AI in Qualitative Research: Mapping the Landscape – Oct. 21, 2025

Session Description

This session comprises a demonstration and discussion about the current landscape of AI tools and their impact on qualitative research practice. Practical, ethical and methodological implications are outlined and discussed in relation to the contexts in which research and evaluation happens.   

• Historical context of development of AI tools for Qualitative Research
• Data Security / Privacy Considerations and other ethical issues
• Uses of AI tools across the Qualitative Research Workflow
• Genres of AI tools for Qualitative Research and Analysis
  • General-purpose AI tools
  • Integrations into established Qualitative Software
  • New Generative-AI Apps designed for Automated Qualitative Analysis
  • Bespoke in-house tools 
• Comparative illustrations of AI tools for Qualitative Analysis

Speaker: Dr. Christina Silver, Associate Professor (Teaching), Dept of Sociology, University of Surrey; Founder & Director, Qualitative Data Analysis Services (QDAS) 

Intended audience: Researchers at any stage of their career with an interest in Qualitative Research 

Note: This session is Part 1 of a two-part webinar series on using AI in qualitative research.  

• Register for Part 2, which will take place on October 28th 2025 (UTORid login required to register)
• Recordings of Part 1 and Part 2 will be available after each session (UTORid login required to access the recording) 

Technology requirements: This session is webinar-style comprising demonstration and discussion and therefore no specialized technology is required. 

This session will cover a variety of concepts and tools related to AI in qualitative research. If you are interested in learning the fundamentals of how to use qualitative data analysis software, the Map & Data Library offers workshops on NVivo and MAXQDA. Register for upcoming sessions or watch recordings of past workshops.