"O'Flaherty, Brian" wrote:
>
> Ian,
> A coding based, constant comparison method is central to Grounded Theory.
> Decision Explorer(DE) would not provide a Coding capability, for computer
> assisted development of coding schemes.
> These can be referential or interpretive codes, that aid data reduction
> etc., So the first coding phase of GT, i.e. opening coding, would not be
> supported by the software. It wouldn't naturally fall into the code and
> retrieval classification of Qual. analysis S/w. I would classify it as a
> cognitive mapping/ Network Analysis tool.
One of the things I like about Atlas.ti is that it includes a graphic
network-building facility. The networks you build are live -- the
relationships you build graphically become part of the database, and you
can search for (say) "All the quotations coded by a code that feeds into
this code."
If you build a graphic tree of "Dog" with "Weimaraner," "Jack Russell
Terrier" and "Australian Shepherd" feeding into the higher-level code
"Dog," a search for quotations that are "sub" Dog will find all the
quotations coded by the three breeds.
Atlas has a very nice mix of graphic and non-graphic tools, and they
interoperate (if that is a word). So you can do all the open coding of
Grounded Theory, and then move on to more abstract coding using either
graphic tools in a network view or menu choices. The result in the
database is the same.
Atlas is found at www.atlasti.de, and it is sold by Sage
(www.sagepub.com) worldwide.
Birrell Walsh
San Francisco
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