Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis
Two packages named, nine features and concepts listed, eight of them undefined, and an advantages-and-disadvantages list whose first disadvantage reads as an advantage. The twenty-page set reading on exactly this topic was not supplied, and that is where the missing instruction sits.
The choice the notes actually pose
The study notes' section on tools splits in two: Manual and Electronic. Electronic then splits again, into word tables, databases and computer aided qualitative data analysis. The whole of the software treatment sits at the end of that branch, and the branch point is a single sentence.
HOW THE NOTES ORGANISE ANALYSIS TOOLS
| Branch | What it contains | How much the source says about it |
|---|---|---|
| Manual | Post-it notes · highlighter pens · paper division into categories and sub-categories | One sentence and a three-item list. No advantage or disadvantage is stated for it. |
| Electronic — word tables | A four-column worked table over a survey question | One worked table, treated at coding qualitative data in practice. No advantage or disadvantage is stated. |
| Electronic — databases | Storage and querying, with keyword filtering into categories and themes | Three sentences, one advantage, and a linked guide that is not supplied. |
| Electronic — CAQDAS | Two proprietary packages, three common features, six concepts | The longest of the four, and the only one given both advantages and disadvantages. |
The four branches are the source's. The right-hand column is this library's summary of how much material each one actually receives.
What the source says the software does
The notes introduce the category by acronym, expand it, and name two packages as examples. Both product names are omitted throughout this library. What the packages are said to do is quoted below in full — it is four lines, and it is the whole of the functional description.
THE FEATURES AND CONCEPTS, AND WHAT THE SOURCE SAYS ABOUT EACH
| Term, as printed | Where it sits | Defined in the supplied material? |
|---|---|---|
| Code and retrieve | Common feature of both packages | Named only |
| Text retrieval | Common feature of both packages | Named only |
| Relational networks | Common feature of both packages | Named only |
| Primary documents (textual, graphical, audio) | Concept in the second package | Named only |
| Codes | Concept in the second package | Defined three times in the week, in three ways that do not agree |
| Quotations | Concept in the second package | Named only |
| Memos | Concept in the second package | Named only — though the deck's glossary defines “Memoing”, without linking the two |
| Families | Concept in the second package | Named only |
| Networks | Concept in the second package | Named only |
“Not defined in source” means the term appears without a definition anywhere in the supplied material. The classification is this library's; the source offers none.
The advantages and disadvantages, exactly as printed
This is the only advantages-and-disadvantages pairing the week actually delivers. The section explicitly headed “Advantages and Disadvantages of Qualitative Data Analysis” states neither, so anyone weighing options in this week has this passage and nothing else — and it is defective.
Databases, and the guide behind the link
The database passage is three sentences long. It states one advantage — that data can be stored and queried in a number of ways — and one operation, that large amounts of data can be added and then keyword filtered to sort it into categories and themes. Its worked material is a guide to a desktop database program, offered as a hyperlink.
What the database passage states
- Data can be stored and queried in a number of ways — the one advantage given.
- Large amounts of data can be added and then keyword filtered, to sort it into categories and themes.
- A guide to a desktop database program is offered, as a hyperlink.
What it leaves out
- The linked guide is not supplied, so the section's only concrete database content cannot be checked.
- No disadvantage is stated, and no comparison is drawn with word tables or manual methods.
- The passage carries a typographical error — “could also be place into a database” — present in every capture and reproduced here rather than corrected.
Across the whole tools section, exactly two advantages are stated — the database's queryability and the software's storage capacity — and one set of disadvantages, for the software alone. Manual methods and word tables are given neither, so the section meant to help you choose supplies evidence on two of its four options. Its glossary terms are collected at terms used in qualitative data analysis.
What the slide adds, which is a pointer
The deck carries one slide on this, titled “Coding using computer based software”. Its body is quoted in full below. It is the last content slide of the week's first half, and it contains no software instruction of any kind: no screen, no menu, no operation, no coding pass and no interface element is shown or described.
The twenty pages that are missing
The week's activity list sets one chapter as required reading. Its title is “Computer assisted qualitative data analysis” and it runs to twenty pages. It is not in the supplied material — and it is the natural home of everything this page has had to record as absent.
The decision you actually face
Strip out what is not supplied and four considerations remain, all four of them stated by the source. They are enough to decide with, provided you do not mistake them for a complete list.
Weighing it up on the source's own four considerations
What to carry forward
- The source's only criterion for choosing software over paper is “large amounts of data”, and it never says how much that is.
- Nine features and concepts are named for the two packages and eight of them are never defined.
- The advantages-and-disadvantages passage is the only one the week delivers, and its first disadvantage is written as an advantage. It is reproduced unrepaired because the material gives no basis for choosing a repair.
- No screen, operation or worked coding pass appears anywhere. The twenty-page set reading on this exact topic is not supplied, and that is where the gap belongs.
- Decide on the four considerations the source does state — volume, set-up time, the cost of changing your mind, and the fact that manual work is explicitly permitted — and answer the licensing and export questions yourself.
Frequently asked questions
At what point should I move from paper to software?
The source's only answer is “large amounts of data”, and it never quantifies that — not in interviews, transcripts, pages, hours or respondents. The same unquantified phrase is used three times in the same section. You will have to set your own threshold and be able to justify it, because the material supplies none.
Which package should I use?
This library does not name products and the source's two examples are given at versions more than a decade old relative to the notes themselves. The useful content is the four considerations the source does state — data volume, set-up time, the difficulty of changing established categories, and the explicit permission to work manually.
Why is one of the disadvantages written as an advantage?
As printed, the first disadvantage says the tools “take little time to learn”, which is not a disadvantage. It was presumably meant to read “a little time” or “a long time”. Those repairs point in opposite directions and nothing in the material decides between them, so it is reproduced as printed and flagged.
Does the material show the software being used?
No. No screen, menu, operation, interface element or worked coding pass appears anywhere in the week. The slide on the topic is a pointer to a video that is not supplied, and the twenty-page set reading on computer assisted qualitative data analysis is also not supplied.
Is a database a reasonable alternative to a dedicated package?
The source names it as one of three electronic options and states one advantage — that data can be stored and queried in a number of ways, with keyword filtering into categories and themes. It states no disadvantage, draws no comparison, and its worked guide is behind a link that is not supplied.
Does the source define the software concepts it lists?
Only “Codes”, and that is defined three times in the same week in three ways that do not agree. Primary documents, quotations, memos, families and networks are named and left undefined, as are the three features common to both packages.
References and source attribution
- Supplied teaching source, Week 12: Analysing qualitative data — study notes, section 5, “Tools to help manage data”: the manual and electronic branches, the word table, the database passage and the computer aided qualitative data analysis passage, all quoted here from the supplied captures.
- Supplied teaching source, Week 12 — slide deck, slide 15, “Coding using computer based software”, quoted in full including its ungrammatical first sentence.
- Supplied teaching source, Week 12 — slide 27, the activities list, which sets a twenty-page chapter titled “Computer assisted qualitative data analysis” as required reading. That chapter is not supplied with the material.
- Supplied teaching source, Week 12 — slide 9, the eleven-term glossary, source of the definition of “Memoing” that the notes' “Memos” is never linked to.
- The study notes carry a blanket sourcing line to a third-party academic study-skills website archive. Product names in the original have been removed throughout this library and are not reproduced.
Suggested questions for Ask KEVOS
- How much data is “large amounts of data”, and does the source ever say?
- What does the supplied material actually state about qualitative analysis software?
- Help me build a case for analysing my interview data manually.
- What should I ask a software vendor that this material does not cover?
- Which terms in the software passage are defined anywhere in the supplied source?