The paper Cody: An AI-based System to Semi-Automated Coding for Qualitative Research by Tim Rietz and Alexander Maedche has been accepted for publication at CHI 2021. The CHI conference is the premier and most prestigious international conference on Human-Computer Interaction.

In their paper, the authors introduce Cody, an AI-based system that semi-automates the coding step in qualitative research projects through code rules and supervised machine learning (ML). Cody supports researchers with interactively (re)defining code rules and uses ML to extend coding to unseen data. In two studies with qualitative researchers, the authors found that (1) code rules provide structure and transparency, (2) explanations are commonly desired but rarely used, (3) suggestions benefit coding quality rather than coding speed, increasing the intercoder reliability.

The paper will appear in the ACM Digital Library in May 2021, when CHI will be held for the first time as an online virtual conference. You can already access the paper here.