I just wanted to clarify a point that's usually overlooked - none of the qualitative software discussed here (nVivo, Atlas.ti, Maxda, dedoose. nudist) actually "analyze" the data for you in the way that quantitative software does. They are more tools for systematically organizing, coding, annotating, visualizing, etc. In essence, you are still doing the analysis yourself, just using the software for assistance in managing and exploring the data. This chart provides a good (though slightly outdated) comparison of what each of the QDA programs are better suited for, depending on what kind of data you're analyzing, what you want to do with it, how much time you have to learn the software, etc: http://website.education.wisc.edu/qdatools/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Software-Comparison.pdf.  In my experience nVivo is most widely used; though it's relatively pricey - there are some open-source packages too.

(For quantitative analysis of qualitative data, regressions etc, if you're even interested in doing those - and a lot of people explicitly are not -  you would  probably be best off learning R).

I did not use it, but NUDIST is one of good softwares to analyze qualitative data.

The NUDIST qualitative data analysis system

Tom Richards

, Lyn Richards

Hi Dr. Puri,

Similar to quantitative data analysis software, there are a variety of different software packages you can use and consideration needs to be given to the size of your dataset, the cost of the software license, the size/type of team you have, your coding/analysis approach, the support services you might need, and much more. And similar to quant software, while there may be commonly-used programs that might be deemed as credible/common (e.g., NVivo, ATLAS.ti), they ultimately are tools that facilitate an analytic approach that you as the user ultimately conceptualizes and executes.

I especially like open-source equivalents of many of the commonly used programs, particularly if you're new to the qual. analysis world (e.g., Weft QDA: http://www.pressure.to/works/weft-qda/).

This is a website I often point people to who are weighing these various considerations: https://medanth.wikispaces.com/Choosing+a+Qualitative+Data+Analysis+Software+Program

And here's some links on Atlas.ti and NVivo, programs I personally prefer, that can give you a sense of what it's like to work with the software.

Atlas.ti: http://www.atlasti.com/videos.html

NVivo: http://www.qsrinternational.com/learning/nvivo-tutorials

Hope this helps.

Marvin

Dear Dr Puri,

NVivo version 10 is the best for your said purpose.

Regards

Dear Dr Puri,

the previous are software for contents analysis. You also have the possibility to perform lexical analysis thtough Iramuteq (http://www.iramuteq.org/)

Best wishes

Both NVivo and Atlas.ti are great but if budget is a concern (such as teaching qualitative research to students or doing a project with multiple analyzers with limited or no budget) free version of QDA does miracles.

NVivo 10. Best wishes.

I would go for NVivo and Atlas.ti

I also would recommend NVivo 11. It is designed to look like Miscrosoft Word so its intuitive to use.

I am partial to Maxqda because I find the features allow me to integrate qualitative and quantitative data as well as develop a clear audit trail for my project.

I vote for NVivo 10

I also vote for Nvivo 10

NVivo 10

NVivo

Out of doubt Atlas.ti is the best. Especially for big data

Dear Friends, 

Thank you so much for all your responses. Majority of you have suggested NVivo 10 or 11 and ATLAS. I also got a few open source link. I am overwhelmed with your responses. Thank you so much for your time to respond to my query. Chanrakant Puri 

Hi, there is RQDA, based on R, which is free and run in many OS. I used it a couple of times, and is good for coding, taking notes, and other functions.

Different software will be suitable for different aims, and resources (OS, money).

Dear  Puri  Sir,

As I am a research scholar  and attending NVIVO  workshop  I strongly recommend  NVIVO for the qualitative analysis 

Versions of this question have been asked here numerous times, and the general conclusion is that all of the major software packages do pretty much the same thing, so the choices between ATLAS, Dedoose, MAXQDA, and NVivo comes down to person preference. In particular, they overlap quite heavily in terms of the features they offer, and most of the differences are in the "look and feel" of the interface.

All of these programs have websites that include tutorials and downloadable trial programs, so I suggest you take a look for yourself.

As for the popularity of NVivo, I personally think that is more due to superior marketing rather than superiors software. I have never seen a head-to-head review of these various packages where one came out as a winner. Instead, the choices seems to be based on finding your own individual preference.

i think Atlas ti will be good.

I like maxqda

Nvivo is better for qualitative data analysis

Thank you Dr. So and Dr. Manel for your inputs. Regards.

Nvivo 10

Hi Vernita -  I agree with those who suggest NVIVO 10.  I am also utilizing this software.  Edie

I just wanted to clarify a point that's usually overlooked - none of the qualitative software discussed here (nVivo, Atlas.ti, Maxda, dedoose. nudist) actually "analyze" the data for you in the way that quantitative software does. They are more tools for systematically organizing, coding, annotating, visualizing, etc. In essence, you are still doing the analysis yourself, just using the software for assistance in managing and exploring the data. This chart provides a good (though slightly outdated) comparison of what each of the QDA programs are better suited for, depending on what kind of data you're analyzing, what you want to do with it, how much time you have to learn the software, etc: http://website.education.wisc.edu/qdatools/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Software-Comparison.pdf.  In my experience nVivo is most widely used; though it's relatively pricey - there are some open-source packages too.

