensils, buildings and skeletons of primitive people are the scope of qualitative research. Whether qualitative research should start from archaeology and history or from qualitative research methods and methodology system determines the scope of qualitative research and optional research methods. However, no matter how long its history is, there is no doubt about its richness. This richness brings the possibility of further analysis of research problems, revealing the mechanism and exploring the cause and effect. This is also the charm of qualitative research.

The traditional qualitative research data types of recording social phenomena include archives, historical materials, physical objects, field notes, interviews, dialogues, videos, documentaries and personal notes. In the era of big data, data derived from nature is like a blowout in seconds. We find that the subjects we observe and interview are seizing the dominant power of discourse, and frequently take the initiative to express their personal opinions on social platforms in private and public domains. Their way of expression on social media is gradually changing from text-based blog and Post Bar Forum to short video combined with text, video and audio, and has stronger instantaneity. Novel coronavirus pneumonia has become a major source of data in some social science research topics, such as personal stroke tracking.

Novel coronavirus pneumonia during the official account of the phenomenon of home office, we used the way of big data crawling to collect data on WeChat (public address), micro-blog, beiribi, Zhi, Jo, CAI and finally obtained tens of tiktok natural derived data. The total amount of data is almost ten times of the traditional qualitative research doctoral dissertation. If we use the traditional qualitative research methods and processes, it is almost impossible to complete the task in one year. For researchers, the modern Internet provides a large number of accessible data with diverse characteristics. In the era of big data and Internet, how to choose research methods and methodology according to research problems? How to select data type? How to effectively analyze and process a large amount of data? In order to solve the above puzzles of scientific research workers, scientific research writing: NVivo 12 from introduction to mastery was born.

I explore the value of this book from the following three points:

First, this is a qualitative research reference book for Chinese scholars. At present, there are almost no domestic brands of mainstream research software in the market, so the interface design, related operation manual and training materials are mainly in English. Local scholars need to cross the two barriers of language and technology at the same time to master the relevant skills. Mr. Yao Wei has rich experience in training software for scientific research and analysis, and knows the problems often encountered by Chinese scholars in the use of software. In writing this book, he organically combines NVivo software design, data type, analysis process, result presentation and methodology. Combining different methodological choices, this book makes up for the neutral position of NVivo reference books and training materials in methodological choice, and makes it easier for readers to substitute their own methodological design and research situations.

Second, this is the latest NVivo reference book. This book is based on the latest nvivo12 software for software analysis and case demonstration. The accumulation of a large number of teaching cases reflects that Mr. Yao Wei is not only the first-line practitioner of qualitative analysis software, but also the leader of qualitative research data analysis in China. The book combines the latest software to help readers better understand the design of NVivo software; the complete correspondence between interfaces and cases makes learning more direct and efficient; the introduction of the latest functions in nvivo12 software helps readers understand and master the most cutting-edge scientific research technology. In the latest version, NVivo strengthens the semantic analysis technology in artificial intelligence natural language processing, which can partially realize automatic coding and visual presentation. On this basis, this book proposes an optimization scheme.

Third, the book is well illustrated and has strong operability. The NVivo operation steps in this book are fully displayed, the text description combined with the schematic diagram is simple and easy to understand, and the upper and lower steps have continuity and consistency. Every technical link in this book has detailed graphic analysis, including software installation, interface introduction, data import, data classification and analysis, data visualization and data export. Readers can smoothly transition from primary technical skills to advanced technical skills according to the presentation of technical steps. With the most popular and direct way of expression, this book strives to make the readers understand, understand and operate.

I first met Mr. Yao Wei. In January 2019, Mr. Ren Bing organized a qualitative research lecture in the Business School of Nankai University. Because both of us are engaged in grounded theory related research and are lovers of scientific research software, we have more common language and keep in touch with each other all the time. At the end of August 2019, Mr. Yao Wei and Mr. Zhang Cuijuan came to participate in the application of Microsoft Excel in qualitative research organized by Mr. Li Qinghai and me in Tongji University. In December 2019, they will also support the Lixin qualitative forum organized by me. Although it seems that they are all ordinary academic exchanges, every link we make is "qualitative" - we are the same practitioners of qualitative research.

Novel coronavirus pneumonia is a special year in 2020. We are determined to fight the epidemic in a special way and to give back to the community. Novel coronavirus pneumonia research program was launched in April. We launched a new research project on the first Yao Wei epidemic. We became one of our leading experts, and Mr. Zhang Cuijuan became our liaison officer with the start-up team. Let's think about it together: "in the end, apart from the present three parts, can a writer have a higher mission and social value?" In addition to novel coronavirus pneumonia, Yao Wei devoted great efforts to leading young scholars in online learning and enterprise suspension and start-up of two groups to analyze the literature and materials related to the new crown pneumonia phenomenon with Nvivo software. In the busy work, study and family, Miss Zhang Cuijuan also carried out NVivo training for her peace team and helped to manage the daily operation of the company's shutdown and start-up team. Therefore, NVivo is not only a qualitative analysis tool for us, but also a link between people.

I believe that this book can not only help readers master a scientific research skill, but also help readers walk out of fear and self-confidence of new technology, so as to open up a broader and free scientific research world.