Pauline Prevett

Reader in Education · University of Manchester · School of Environment, Education and Development

A small landing page for the work I make public — qualitative analysis tools, interactive learning resources for research methods, and a recent open-access publication on methodology.

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Qualitative Analysis Tools Beta

A computational qualitative analysis method for working with subjectivity-rich interviews, employing linguistic discourse analysis and narrative analysis techniques. It helps the analyst get to the data that matters quickly, and allows that data to be viewed through a range of analytical lenses — temporal, positional, evaluative.

Detection is automated; the analyst can override any classification by hand. The flagship tool is Critical Incident Semantic Analysis (CISA), currently in beta. Please get in touch if you would like to learn more.

cisatools.com

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Research Methods Interactive Web Apps

A growing collection of in-browser learning resources for postgraduate research methods — research literacy and design, qualitative analysis methods, quantitative analysis for small studies, and a reflexive thematic analysis workbook. Each app is self-contained: vanilla HTML, CSS and JavaScript, with nothing leaving the device.

The apps are written for a mixed-experience audience — from researchers entirely new to a method through to doctoral students refining technique.

researchmethodsbooks.com

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Recent publication

Open access · FQS 2026

Theory-Operationalising Tool Co-Creation

Prevett, P. (2026). Theory-Operationalising Tool Co-Creation: Building Methodology-Specific Analysis Tools Through Human-AI Collaboration. A Position Statement for Qualitative Research Methodology. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 27(2), Art. 15.

https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-27.2.4596

The paper sets out how methodology-specific analytical software can be built through iterative work with a large language model — while keeping the resulting tools entirely free of AI at runtime, processed in the browser, with no data leaving the user's device.

A brief worked example

“I have this terrible fear about money, about not having enough, about spending too much. But actually, the fear makes me more rational. It forces me to plan everything, to use spreadsheets, to track every penny.”

The contrastive pivot “but actually” marks a Constraint – Resource opposition: fear is held simultaneously as debilitating and as functional capability. The register in which it is voiced is Managed — neither harmonious nor critical. Both axes are detected independently, so the analyst sees not just what the speaker is grappling with, but how they are voicing it.

Pole A: Constraint “fear” “not enough” Pole B: Resource “rational” “plan everything” but actually Register: Managed

Adapted from Prevett (2026), § 4.

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Upcoming conference paper

EDULEARN26 · Conference paper

Inverting the Sequence

A concrete-to-abstract model for research methods pedagogy

Dr Pauline Prevett, University of Manchester. To be presented at EDULEARN26 — the International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies.

Palma, Mallorca, Spain. 29 June – 1 July 2026, with the paper scheduled for Tuesday 30 June.

Materials and slides will be shared here after the conference.

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About

Pauline Prevett is a Reader in Education at the University of Manchester, where she leads PhD research training in the School of Environment, Education and Development. She teaches research methods on several postgraduate programmes. Her research focuses on students' financial identity and financial self-efficacy, and on qualitative and mixed methods research methodology.