8/11 Tools to help manage data
Computer Aided Qualitative Data Analysis
There are also a number of tools that are collectively known as Computer Aided Qualitative Data AnalysiS (CAQDAS) tools. Examples of these are:
NVivo and Atlas-ti are tools for storing and retrieving data. They provide the tools to manage data, create codes and search text to aid the analysis of data. Common features are:
- Code and retrieve
- Text retrieval
- Relational networks
Atlas-ti, for example, includes the following concepts:
- Primary documents (textual, graphical, audio)
- Codes
- Quotations
- Memos
- Families
- Networks
The advantages of these tools are that they are e ffective storage systems which handle large amounts of data - without having to spread it all over the room!! Once established, these tools offer quick and easy access to analysing your data.
The disadvantages are that to get the best out of the system, tools like NVivo and Atlas-ti take little time to learn; inputting and coding the data can take quite a long time and once categories, codes etc have been established it may be hard to change them or you may be reluctant to do so (because it took so long to set up), for example if it becomes apparent that the analysis will not work properly, or if you decide to explore something in a different way later on.
Try this Atlas exercise in Word format. You will also need to save the following Text Files: LearningaSkill.txt and FindingaJob.txt.
Feeling more confident about data tools? Try this question:
What tools work best when managing and analysing large amounts of data?
Select all that apply:
Manual
Word tables
Databases
Atlas-ti
SPSS
NVivo
CAQDAS
These are the tools we would use:
Databases (databases are a good way of managing fairly large amounts of data. However, it takes time to learn how to use a database and to input the raw data)
Atlas-ti (it takes some time to learn how to use Atlas-ti is a powerful tool that has a lot of features to help with data management and analysis. However, it does take time to learn it and to input the raw data, so unless you are already quite competent, it is best to use this tool only for large amounts of data)
NVivo (NVivo is a powerful tool that has a lot of features to help with data management and analysis. However, it does take time to learn it and to input the raw data, so unless you are already quite competent, it is best to use this tool only for large amounts of data)
CAQDAS (this is the generic term for tools such as Atlas-ti and NVivo. These are very powerful tools that have a lot of features to help with data management and analysis. However, such tools take time to learn and to input the raw data, so unless you are already quite competent, it is best to use these tool only for large amounts of data)
How did you do?
