Access helpful advice from the experts about doing research with the software.

Translating the Process of Open / Initial Coding In Grounded Theory

In this article, I show how to translate the Strauss /Corbin open coding process in ATLAS.ti and I sketched out which functions can be used for initial and focused coding according to Charmaz

How to Make the Best of Codes in ATLAS.ti

In this article, I write about codes, all the things they can be, all the things they ought not to be, and the various blind allies one can find oneself trapped in if coding data just happens without first having planned how to approach it

Theme and category development in ATLAS.ti

In this article, I shown the process of building categories and sub codes when approaching analysis inductively.

Carrying out a computer-aided thematic content analysis with ATLAS.ti

There are many different methods in qualitative research and also many ways to approach the analysis of qualitative data. Even though nowadays, the use of Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) is widespread, usually in the books and papers that describe an approach, it is not explained how to implement the analysis using software; it is assumed that this is self-explanatory. This often leads to frustration when using an analysis package ((Weber 2014), up to the point where the analysis is given up and researchers return to paper and pencil. To work with CAQDAS, one must first know which requirements the chosen analysis approach has. Then one needs to be familiar with the features that the software offers. And thirdly, one needs to know how the individual methodological steps can be implemented. This paper shows how the phases of a selected Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) can be realized in a software-aided analysis. The sample project that is used here for illustration purposes was provided by Jacks Soratto and Denise Pires. It is about job satisfaction and the dissatisfaction of professionals working in the Family Health System in Brazil. The implementation is described by the CAQDAS expert Susanne Friese. Before presenting the implementation, the different approaches of TCA are presented, and the individual analysis phases are explained. This paper is the second in a series that describes how a qualitative data analysis approach can be implemented using computerized qualitative data analysis software. The first one was on how to conduct a Grounded Theory analysis with ATLAS.ti (Friese, 2016).

CAQDAS and Grounded Theory Analysis

In this paper, I show how the various steps of a Grounded Theory analysis can be conducted in a computer-assisted environment. As the Grounded Theory approach was developed before the event of CAQDAS (Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software), the various steps and procedures have been described for manual ways of analysis. In newer books one finds references to the effect that this can, of course, also be carried out in CAQDAS, but little detail is provided about how this can be done, as if it were self-explanatory. Based on my experience, this is not the case. Learning the various tools and features of a piece of software does not automatically teach the user which tool is the best fit for a certain process given a specific methodological framework. In writing this paper, I wanted to show how the various steps and procedures of the Strauss and Corbin approach to Grounded Theory can be translated for use in ATLAS.ti. The paper is organized into three parts. In the first part of this paper I discuss the sometimes-difficult relationship between qualitative researchers and software applications for data analysis and the use of various terminologies that might be causing common misunderstandings. The second part is rather brief, being simply a pointer to the NCT method of computer-assisted analysis. A full description and explanation of the method as a core process of computer-assisted analysis would go beyond the framework for this essay. Part three offers a practical application of the NCT method in combination with Grounded Theory methodology. I assume that the reader will be familiar with the basics of the grounded theory methodology as described by Strauss and Corbin and with ATLAS.ti or other CAQDAS and wishes to know how the methodological approach can be translated into software tools.