1. Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis
What is CAQDAS?
Stands for:
Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis
Examples of software:
Atlas-ti
Winmax
NVivo
NUDIST
Developed in late 1980s.
Why would we wish to use these programmes? Why not do it all by hand?
Because of the nature of qualitative data

2. Nature of qualitative data
largely unstructured
mostly text-based:
transcribed interviews
transcribed discussions
field notes
other written documents (e.g. observations and records of meetings etc.)
If you imagine you have conducted 30 interviews - each 1 hour long (some 60 pages). = 2000pages of text.
Sorting and classifying becomes an unwieldy task
Tell you about some of the basic principles underlying qualitative research
Go and read the theory yourself. See reading list.

3. Tasks involved Defining concepts
Mapping the range, nature and dynamics of phenomena
Creating typologies
Finding associations
Seeking explanations
Developing new ideas, theories or strategies
[Ritchie and Spencer (1994)]
Hand out (Ritchie and Spencer page 176)
For applied policy research:
Defining concepts: understanding internal structures
Mapping the range, nature and dynamics of phenomena
Creating typologies : categorizing different types of attitudes, behaviours, motivations
Finding associations: between experiences and attitudes, between attitudes and behaviours, between circumstances and motivations
Seeking explanations: explicit or implicit
Developing new ideas, theories or strategies

4. Coding
Recording your judgement about how chunks of your document are related to an idea, theme, or category
Various types:
creative: tentative ideas or thinking aloud
descriptive: storing and sorting data
citation: to identify illustrative quotes

5. How can CAQDAS help? Helps you to:
manage data (especially large quantities)
classify your data
stay close to your data
interrogate the data
Visually display

6. What does the acronym ATLAS.ti stand for?
“Archiv fuer Technik, Lebenswelt und Alltagssprache“ Translated: archive for "technology, the life world and everyday language“ The extension "ti" (pronounced TEE EYE) stands for “text interpretation” Project ATLAS ( ) of Technical University of Berlin Is the "birthplace" of a first prototype of the software