ThursdayJul 14 at 4:51pm
Manage Discussion EntryResearchers have created computer data analysis software, making it easier to store data. The software is a form of electronic coding that requires Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS). QDA software offers tools to assist qualitative research, such as recursive abstraction, grounded theory methodology, discourse analysis, content analysis, transcription analysis, and coding and text interpretation (Predictive Analysis Today, 2016).
Yet researchers have hinted that you cant substitute the computer software for the manual when it comes to complex processes of reading and interpretation. Researchers also argue that computer software can give automatic solutions to an evaluation (Davis,2009). Hand coding gets seen as more valuable by some researchers because hand-coding only involves writing and outlining functional and directional codes. The only tools necessary for this type of coding are pen, paper, note cards, a hard copy of the transcripts, and artifacts or documents to be coded (Meyer & Avery, 2008).
However, a disadvantage of hand-coding is that it does not allow the coder to see the full scope and extent of what can come from their data sets compared to a software program. And hand coding can take more time when it comes to finding coded data which could be a little overwhelming. I would or could use the QDA Miner, which gets used for qualitative and mixed-method software. The QDA aids in organizing, coding, and analyzing data. The QDA offers a free and paid version, so I think it's great to use as a starter.
Thanks,
Renalta
References
Davis, N. W., & Meyer, B. B. (2009). Qualitative data analysis: A procedural comparison.Journal of Applied Sport Psychology,21(1), 116-124.
Meyer, D. Z., & Avery, L. M. (2008). Excel as a Qualitative Data Analysis Tool. Field Methods, 21(1), 91-112. doi:10.1177/1525822x08323985
Predictive Analysis Today. (2016). Top 21 free qualitative data analysis software. Retrieved from http://www. Predictiveanalyticstoday.com/top-free-qualitative-data-analysis software/
ThursdayJul 14 at 9:59pm
Manage Discussion Entry
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a computer program (CAQDAS) versus doing the analysis manually?
Manual analysis is prone to bias and does not gauge the amount of data generated. When manually analyzing the data, you must read through the data, assign codes, categorize the codes, and identify the themes. The manual analysis also allows the exploration of different interpretations of the data analysis. Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) was designed to create efficient qualitative data analysis modes (Creswell & Poth, 2017 & Davis & Meyer, 2009) Many social scientists are continuously advocating for the manual data analysis technique. Manual techniques allow the researchers to be flexible in the coding of the data and to concentrate on the depth and meaning of the data. However, as an alternative to manually analyzing data, computer-assisted qualitative data analysis systems have been created to help a researcher in the data analysis process (Creswell & Poth, 2017 & Davis & Meyer, 2009) CAQDAS has both advantages and disadvantages over using the manual process for data analysis. Despite the positive feedback, QDAS approaches are more time-costly than other data coding and analysis methods and have not generated superior results. Applying simple quantification techniques such as keywords, word counts, and hierarchical coding does not adequately address the ambiguities of social interaction or context-dependent meaning sets within a manual analysis. (Creswell & Poth, 2017 & Davis & Meyer, 2009). Using a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis system makes coding, and other aspects of data analysis simpler.
Advantages:
Using computer-assisted qualitative data analysis systems augments the capacity to play around with the data. CAQDAS programs assist in the development of organizing systems and builds and construct theories. Using these programs also allows researchers to explore Different possibilities for analyzing and interpreting data and will enable the creation and sharing of large sets of data (Creswell & Poth, 2017 & Davis & Meyer, 2009) When CAQDAS are employed in the data analysis process, secondary data analysis can occur, and the facilitation of group projects is made feasible. Coding becomes less complex, and memos can be linked to the text. Qualitative data analysis software enables efficient handling and management of large data sets, thus removing the researcher's hard work. There are other advantages to using QDAS like being freed from manual and clerical tasks, saving time, increased flexibility, and improved validity and suitability of qualitative research (Creswell & Poth, 2017, Cypress, 2019 & St John & Johnson, 2000).
Files are provided, organized, and stored systematically, materials are easier to locate, and they offer the opportunity to examine the data more extensively. A clear representation of themes and codes is produced, and data analysis and sharing are feasible (Creswell & Poth, 2017, Cypress, 2019 & St John & Johnson, 2000). Using qualitative data analysis software promotes freedom from manual and clerical tasks, saving time, dealing with large amounts of qualitative data, having increased flexibility, and having improved validity and suitability of qualitative research. The themes, patterns, and codes can be linked together and are readily available using hyperlinks to obtain the information (Creswell & Poth, 2017, Cypress, 2019 & St John & Johnson, 2000). The computer-assisted programs save time, are flexible, and augment the reliability and validity of the data.
