Dear John,
You wrote: “What I am needing are the special features that make
different qual software packages unique - . I have tried reading the
descriptions of the software, but they pretty much all read alike.”
Let me answer from both perspectives - the one of a researcher and the
one of a developer (I don’t want to hide away that I am from the
developer side of MAXqda – successor of winMAX).
Fortunately there is a range of standard features that all qualitative
packages offer to the researchers and the most elaborated of them share
a quite high ranking realisation of the central tools for qualitative
data analysis: Bringing the data into the software tool in a swift and
easy way. Allowing the researcher to analyse her/his data by providing
powerful and flexible tools to code his data, to run search procedures
in the data, to proceed in the analytical process by building and
“testing” theories, to keep track of his analytical ideas etc. which are
written down in memos. Thus your diagnosis of the similarity of the
software descriptions shows their agreement on the kernel tasks of
qualitative research.
Above that there are big and momentous differences between the packages
which result mainly from two sources:
What is the main focus of the package, which are the limits (which kind
of data can be analysed/what about the size of data sets/what about team
work facilities/openness vs. closeness to other software/restrictions
due to the data format/possibilities of researcher controlled data
reduction/lexical search options……..?)
How are the features carried out? Here you will find great differences
in terms of complexity, flexibility and handling (high vs. lower;
easily/intuitively vs. unwieldy/tricky). It is a bit like evaluating a
car – once you decided the basics you can have less or more luxury in
handling it – and you always have individual definitions of what
“luxuary” means. NOTE: Sometimes luxury may be more or less superfluous
– but sometimes it will really be essential for an excellent
performance!
I agree with you that an objective comparison of the different software
packages would be a very good thing for the user but you will find very
soon the limits of the objectivity. The possibilities of the software is
only one side of the fit - the other side is the researcher, and so it
is she or he who has to try out and find the tool which is a good fit
for her/his kind of data and his kind of analysis. So I would like to
encourage you to contact the developers, ask them about special needs
you have, how the software will handle it, try the demos and I am sure
you will find the differences which are important for you and which
make one package better for you than another one.
Best regards
Anne
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VERBI GmbH Software - Consult - Sozialforschung
Anne Kuckartz - Geschäftsführerin / Chief Executive Officer
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Tel.: ++49-6422-89 00 70
Fax: ++49-6422-89 00 71
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Website: www.maxqda.de (deutsch)
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-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: qual-software [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Im Auftrag von
John Kessler
Gesendet: Dienstag, 15. Oktober 2002 16:29
An: [log in to unmask]
Betreff: Qual Software Features
Hello
I am putting together some information about qualitative software.
What I am needing are the special features that make different qual
software packages unique. I have tried reading the descriptions of the
software, but they pretty much all read alike.
Information from personal experience would be greatly appreciated or if
anyone know of a site or document that has the special features of each
software spelled out that would be great.
Below is my initial list of software that I have been researching. If
there are any others that you feel I should look at, please let me know.
Ethnograph
NVIvo
C-I-Said
Atlas.it
HyperResearch
WinMAX
MAXqda
QSR N6
Thanks
John Kessler
Sr. Systems Designer
Caliber Associates
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