%0 Journal Article %J International Journal of Social Research Methodology %D 2012 %T Using natural language processing for qualitative data analysis %A Kevin Crowston %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Heckman, Robert %X Social researchers often apply qualitative research methods to study groups and their communications artefacts. The use of computer-mediated communications has dramatically increased the volume of text available, but coding such text requires considerable manual effort. We discuss how systems that process text in human languages (i.e., natural language processing, NLP) might partially automate content analysis by extracting theoretical evidence. We present a case study of the use of NLP for qualitative analysis in which the NLP rules showed good performance on a number of codes. With the current level of performance, use of an NLP system could reduce the amount of text to be examined by a human coder by an order of magnitude or more, potentially increasing the speed of coding by a comparable degree. The paper is significant as it is one of the first to demonstrate the use of high-level NLP techniques for qualitative data analysis. %B International Journal of Social Research Methodology %V 15 %8 2012 %N 6 %& 523-543 %R 10.1080/13645579.2011.625764 %> https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/NLP_for_qualitative_analysis.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) Annual Conference %D 2010 %T Machine Learning and Rule-Based Automated Coding of Qualitative Data %A Kevin Crowston %A Xiaozhong Liu %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Heckman, Robert %K FLOSS %K NLP %X Researchers often employ qualitative research approaches but large volumes of textual data pose considerable challenges to manual coding. In this research, we explore how to implement fully or semi-automatic coding on textual data (specifically, electronic messages) by leveraging Natural Language Processing (NLP). In particular, we compare the performance of human-developed NLP rules to those inferred by machine learning algorithms. The experimental results suggest that NLP with machine learning can be an effective way to assist researchers in coding qualitative data. %B American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) Annual Conference %C Pittsburgh, PA %8 10/2010 %> https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/ml_nlp.pdf %> https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/ASIST%20poster%202p%20final.pdf %0 Generic %D 2008 %T Asynchronous Decision-Making in Distributed Teams (Poster) %A Li, Qing %A Heckman, Robert %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Kevin Crowston %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %A James Howison %A Wiggins, Andrea %K Decision-Making %K FLOSS %B Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work %C San Diego, CA %8 8–12 November %G eng %> https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/CSCW2008Poster11x17Draft.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Open Source Systems %D 2008 %T Decision Making Paths in Self-Organizing Technology-Mediated Distributed Teams %A Li, Qing %A Heckman, Robert %A Kevin Crowston %A James Howison %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %X This paper investigates decision making in self-organizing technology-mediated distributed teams. This context provides an opportunity to examine how the use of technological support to span temporal and organizational discontinuities affects decision-making processes. 258 software-modification decision episodes were collected from the public emailing lists of six Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects over a span of five years. Six decision-making paths were identified as 1) short-cut decision-making path; 2) implicit-development decision-making path; 3) implicit-evaluation decision-making path; 4) normative decision-making path; 5) dynamic decision-making path; and 6) interrupted/delayed decision-making path. We suggest that the nature of the tasks and the affordances of the technology used reduce the need for explicit coordination, resulting in a broader range of possible decision processes than are observed in face-to-face groups. %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Open Source Systems %C Paris, France, 14-17 December %G eng %> https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Decision%20Making%20Paths%20in%20Self%20Organizing%20Technology%20Mediated%20Dist.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the IFIP 3rd International Conference on Open Source Software %D 2007 %T Emergent decision-making practices in Free/Libre Open Source Software FLOSS development teams %A Heckman, Robert %A Kevin Crowston %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %A James Howison %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Li, Qing %X We seek to identify work practices that make Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development teams effective. Particularly important to team effectiveness is decision making. In this paper, we report on an inductive qualitative analysis of 360 decision episodes of six FLOSS development teams. Our analysis revealed diversity in decision-making practices that seem to be related to differences in overall team characteristics and effectiveness. %B Proceedings of the IFIP 3rd International Conference on Open Source Software %C Limerick, Ireland, 10-14 June %G eng %> https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/20070320%20OSS%20Conference_v15_final%20submitted.pdf %0 Generic %D 2007 %T Investigating the Dynamics of FLOSS Development Teams (Poster) %A Li, Na %A Li, Qing %A Kangning Wei %A Heckman, Robert %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %A Liddy, Elizabeth D. %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Scialdone, Michael J. %A Inoue, Keisuke %A Harwell, Sarah %A Rowe, Steven %A McCracken, Nancy %A Wiggins, Andrea %> https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/HSDposter_8.ai_.pdf %> https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/HSDposter_8.pdf %0 Conference Proceedings %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) %D 2006 %T Emergent decision-making practices in technology-supported self-organizing distributed teams %A Heckman, Robert %A Kevin Crowston %A Li, Qing %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %A James Howison %A Kangning Wei %K Decision-Making %K FLOSS %X We seek to identify work practices that make technology-supported self-organizing distributed (or virtual) teams (TSSODT for short) effective in producing outputs satisfactory to their sponsors, meeting the needs of their members and continuing to function. A particularly important practice for team effectiveness is decision making: are the right decisions made at the right time to get the work done in a way that satisfies team sponsors, keeps contributors happy and engaged, and enables continued team success? In this research-in-progress paper, we report on an inductive qualitative analysis of 120 decision episodes taken by 2 Free/libre Open Source Software development teams. Our analysis revealed differences in decision-making practices that seem to be related to differences in overall team effectiveness. %B Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) %C Milwaukee, WI, 10–13 Dec %G eng %> https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/Emergent%20Decision%20Making%20Practices%20In%20Technology%20Supported%20Self%20O.pdf %0 Generic %D 2006 %T Investigating the Dynamics of FLOSS Development Teams (Poster) %A Li, Qing %A Kangning Wei %A Heckman, Robert %A Eseryel, U. Yeliz %A Liddy, Elizabeth D. %A James Howison %A Kevin Crowston %A Allen, Eileen E. %A Inoue, Keisuke %A Harwell, Sarah %A Rowe, Steven %A McCracken, Nancy %> https://floss.syr.edu/sites/crowston.syr.edu/files/hsd2006poster.pdf