Disadvantages:
The disadvantages of using computer-assisted qualitative data analysis systems include the possibility of distance and hindrance of creativity, which interferes with data analysis. Such program users can create constraints as computer programs change without warning, which may be hard for implementing necessary changes (Creswell & Poth, 2017, Cypress, 2019 & St John & Johnson, 2000). The programs often offer limited guidance for the analysis process and may require time and effort to set up and organize. Learning the program and how it is used is time sensitive. The researcher may not understand what programs are appropriate for their analysis needs (Creswell & Poth, 2017, Cypress, 2019 & St John & Johnson, 2000). The researcher must thoroughly know the software capacity to understand how the computer-assisted qualitative data analysis system can appropriately facilitate the data analysis process (Creswell & Poth, 2017, Cypress, 2019 & St John & Johnson, 2000). Issues with coding, such as a lack of flexibility in coding that appears in manual coding, are feasible with CAQDAS use.
There is the possibility of a computer malfunctioning. Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis system programs also weigh heavily on the trustworthiness and soundness of the qualitative data analysis. These program processes can be increasingly deterministic and rigid (Creswell & Poth, 2017, Cypress, 2019 & St John & Johnson, 2000). The privilege of coding and retrieving methods are reduced. Unlike in manual analysis, the abstract may be represented as concrete, giving factual content and forming concepts and ideas presented by the research and the data (Creswell & Poth, 2017, Cypress, 2019 & St John & Johnson, 2000). Additionally, using these systems to analyze data in qualitative research augments the pressure to emphasize the volume and depth of the data as opposed to the depth and meaning of the data (Creswell & Poth, 2017, Cypress, 2019 & St John & Johnson, 2000). A computer-assisted qualitative data analysis system distracts the researcher from understanding how data analysis is executed and its authentic functioning.
What are some CAQDAS that you might like to explore and why?
CMNTY:The program supports qualitative research by offering several ways to collect data, promotes interactions with participants individually or collectively, and allows data to be obtained for future aggregation, manipulation, and representation. This tool can be used to stater the research project and collect data in a short time over one to three days. The tool provides suitable methods that allow the exportation of the data to other sources for analysis to provide relevant answers to questions about the research.
MAXQDA 2022: the program is not onlyintuitive but appears to be less complex and efficient. The program seems easy to learn and is said to be capable of effectively working. Some simple, appealing features include choosing from an extensive color palette for codes and easily printing off the margin display. The focus-group import function is a powerful and efficient feature that allows the automatic coding of repeated speaker sections in focus-group transcripts, group interviews, and other data where repeated structures exist within the data. There is no extra burden on data preparation, and you can link responses by the same participant from two different data sources, such as a focus group and a survey or an interview and observations. The sets of documents and codes are beneficial, as is the ability to save combinations of states of activations, turning what might be a complex multiple-step query operation into a simple and intuitive process.
NVivo (Release 1.0):The tool offers options to create indirect, parallel, or possibly synchronized notes alongside the media. The multimedia dimensions in NVivo currently provide a good range of tools allowing the user to work directly by coding, annotating the data, or indirectly coding and annotating notes about the data. Sentiment and theme coding are presented to offer alternative ways to explore data content. Auto-coding allows speaking as a straightforward way of creating cases to represent units of analysis, requiring limited data preparation. When more than one level of analytic unit needs to be auto-coded, this is enabled by the additional use of heading levels, which offers unique opportunities to capture multiple levels of structure in qualitative data. Overall, this tool is worth trying because it provides alternative ways of coding and linking the data, which is particularly suitable for certain types of data analysis.
References
CMNTYhttps://www.cmnty.comLinks to an external site.
Cypress B. S. (2019). Data Analysis Software in Qualitative Research: Preconceptions, Expectations, and Adoption.Dimensions of critical care nursing: DCCN,38(4), 213–220.https://doi.org/10.1097/DCC.0000000000000363Links to an external site.
Davis, N. W., & Meyer, B. B. (2009). Qualitative data analysis: A procedural comparison.Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 21(1), 116–124.https://doi.org/10.1080/10413200802575700Links to an external site.
St John, W., & Johnson, P. (2000). The pros and cons of data analysis software for qualitative research.Journal of nursing scholarship: an official publication of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing,32(4), 393–397.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1547-5069.2000.00393.xLinks to an external site.
The University of Surrey. (2022).Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis (CAQDAS) Networking ProjectLinks to an external site.
ResourcesLinks to an external site..https://www.surrey.ac.uk/computer-assisted-qualitative-data-analysis/resources/choosing-appropriate-caqdas-package
9:52pmJul 16 at 9:52pm
Manage Discussion EntryCAQDAS vs. manual analysis
There are a number of computer programs that can help facilitate qualitative data analysis (QDA).
