Home » Qualitative Data Analysis and Software

Qualitative Data Analysis and Software

A number of digital tools exist for collecting, collating and managing qualitative data. At the scale of a typical student project, these tools offer little benefit over a heavily annotated hard copy of your materials. When data collection includes sources other than secondary literature, though, these tools can make managing the data much easier. Large collections of primary sources, interview transcripts, and other materials can be tagged, coded, and otherwise manipulated in ways that standard numbers-based database software cannot easily handle.

If you are in a position where qualitative data software makes sense for your project, the first stop is to ask your librarian which, if any, tools are available to you. a number of online resources are available. NYU and Johns Hopkins have very useful starter guides, including a good comparison table on the NYU site and a helpful explainer that also considers Dedoose from George Mason. NYU’s page has a useful discussion of social media research and transcription tools. A number of universities and other groups have YouTube tutorials for each of the platforms; as I am not a user I cannot evaluate their usefulness, so I do not link to specific options here.

Archives

No archives to show.

Categories

  • No categories

Site contents (c) Leanne C. Powner, 2012-2026.
Background graphic: filo / DigitalVision Vectors / Getty Images.
Cover graphic: Cambridge University Press.

Powered by WordPress / Academica WordPress Theme by WPZOOM