Hi all,

Can anyone recommend any effective freeware or cheap mac-compatible software to perform textual coding etc. I haven't used anything like this before. I've had Envivo and Q-something mentioned to me.

Do those of you that use this sort of software find that it saves you time is effective from the word go, or does it take some time/ training to get anything out of it? I have very little time, and not much of a head for very technical software (i.e. manuals are a no-go).

Thanks in advance for your advise..

PP :-)

I was taught how to use NVivo as part of a MSc module but to be honest I never got on with it that well as I think the use of technology removed my thoughts from the data, if that makes sense. However, I think that was due to the type of method that I am using (biographical narrative/discourse analysis); if I was using thematic analysis/grounded theory and interviewing 100s of participants it might have been more useful.

I also found it a bit over-complicated to use, but if I was going to use it for my PhD I may have been more inclined to get to grips with it, I just had to tick a few boxes to prove that I'd been on a training seminar!

I essentially used Nvivo to highlight phrases - so not that useful for me.

I was originally told to use the comment function in microsoft word. So for thematic analysis, you would highlight a section and code it by putting a brief description of the theme in the actual comment box/bubble you've added.

When you've done all that for every phrase you want to code and have loads of comments, you can then print it so just the comments print (there is an option in the print section) and then you can get your themes from that this output - hope that makes sense!

======= Date Modified 07 Jul 2010 21:10:30 =======
Hey!

Thanks to both of you for your useful thoughts. Yes, I'd been told about Nvivo very briefly, but as mine is only MA level, and the quantity of data is relatively small I was fearful of - as you say,Natassia- leading myself away from data that I could otherwise grapple with in a more intimate, hands on way. I really like the MS Word idea, Sneaks - I've never thought of using the comments in that way, and didn't know you could print them off on their own.

Just have to get on with my transcriptions now, then and will give that a go - will let you know how i get on...

Thanks x

Hey! I had a similar dilemma to you a year or so ago. My PhD is mainly quantitative, but I am also doing 2 small qualitative studies, with 10 participants in each (30-90 minutes of interview per person), which I am analysing using a thematic methodology. I attended a conference related to the use of this methodology, and quite a few people said that if the amount of data was manageable then it was good to do your first qualitative analysis by hand (e.g. back to pen & paper, or rather print-outs, scissors and sellotape!) to get a good feel for how it's done. So I did, and I actually really enjoyed doing it- there is something about doing it by hand that gives you a very good grasp of the procedure, and I was glad I hadn't relied on software for my first analysis. Having said that, it would be completely unfeasible to do it by hand if you have a large set of data, and if you know that you are going to do this kind of analysis in the future, then it might be a good investment to learn to use the software. The one our department uses is NVivo, but I don't know much about it. I am planning to do my second analysis by hand as well- it isn't that much of a bind as long as you are organised and as I said, don't have a massive amount of data! Good luck with it! KB

I've got NVIVO 7 and 8 and tried using them both. Generally, I hated them. I've tried got Atlas-ti as well - hated that. Sneaks is right when she say that you can just use the comments on Word. That's what I did for one of my studies. I just used the highlighter function of words and comments to categorise things - and that was it. It worked really well and was much easier than using Nvivo. I'd also argue that it's every bit as effective, in terms of being close to your data, as using pen, paper and sellotape - only it's less messy. I was still cutting and pasting, making sense, moving things around - only it was all on screen. If you have little time and not much of a head for technical software (i.e. me), then I think it's the way to go. Of course, as Keenbean has said, if the amount of data you have is quite small (I.e. 10-15 interviews of around 1 hours duration), and you have enough floor/wall space, then use pen and paper. I only say that because I know of someone who had that much data for a thesis and did IPA-based thesis.

if you are mid-transcribing, I advise using 'transcription buddy' - available for free from download.com (well its a 30 day trial, but you can uninstall and reinstall it and it works fine again after the 30 days). If you use it - use the automatic pauses function in the view menu - invaluable!

Hi all,

sorry I've not replied for a few days. I've come up with a fever/ infection, which has given me the heinous excuse to graze on BBC iPlayer instead of sorting out my transcription.

KB - thanks for the heads up with Transcription Buddy. Unfortunately, the download I've tried (version 4.0) doesn't seem to be Mac compatible. Do you (or anyone else) know of an OSx version?

Thanks again for all your help! Really need to get my act together now...

ah no - sorry, my bro had the same thing. Maybe try something similar that has variable pauses?