Keynote Dialogue

Takashi Otani

Nagoya University of Economics

Takashi Otani serves as Designated Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Human Life and Sciences and School of Human Life and Sciences at Nagoya University of Economics, Japan. He is Professor Emeritus at Nagoya University and Visiting Professor at Fujita Health University and Showa Medical University. He also served as Visiting Professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, during 1991–1992 and 2005–2006. He is an Honorary Member of the Japan Society for Educational Technology and the Japan Society for Medical Education, and has received an Honorary Doctorate from Mongolian National University of Education. He is the developer of SCAT (Steps for Coding and Theorization), a qualitative data analysis method that, beyond initial expectations, has been used in 1,158 studies across a remarkably diverse range of fields as of June 27, 2026, and the author of Paradigm and Design of Qualitative Study (The University of Nagoya Press, 2019), which has sold 18,000 copies to date. He is also a co-editor and translator of Handbook of Qualitative Research (SAGE, 2000). In addition, he is a member of the Clinical Training Management Committee at Nagoya Medical Center, National Hospital Organization, and at Nagasaki University Hospital. His scholarly interests focus on qualitative research methodology, technology in education, and health professions and medical education.

David Williamson Shaffer

University of Wisconsin-Madison

David Williamson Shaffer is the Sears Bascom Professor of Learning Analytics and the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Learning Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Data Philosopher at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. Before coming to the University of Wisconsin, Professor Shaffer taught grades 4-12 in the United States and abroad, including two years working with the US Peace Corps in Nepal. His M.S. and Ph.D. are from the Media Laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Shaffer taught in the Technology and Education Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and was a 2008-2009 European Union Marie Curie Fellow. His current focus is on merging statistical and qualitative methods to construct fair models of complex and collaborative human activity. Professor Shaffer has led the development of a suite of quantitative ethnographic tools that are being used by more than a thousand researchers in 20 countries as part of the annual International Conference on Quantitative Ethnography. He has authored more than 250 publications with over 100 co-authors, including How Computer Games Help Children Learn and Quantitative Ethnography.

Program Overview

*Schedule subject to change

Sponsor Opportunites

We invite all professional, academic, or industry sponsors to support the efforts of the Quantitative Ethnography Society (QESOC) as we aim to create a more inclusive and accessible ICQE conference that unites education researchers, academics, and professionals globally. The goal of ICQE is to foster a community of researchers interested in sharing methodological innovations and applied research using techniques such as Epistemic Network Analysis across diverse and interdisciplinary fields. By supporting our initiatives, you'll help us maintain affordable registration fees, offer scholarships to students and early-career researchers, organize valuable networking events to connect emerging QE learners and educators with researchers and industry experts, and strengthen the society's influence and impact.

For more information, contact our Sponsorship Chair, Haiying Li at haiyli@upenn.edu