But unless you are analyzing massive amounts of data, and data that you collected from a distance, then I would question the decision to use software. If you just have a bunch of social media posts or answers to open-ended questions, then absolutely use the software. Whether to use software or not, to me, depends in part on the type of research you have conducted. Second, I think there are philosophical questions to address when considering using software. You have to, as it were, train the software how to code your data. First, let me state the obvious point-which you may well already know: no software program is going to replace the need for you to read and open code your data. Having said that, let me play Devil's advocate on the issue of using QDA software. The third type of software – theory building software – usually provides the features of the first two, but adds to the inventory of features by being able to establish relationships between categories and codes, assemble higher order categories with developed abstraction, and develop and test hypotheses. These retrieve and code programs operate in a manner similar to, although much more efficient, those systems developed by ‘paper and pen’ researchers. The categories can then be compared and manipulated. These codes can then be accumulated into categories. The second group add to the functionality of the first by being able to tag retrieved information with identifiers or codes. They will locate keywords usually using a Boolean interface, they can then extract these extended pieces of data as well as doing other functions like counting retrieved phrases. The first group – retrieval only – provides functions that are more akin to a search engine. Some will only retrieve text, others will enable users to both retrieve and code the text, while a final group will assist users in retrieval, coding and theory building. Qualitative data analysis software can be divided into three basic categories (DeNardo & Levers, 2002, 4).
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