(For quantitative analysis of qualitative data, regressions etc, if you're even interested in doing those - and a lot of people explicitly are not -  you would  probably be best off learning R).

I recommend Nvivo 11 for qualitative data analysis

Nvivo

Dear Dr. Tamara, thank you for your narration. The piece of information you shared was useful to me. Regards.

Nvivo

Nvivo 11

I recommend ATLAS.ti V7. I used it during my dissertation research and it helped me A LOT when I had to make a qualitative data analysis. You should also check "Qualitative Data Analysis with ATLAS.ti" (https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/qualitative-data-analysis-with-atlasti/book242124) by Susanne Friese. It could be a good reference to understand CAQDAS.

Tamara summed up the issues very well.

I'll just add one more point about quantitative analysis / lexicology and the R software : I use Iramuteq, which is an extension for R. It's designed for statistical analysis of textual datas. You don't have to learn R, the extension works in its own window and interface (but could be challenging at the beggining). 

Otherwise, i'm more satisfied with MAXQDA than NVivo : more user friendly (but that is quite personnal), and you can code directly the audio recording without transcription.

While options like Nvivo, MAXQDA and Atlas.ti are commonly used, they can have a steep learning curve and are pricey. For many people learning for the first time and needing just basic qualitative analysis software, I recommend the tool we developed called Quirkos (http://www.quirkos.com).

However as Tamara points out, it is still a manual process and there is a lot to learn. This article explains some of the basic steps: http://www.quirkos.com/blog/post/qualitative-analysis-software-101-guide

I would vote for ATLAS.ti

I am using NVivo 11 and as Tamara noted, the software provides assistance in organizing the data and allowing you to make analytical decisions.  There is a good amount of manual cutting and pasting to do

Have you looked at QDA Miner Lite? I'm considering using it for my qualitative data analysis for my dissertation. It can be found @: https://provalisresearch.com/products/qualitative-data-analysis-software/freeware/.

Thanks Tamara for your elaborated response.

Atlas has network views which are very essential to my comparative analysis. NVIVO doesn't have this function yet. Booo!

I highly recommend QDA Miner. It's easier and offers more computer assistance to code faster and provides more analysis features. You can also add WordStat and do some "automatic" or "semi-automatic" qualitative coding and analysis. By combining QDA Miner and WordStat you have all the essential tools to analyze any amount of textual data. Here is a link to visit their website: https://provalisresearch.com/

Statwing, recently acquired by Qualtrics, is now Qualtrics iQ™.

It provides great analysis with "statsiQ" and "textiQ" using machine learning and AI to manage millions of responses and turn it into meaningful feedback. Includes sentiment analysis, key driver analysis, and more. https://www.qualtrics.com/iq/

Top 16 Qualitative Data Analysis Software in 2018

https://www.predictiveanalyticstoday.com/top-qualitative-data-analysis-software/

Hello Dr. Chandrakant Puri,

As the researchers mentioned above, there are some software packages to do qualitative analysis including Nvivo, Atlas.ti, MAXQDA..... Each of which has some pros and cons. For example for second languages (Like Farsi), Nvivo is useless, even it has strong capabilities in terms of operating on coding or photos and videos. I have used both Nvivo and MAXQDA . Nvivo is good for languages that alphabets are like English language and MAXQDA is very nice for those languages that their alphabets are not similar to English language.

Considering my experiences in MAXQDA, coding (open coding, substantial coding,...) to create the themes are visible in the desktop window, you can see all that you have done (I think like Atlas.ti). However in Nvivo (any version 9,10,..) the coding are in the back and are not visible. Additionally, in Nvivo there are so many smart capabilities such as accessibility to previous coding and creating Excel files, and drawing the model. Coding with MAXQDA is so easy for beginners; however, coding with is so boring due to so many times to activate the previous codes to create new codes and then deactivate them again.

Anyway, I recommended these two software packages based on my experiences although it is better to look carefully at the comments you have received.

Hope this helps,

Best,

This answer can be based only on personal preferences - I prefer MaxQDA - but this paper provides more objective arguments on the comparison of MaxQDA and NVIVO:

Oliveira, M., Bitencourt, C., Teixeira, E., & Santos, A. C. (2013, July). Thematic content analysis: Is there a difference between the support provided by the MAXQDA® and NVivo® software packages. In Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Research Methods for Business and Management Studies (pp. 304-314).

Thank you for your response.

Dear Dr. Puri,

I think NVivo and Atlasti are quite handy. In addition, they could also be used to analyze quantitative data.

Best,