Australian software set to change the world

Police forces around the world use it to track fraudsters and manage intelligence on terrorists. The UK Policy Studies Institute uses it to examine the factors that affect economic well being. Market researchers Econnect use it to develop communication programs to help Australian farmers manage climate variability. Global law firm CMS Cameron McKenna uses it to assist with pitches for new business. And the Hong Kong Institute of Education uses it to improve the quality of teacher education.

Australian firm QSR International’s NVivo software has changed the face of qualitative research in the last two years and now NVivo 8 – launched today - will shake up the international field again with unrivalled audio and visual capabilities.

QSR CEO John Owen said the analysis software had come after two years of intense research and development, including input from more than 100 international researchers and decision makers in academic, government and commercial fields.

“For the first time NVivo 8 will allow users to work with and analyze virtually any piece of information in any language, from videos, interview recordings and documents, to photos, media clips, podcasts and even music,” he said.

“That means academics, tourism managers, private investigators, sports coaches, students and market researchers – in fact anyone who uses these materials in their day to day work – can now use NVivo to interpret their information, quickly and easily.”

Mr Owen said NVivo 8 was a fourth generation qualitative data analysis software program. Users can upload thousands of pieces of information into the software and using its sophisticated analysis tools, interrogate their data significantly faster than manual or basic computer assisted analysis.

“The software provides a much deeper level of analysis than any other program on the market,” he said.

“You can test out theories, identify trends and cross-examine your information in a multitude of ways using NVivo’s state of the art search engine and query functions. You can make your own observations in the software and build a body of evidence to support your case or project. You can even create professional models and charts; build reports; and share findings and files with others who don’t have the software via HTML web pages. It does in one program, what several others were needed for before today.”

NVivo software is developed end-to-end in Melbourne, Australia and exported to more than 90 countries. The software is already used at major organizations world-wide, including the Children’s Hospital Boston, the Chronic Poverty Research Centre, sports coach UK, the Hong Kong Institute of Education and virtually every major university in the United States, Europe and Australia.

Mr Owen said NVivo 8 was developed using Microsoft’s .Net framework and it also uses Microsoft SQL Server 2005. He said for the first time the software allows users to:

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

• 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.

• View or listen to video and audio clips via inbuilt media players.

• 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.

• 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.

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

• See colored bars called ‘coding stripes’ reflect research factors such as gender, age or income and watch them evolve in real time.

• Watch new animated ‘show me’ tutorial movies and access the most up-to-date help and support resources online.

“NVivo 8 represents the future of qualitative research software,” said Mr Owen.

“It reflects that information is everywhere – on paper, on video, online and in our heads, and offers a suite of tools to help make sense of it.”

For a free 30-day trial of NVivo 8, visit http://www.qsrinternational.com/products_free-trial-software.aspx. Education prices for the full software package start at US$595, £330, AUD$700 or €465. The software can be purchased online at http://www.qsrinternational.com/quick-order.aspx or via QSR’s international reseller network – visit http://www.qsrinternational.com/products_how-to-buy_resellers.aspx to find a reseller near you.

For interviews or more information contact Liane Sayer-Roberts, phone +61 (0)2 6953 7382 o +61 (0)427 738232 or email: liane@saucecommunications.com.au.

For more information about QSR visit www.qsrinternational.com.