What are the advantages
"How the researcher intends to use the computer program for organizing, coding, sorting, representing the data interpretations is a key consideration. This is because, in our view, a computer program simply provides the researcher the means for storing the data and easily accessing the coded segments of data. We feel that computer programs are most helpful with large databases, such as 500 or more pages of text, although they can have value for small databases as well. Although using a computer may not be of interest to all qualitative researchers, there are several advantages to using them. A computer program does the following:
Provides an organized storage file system for ease of retrieval. The researcher can easily manage data files, memos, and diagrams stored systematically in one place by creating a vessel in which to contain the project and bound the search. In our experience, this aspect becomes especially important in locating entire cases or cases with specific characteristics.Helps locate material with ease for the purposes of sorting. The researcher can quickly search and locate materials for sorting—whether this material is an idea, a statement, a phrase, or a word. In our experience, no longer do we need to cut and paste material onto file cards and sort and resort the cards according to themes. No longer do we need to develop an elaborate “color code” system for text related to themes or topics. The search for text can be easily accomplished with a computer program. Once researchers identify categories in grounded theory, or themes in case studies, the names of the categories can be searched using the computer program for other instances when the names occur in the database.Encourages a researcher to look closely at the data. By reading line by line and thinking about the meaning of each sentence and idea, the researcher engages in an active reading strategy. In our experience, without a program, the researcher is likely to casually read through the text files or transcripts and not analyze each idea carefully.Produces visual representations for codes and themes. The concept-mapping feature of computer programs enables the researcher to visualize relationships among codes and themes useful for interpreting. In our experience, interactive modeling features allows for exploring relationships and building theory through a visual representation that was often included in the final reporting.Links memos with codes, themes, or documents for ease of reviewing. A computer program allows the researcher to easily retrieve memos associated with codes, themes, or documents through the use of hyperlinks. In our experience, enabling the researcher to “see” the coded segments within the original document is important for verifying interpretations.Enables collaborative analysis and sharing among team members. A computer program facilitates access to analysis files and communication among team members who may be geographically dispersed. In our experience, without a program, researchers might complete work independently without a common purpose or use of common codes that are difficult to integrate."
disadvantages of using a computer program (CAQDAS) versus doing the analysis process manually?
"The disadvantages go beyond their cost because using computer programs involves the following:
Requires a time investment for learning how to set up and run the program. The researcher invests time and resources in learning how to run the program. This is sometimes a daunting task that is above and beyond learning required for understanding the procedures of qualitative research. Granted, some people learn computer programs more easily than do others, and prior experience with programs shortens the learning time. Working with different software may require learning different terminology and procedures. In our experience, we could get up and running the basic functions (files import, memoing) quickly across programs but found gaining proficiency in the specific search, retrieval, and diagramming features to be time consuming.Interferes with the analysis by creating distance and hindering creativity. Some researchers note concerns with positioning a machine between the researcher and actual data to producing an uncomfortable distance or hindering the creative process of analysis (e.g., Bazeley & Jackson, 2013; Gibbs, 2014; Hesse-Biber & Leavy, 2010). To mitigate some of these concerns, in our work with research teams, we have used a hybrid approach using computers for management and eventually coding, but the initial code development was undertaken through making margin notes on paper transcripts.Makes implementing changes, for some individuals, a hindrance. Although researchers may see the categories developed during computer analysis as fixed, they can be changed in software programs—called recoding (Kelle, 1995). Some individuals may find changing the categories or moving information around less desirable than others and find that the computer program slows down or inhibits this process. In our experience, we like the ability to make changes efficiently but we aware that some programs changes are difficult to undo.Offers, for the most part, limited guidance for analysis. Instructions for using computer programs vary in their ease of use and accessibility, although this is a growing area of interest with specific books and videos available to help the new learner. For example, see the discussion about computer applications in grounded theory (Corbin & Strauss, 2015), or with steps in pattern analysis (Bazeley, 2013).Places the onus on the researcher to select appropriate programs for their needs. The challenge for researchers is learning about the unique features offered by computer programs. In our work, we have found it sometimes difficult to predict what features will be most important. Gilbert, Jackson, and di Gregorio (2014) lament the focus on program choice when researchers are better served by asking, “what analytical tasks will I be engaged in, and what are the different ways I can leverage technology to do them well” (p. 221)?
What are some CAQDAS that you might like to explore and why?
I would want to explore
"ATLAS.ti (http://www.atlasti.com).
This program enables you to organize your text, graphic, audio, and visual data files, along with your coding, memos, and findings, into a project. Further, you can code, annotate, and compare segments of information. You can drag and drop codes within an interactive margin screen. You can rapidly search, retrieve, and browse all data segments and notes relevant to an idea and, importantly, build unique visual networks that allow you to connect visually selected passages, memos, and codes in a concept map. Data can be exported to programs such as SPSS, HTML, XML, and CSV. This program also allows for a group of researchers to work on the same project and make comparisons of how each researcher coded the data. Freise (2014) offers a useful resource specific to the features offered by ATLAS.ti, and a demonstration software package is available to test out this program, which is described by and available from Scientific Software Development in Germany."
Due to it can take what I have and make it better organized
Digital Resource
Creswell. J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2017).Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4thd ed). Retrieved from https://redshelf.com
Links to an external site.