AI-enabled qualitative research: WHiSE 2.0

According to the PLOS One cohort profile (Verma et al., published July 24, 2026), WHiSE 2.0 enrolled 356 Indigenous participants across Thunder Bay, Sudbury, and Sault Ste. Marie and collected interviewer-administered questionnaires between November 2022 and December 2024. "WHiSE 2.0 is the first prospective cohort study examining the harm reduction needs of Indigenous people using substances in northern Ontario, " states Verma et al., PLOS One (July 24, 2026).

• 356 participants were enrolled in WHiSE 2.0, with 173 in Thunder Bay, 101 in Sault Ste. Marie, and 82 in Sudbury, according to PLOS One (Verma et al., July 24, 2026).
• PLOS One (Verma et al., July 24, 2026) reports that 39.0% of participants slept on the street and 41.9% stayed at a friend or family home, highlighting high hidden and visible homelessness in November 2022–December 2024 data collection.
• PLOS One (Verma et al., July 24, 2026) documents harm reduction knowledge: 84.0% of participants reported knowing what harm reduction is and 94.8% knew where to access harm reduction services.
• PLOS One (Verma et al., July 24, 2026) reports varied substance use by site: overall 43.3% injected drugs and 92.1% smoked drugs in the three-month recall window reported in the study.

What happened: WHiSE 2.0 administered a 119-question interviewer-led questionnaire to Indigenous people who used substances, with data collection staged across sites from February 2023 to December 2024, according to PLOS One (Verma et al., July 24, 2026).

The PLOS One cohort profile (Verma et al., July 24, 2026) explains eligibility criteria: self-identified Indigenous identity, residence in Thunder Bay, Sudbury, or Sault Ste. Marie, substance use in the past three months, age 16+, English comprehension, and informed consent.

The PLOS One paper (Verma et al., July 24, 2026) documents REDCap as the data collection platform, pre-testing and piloting with Indigenous community members, and purposive plus snowball sampling to meet site-specific targets (target n = 185 Thunder Bay, n = 100 Sudbury, n = 100 Sault Ste. Marie).

The PLOS One article (Verma et al., July 24, 2026) emphasizes Indigenous data governance: the study implemented OCAP and CARE principles and restricted access to de-identified data pending review by an Indigenous Advisory Committee.

Implication: researchers running community-led mixed-methods cohorts should combine rapid quantitative summaries with systematic qualitative coding to surface culturally specific themes efficiently. PLOS One (Verma et al., July 24, 2026) reports interviewer-administered surveys with open-ended responses and a planned mixed-methods analysis, creating data that benefits from integrated text and numeric analysis.

PLOS One (Verma et al., July 24, 2026) shows that 71.3% of participants engaged in ceremonies, so researchers should prioritize coding for cultural themes and linking those themes to harm reduction practices in a way that preserves Indigenous governance.

PLOS One (Verma et al., July 24, 2026) documents small cell suppression rules (cells < 5), so evaluators must plan de-identification and tiered-access workflows before sharing datasets with analysts.

WHiSE 2.0, as reported in PLOS One (Verma et al., published July 24, 2026), provides a clear example where interviewer-administered quantitative surveys and open-ended responses create both opportunity and work for qualitative analysts.

AI-enabled qualitative research tools can accelerate thematic coding, preserve governance workflows, and link numeric trends (for example 356 participants and 84.0% harm reduction knowledge reported in Verma et al., July 24, 2026) to quotations and program recommendations.

If you run community-based mixed-methods studies and want a secure, governance-aware platform to scale analysis, explore how Evidano integrates thematic, frequency, and cross-segment analysis with encrypted workflows and role-based access.

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