AI Tools for Qualitative Analysis: Gender Digital Exclusion

Evidano is an AI-powered qualitative data analysis platform that helps researchers analyze interviews, open-ended surveys, and documents. The primary keyword for this post is qualitative analysis of gender-based digital exclusion, aimed at qualitative researchers, NGOs, and policy teams who need reproducible thematic insights from participatory fieldwork. According to the PLOS One study published August 20, 2026, by Shahil-Feroz et al., a community-based participatory research (CBPR) protocol in Azam Basti, Karachi, combines photo-elicitation, role-play, focus groups, and co-design workshops to investigate why marginalized women lack meaningful online access. This post shows how AI-enabled workflows shorten the path from audio and visual field data to validated themes, cross-segment counts, and co-designed interventions.

Key Takeaways

PLOS One (Shahil-Feroz et al., 2026) documents a three-phase CBPR protocol to map sociocultural drivers of women's digital exclusion and co-design community solutions, and AI speeds the analytic steps that follow data collection.

The PLOS One protocol published August 20, 2026 plans approximately 36–45 participants across FGDs and interviews, with participant recruitment scheduled for August–November 2026.
According to the GSMA Mobile Gender Gap report 2024, women in Pakistan were 38% less likely than men to own a mobile phone or access mobile internet as reported in the PLOS One paper.
The research project is a two-year study starting February 2026 with funding of $70, 626 (SSHRC Insight Development Grant), and results are expected beginning in late 2027.

What happened and how the PLOS One protocol works

Answer: The PLOS One study protocol (Shahil-Feroz et al., 2026) lays out a three-phase CBPR design to identify sociocultural barriers and to co-design community-informed strategies for digital gender inclusion.

The PLOS One protocol specifies Phase 1 as forming a Community Advisory Committee (CAC) with community leaders, two marginalized women, and three family gatekeepers to co-lead the work, as described in the Methods section of the PLOS One article.

The PLOS One protocol specifies Phase 2 as conducting photo-elicitation focus group discussions (FGDs) with marginalized women and role-play FGDs with family gatekeepers and community leaders, plus 4–5 in-depth interviews per group, for a total sample of about 36–45 participants.

The PLOS One protocol specifies Phase 3 as three co-design workshops (8–10 participants each) to co-create 2–3 locally appropriate strategies; the PLOS One authors will analyze transcripts using reflexive thematic analysis with NVivo.

The PLOS One authors explicitly highlight "deeply entrenched sociocultural barriers" as central to the problem and recommend engaging "family gatekeepers and community leaders" to move beyond awareness campaigns, quotes from Shahil-Feroz et al., 2026.

Findings snapshot: dates, metrics, values, implications

Date	Metric	Value	Implication
August 20, 2026	Publication	PLOS One	Study protocol publicly available for methods reuse
2024	Mobile gender gap (Pakistan)	GSMA Mobile Gender Gap report 2024, women 38% less likely	Quantifies national disparity to motivate targeted interventions
February 2026	Project start	Two-year project funded with $70, 626 (SSHRC Insight Development Grant)	Funding and timeline permit multi-phase CBPR and iterative analysis
Aug–Nov 2026	Participant recruitment	Approx. 36–45 participants (FGDs + interviews)	Small purposive sample suitable for reflexive thematic analysis
Late 2027	Expected results availability	Findings and policy briefs expected	Provides a timeline for researchers and policymakers to plan uptake

Implications for qualitative researchers and program teams

Answer: The PLOS One protocol (Shahil-Feroz et al., 2026) implies that researchers must pair participatory field methods with transparent, auditable analysis pipelines so co-designed solutions can be validated with communities.

Researchers should expect small purposive samples (the PLOS One protocol lists ~36–45 participants) and plan analyses that support cross-group comparisons between marginalized women, family gatekeepers, and community leaders, as the PLOS One Methods recommend.

Program teams and NGOs should use the GSMA statistic (women 38% less likely to access mobile internet in Pakistan, GSMA Mobile Gender Gap report 2024) to justify resources for household- and community-level engagement rather than only supply-side digital literacy.

