Beyond manual coding

Dr. Samantha Hurst is a Health Sciences Clinical Professor at the University of California, San Diego, specialising in community health interventions among diverse cultural groups. Her work requires rigorous adherence to grant requirements and the processing of deeply sensitive, long-form qualitative data. She faced a dual challenge: the context limits of generic AI tools and the bias inherent in manual coding. Generic tools could not handle the volume of her data reliably, while traditional manual coding was exhausting and prone to human bias. She needed a way to work with heavy data loads while maintaining the rigour required for academic publishing.

“When it gets down to introducing bias, the humans are really the vehicle by which that always happens. It didn’t make sense to me that you could say my coding schema was so well structured it was not biased.”

Dr. Hurst uses QInsights to develop a holistic, accurate picture of her data. She can upload multiple transcripts and use the platform for summarisation and to interrogate the material conversationally for “universality”—what everyone said—and the “extreme ends,” where unique or hidden insights may emerge. In one study involving Native American women, she asked QInsights about the same topic in several different ways. This helped her identify implicit references to sensitive terms without requiring participants to have used those words explicitly.

“I love the fact that you can put multiple transcripts inside that product... I used QInsights to find the segments so I could say, ‘Yes, that’s right. I know it.’ It didn’t just find the words; it found the nuance.”

Using QInsights has changed Dr. Hurst’s workflow. By taking on some of the heavy lifting of pattern recognition, the platform does more than save time: it restores the thinking time needed for high-level reflection. QInsights helps her ground grant proposals and papers in rigorous, traceable evidence. It has shifted her role from coding data back towards reflecting on culture.

“It has freed up much more time for me to be reflective. That is the essence of anthropology... It has changed my perspective on the way I approach my work. I think it’s pretty obvious to me that coding is not necessary in its traditional form anymore.”