Map Causality in Qualitative Data with CausalMap
In this webinar, the Causal Map team will introduce you to causal mapping, a way to find out about people’s mental models of the world: what they think causes what, based on interview transcripts or other documents. We will show you that Causal Map does what no other software can: it enables you to directly code, organise, consolidate and understand the causal claims contained within narrative information and present the results as a variety of compelling graphics which we call “maps”.
How to code, analyse and visualise qualitative information about causal connections with Causal Map
Jaimie was carrying out research on social capital in Mali. She wanted to know what kind of contribution informal tea clubs might make to different aspects social capital, and via what pathways or mechanisms. She used Causal Map to code her interview transcripts using causal Qualitative Data Analysis and generate causal maps to visualise the causal pathways. It worked great, and her paper is currently in the “revise and resubmit” stage.
About the Tool
Causal mapping has been used since 1976 in areas from ecology to business management. It is a rigorous, qualitative research approach which helps researchers quickly cut to the chase in answering some of the most important research questions: what causes what, in the minds of key stakeholders? The Causal Map web app (which is free to use for small studies) is a new way to make causal mapping more accessible to researchers.
About Authors
Steve Powell - Co-founder and Director
Steve has led and contributed to research and evaluation projects in many countries around the world over the last 25 years. He has worked on a wide range of topics, from psychosocial programming after the 2004 tsunami and community resilience in East Africa to counting stray dogs in Sarajevo. Steve has expertise in both quantitative and qualitative research and evaluation approaches. He gained his PhD in psychology researching post-traumatic stress after the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
This research and evaluation work left Steve longing for a better way to collect and synthesise people’s ideas about ‘what influences what’. This inspired Steve to co-found Causal Map Ltd.
Fiona Remnant - Co-founder and Director
Fiona is a communications and research professional, with a special interest in the practical application of academic research in the international development sector. She has worked in communications in the private and NGO sector, in both regional and international roles.
Fiona was co-author of the Qualitative Impact Protocol (QuIP) whilst working at the Centre for Development Studies at the University of Bath, and founded Bath Social and Development Research (Bath SDR) Ltd in 2016 to promote more and better use of the QuIP.
Hannah Mishan - Outreach Specialist
Hannah is a project manager at Bath SDR, who works with Steve to improve educational materials and support users of the app. She also works to promote use and understanding of the tool through the creation of online content.
Hannah has previously held communications and outreach roles in the charity sector and brings this experience to her role with Casual Map. They studied International Development at both undergraduate and Masters level with a particular interest in sustainability. Throughout this time she became increasingly interested in the theories and tools surrounding qualitative data analysis.
Other Resources
The causalmap.app website, where you can sign up for updates and use code SAGECM23 to get a 50% discount.
A more in-depth demo of Causal Map