Policy teams should note that Pakistan ranked 145th out of 146 in the Global Gender Gap Index 2024 (World Economic Forum, cited in Shahil-Feroz et al., 2026) and that the PLOS One authors recommend engaging gatekeepers to change norms, not only to provide devices.

How Evidano helps: speeding reflexive thematic analysis and co-design translation

Problem: Audio, translation, and transcription backlog

Answer: Field teams following the PLOS One protocol will generate Urdu audio, photo-elicitation artifacts, and role-play videos that require timely transcription and translation for reflexive thematic analysis.

Evidano is an AI-powered qualitative data analysis platform that helps researchers analyze interviews, open-ended surveys, and documents, and Evidano offers transcription with a custom dictionary and PII redaction to convert Urdu audio into searchable text quickly. See the Evidano speech-to-text feature for automated transcription and the translation page for bilingual workflows.

Problem: Manual coding and cross-segment counts slow co-design

Answer: The PLOS One protocol calls for reflexive thematic analysis with two independent coders and co-analysis with a CAC, which can be slow if done entirely by hand.

Evidano accelerates coding by generating initial code suggestions, frequency counts, and cross-segment matrices so the research team can focus CAC time on interpretation and validation rather than repetitive coding; see Evidano features for thematic and cross-segment analysis.

Problem: Transparent audit trails and community validation

Answer: Participatory research like the PLOS One CBPR design requires auditable analysis so community advisory committees can review themes and memos.

Evidano stores encrypted transcripts and analytic memos, exports codebooks and audit trails for collaborative review, and supports visualizations (co-occurrence networks and hierarchical codes) useful for CAC review and policy briefs.

FAQ: qualitative analysis of gender-based digital exclusion

How many participants does the PLOS One protocol plan and why?

Answer: The PLOS One protocol plans approximately 36–45 participants across FGDs and interviews to reach theoretical saturation for reflexive thematic analysis.

Shahil-Feroz et al. (PLOS One, published August 20, 2026) specify two FGDs per participant group with 4–5 participants each and 4–5 in-depth interviews per group, explaining that final numbers will be adjusted based on saturation.

Which qualitative methods does the PLOS One protocol use?

Answer: The PLOS One protocol uses photo-elicitation, role-play FGDs, in-depth interviews, and co-design workshops within a CBPR framework.

Shahil-Feroz et al. (PLOS One, 2026) recommend photo-elicitation for marginalized women and role-play for gatekeepers to surface power dynamics and norms, with Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis applied to transcripts.

Can AI replace community advisory committee validation?

Answer: No, AI cannot replace CAC validation but AI can make the CAC's time more productive by preparing transparent summaries and visual evidence.

Shahil-Feroz et al. (PLOS One, 2026) emphasize co-analysis with the CAC; Evidano supports that workflow by exporting codebooks and visualizations for community review and by enabling searchable links from quotes to audio timestamps.

What evidence supports focusing on family gatekeepers?

Answer: The PLOS One authors argue that household decision-makers often control access to devices, so engaging family gatekeepers is essential to changing norms.

Shahil-Feroz et al. (PLOS One, 2026) write that interventions focusing only on individual-level literacy are insufficient and explicitly plan to involve male relatives and elderly women in co-design to shift household norms.

Conclusion & Next Steps

The PLOS One protocol (Shahil-Feroz et al., 2026) clarifies that understanding gender-based digital exclusion requires participatory methods, engagement with family gatekeepers, and transparent reflexive analysis.

Researchers and program teams following this protocol can use AI-enabled tools to shorten transcription time, produce reproducible thematic codebooks, and generate cross-segment evidence to validate co-designed interventions with communities.

If you run participatory qualitative projects like the PLOS One study and want faster, auditable analysis and visualizations for community validation, see Evidano features at Evidano features and try an account today.

Get started: Try Evidano for free.

Topics

qualitative analysis of gender-based digital exclusion
digital gender inclusion qualitative research
AI qualitative analysis Pakistan
thematic analysis digital gender gap

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