 Using Qualitative Software Presented by Colleen Dillon, MPH, PhD Candidate University of Washington-School of Public Health What is qualitative data? and How can AnSWR help? 
Qualitative data can be beneficial in many ways. Traditionally, individuals have used closed-ended questions to describe programs. Therefore this data can be summarized in the form of a number. Although this can be very helpful, it does not provide a very rich source of information. Qualitative data can be used to describe a phenomenon in more detail in your client’s own words. Qualitative data is most commonly collected in the form of an open-ended survey, focus groups, or individual interviews. AnSWR can help you organize your qualitative data so that common themes can be found that help express your clients thoughts, opinions, or as an alternative to explain what your quantitative numbers mean. The CDC website for AnSWR (found below) gives further explanation of qualitative data and how AnSWR can be used. Additional information can be found at the Community Tool Box website at http://ctb.lsi.ukans.edu/Downloading the Free Software This presentation is a brief introduction to a free qualitative data analyzing software called AnSWR (Analysis Software for Word-based Records). This software is available for free on the Center for Disease Control website at: Handout: Sample Interview for Diabetes Study | Web Links | Back to Agenda | NC Arts For Health |