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Computer-assisted (or aided) qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) offers tools that assist with
qualitative research Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...
such as
transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, often th ...
analysis, coding and text interpretation, recursive abstraction,
content analysis Content analysis is the study of documents and communication artifacts, known as texts e.g. photos, speeches or essays. Social scientists use content analysis to examine patterns in communication in a replicable and systematic manner. One of the ...
,
discourse analysis Discourse analysis (DA), or discourse studies, is an approach to the analysis of written, spoken, or sign language, including any significant semiotic event. The objects of discourse analysis (discourse, writing, conversation, communicative sy ...
, grounded theory methodology, etc.


Definition

CAQDAS is used in
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
,
marketing research Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of qualitative data, qualitative and quantitative data, quantitative data about issues relating to marketing products and services. The goal is to identify and assess how chan ...
,
ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...
,
public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...
and other
social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...
. The CAQDAS networking project lists the following tools a CAQDAS program should have: * Content searching tools * Code grouping tools * Linking tools * Mapping or networking tools * Query tools * Alternative visual representation tools * Writing and
annotation An annotation is extra information associated with a particular point in a document or other piece of information. It can be a note that includes a comment or explanation. Annotations are sometimes presented Marginalia, in the margin of book page ...
tools


Comparison of CAQDAS software


Project Exchange Format

In 2019, the Rotterdam Exchange Format Initiative (REFI) launched a new open exchange standard for qualitative data called QDA-XML, however, the Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis (CAQDAS) Network Project had been formally established in 1994. The aim is to allow users to bring coded qualitative data from one software package to another. Support was initially adopted by Atlas.ti,
QDA Miner QDA Miner is mixed methods and qualitative data analysis software developed by Provalis Research. The program was designed to assist researchers in managing, coding and analyzing qualitative data. QDA Miner was first released in 2004 after be ...
, Quirkos and Transana, and has since been implemented into Dedoose, MAXQDA, NVivo and more. Although this was not the first standard to be proposed, it was the first to be implemented by more than one software package, and came as the result of a collaboration between vendors and community representatives from the research community. Previously there was very little capability to bring data in from other software packages.


Training

The CAQDAS Network Project hosts events on the use of CAQDAS packages for qualitative and mixed-methods analysis. They include: * fee-based in-person short courses * open-registration Webinars designed to raise awareness * open-registration Webinars that are methodological or pedagogical in nature * podcasts


Pros and cons

Such software helps to organize, manage and analyse information. The advantages of using this software include saving time, managing huge amounts of qualitative data, having increased flexibility, having improved validity and auditability of qualitative research, and being freed from manual and clerical tasks. Concerns include increasingly deterministic and rigid processes, privileging of coding, and retrieval methods; reification of data, increased pressure on researchers to focus on volume and breadth rather than on depth and meaning, time and energy spent learning to use computer packages, increased commercialism, and distraction from the real work of analysis.


See also

*
Comparison of survey software Software tools for surveys are varied, ranging from desktop applications to complex web systems for monitoring consumer behaviour. The tables includes general and technical information for notable Computer-assisted survey information collection ...
*
Idea networking Idea networking is a qualitative method of doing a cluster analysis of any collection of statements, developed by Mike Metcalfe at the University of South Australia. Networking lists of statements acts to reduce them into a handful of clusters or ...
*
Multimethodology Multimethodology or multimethod research includes the use of more than one method of data collection or research in a research study or set of related studies. Mixed methods research is more specific in that it includes the mixing of qualitative ...
* Computer Assisted Mixed Methods Research Analysis Software * Qualitative economics *
Qualitative marketing research Qualitative marketing research involves a natural or observational examination of the philosophies that govern consumer behavior. The direction and framework of the research is often revised as new information is gained, allowing the researcher to ...
*
Qualitative psychological research Qualitative psychological research is psychological research that employs qualitative methods. Qualitative research methodologies are oriented towards developing an understanding of the meaning and experience dimensions of human lives and their ...
*
Quantitative research Quantitative research is a research strategy that focuses on quantifying the collection and analysis of data. It is formed from a deductive approach where emphasis is placed on the testing of theory, shaped by empiricist and positivist philoso ...
*
Sampling (case studies) A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular fi ...
*
Sensemaking Sensemaking or sense-making is the process by which people give meaning to their collective experiences. It has been defined as "the ongoing retrospective development of plausible images that rationalize what people are doing" ( Weick, Sutcliffe, ...


References


-External links


The CAQDAS networking project
maintained by the University of Surrey offers advice and reviews on various software packages.
Harald Klein's comprehensive guide to CAQDAS
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