School of Arts

Call for ‘Working with Data – Qualitative Data Analysis’ Workshop

KU-NCCS Winter School @ Sama Centre

Workshop Overview

This workshop introduces participants to the principles and practices of qualitative data analysis (QDA) through hands-on engagement with diverse forms of qualitative material. Participants will work with a variety of qualitative data, including interview and group discussion transcripts, field notes, documentary sources, archives, and other publicly available materials.

The workshop is designed for academics, researchers, and development practitioners who want to turn qualitative data into meaningful insights. It focuses on developing practical skills in organizing, coding, analysing, visualising and presenting data for both individual and team-based research projects.

Blending conceptual grounding with applied exercises, the workshop guides participants through the full analytical process—from data preparation and coding to interpretation, visualization, and reporting of findings.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  •  Apply different approaches to qualitative data analysis (thematic, grounded theory, content analysis, narrative, discourse, case-based analysis).
  • Systematically organize and manage qualitative datasets.
  • Develop and apply coding frameworks (inductive and deductive).
  • Explore patterns, relationships, and meanings across data sources.
  • Visualize qualitative findings using manual and digital techniques (matrices, charts, maps, frameworks).
  • Critically reflect on methodological, ethical, and reflexive dimensions of qualitative analysis.
  • Translate analytic insights into academic and policy-relevant writing.

Duration: 5 Days (15 contact hours + self-directed study)

Format: Interactive Workshop (Seminars, hands-on exercises, mentoring)

Target Participants: Graduate students, early-career researchers, academics, development practitioners, and social scientists working with qualitative data.

Since the workshop is grounded in real-world research experiences, participants or a team of participants are expected to be engaged in some kind research project currently or in the past. Projects need to be moving towards the analysis phase and hence the requirement of data (interviews, field notes, archive materials etc.) to be used as exercise materials during the workshop.

Pre-assigned readings have to be read before each session.

Facilitation

The workshop will be led by a team of interdisciplinary research experts (see bios below), each with extensive experience in teaching and conducting qualitative research analysis.

Timings:

The timings of the workshop will be every Sunday morning (7 -10 am) from February 8th till March 8th 2026. Timings for guidance will be allocated separately.

Venue: Sama Centre, Kathmandu University, Gyaneshwor

Registration Slabs:

  1. Early bird (until January 31, 2026) – Rs. 15,000
  2. Regular (February 1-7, 2026) – Rs. 20,000

Registration Deadline: January 31, 2026.

Seats are limited, so please register at your earliest.

Registration Form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1yVWoT65zYMMHj4aPHJeDMWmxS1NS_vpJz7AmahxokjQ/edit 

Shortlisted candidates will be informed via email. The final seats will be reserved only after the payments have been received. Following that, the participants will receive further information on the program schedule, course curriculum and the reading materials for the workshop.

Bio of Trainers

Dr. Jeevan Sharma is a Professor and Personal Chair of International Development with over 20 years of research and teaching experience. Prof. Sharma is an internationally recognised scholar of international development, labour migration as well as of South Asia. He is the author of Crossing the Border to India: Youth, Migration and Masculinities in Nepal (2018), and Political Economy of Social Change and Development (2021). At present, he is Co-Director of the Centre for South Asian Studies in Edinburgh and the General Secretary of the Britain Nepal Academic Council (BNAC). Prof. Sharma is the Editor-at-large of HIMALAYA Journal, the Associate Editor of South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, and the Co-editor of Routledge Edinburgh South Asia Series.

Dr. Monalisa Adhikari is an Associate Professor in International Politics at the University of Stirling. Her research focuses on shifting in the global order, and its impact on the global governance of peace and security, particularly examining India and China's role in peace processes and conflict-affected states broadly. Her work has been published in leading journals including European Journal of International Relations, International Studies Review, International Peacekeeping, Journal of Global Security Studies. Her book Post-Liberal Peace: India and China in the Fray of Peacebuilding is forthcoming. She is the Co-Investigator of the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform and the Associate Editor for the Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding.

Dr. Avash Piya is a development anthropologist and specializes in research, planning and strategy for governments and institutions. Avash’s PhD research looked into the intersection between migrant aspirations and the under-workings of migration infrastructures in Nepal He has led, designed and conducted a number of research projects on migration, education, information technology, governance etc. Avash has considerable experience of conducting training programs on research methodology and has taught qualitative research methodology courses at Aarhus University, Denmark and Kathmandu University. Currently, Avash is a Research Fellow at Kathmandu University-Nepal Centre for Contemporary Studies (KU-NCCS) and is the Executive Director at SHODH.