ATLAS.ti: The Qualitative Data Analysis Workbench An overview Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD Applied cultural anthropologist Director of the ATLAS.ti Training Center Greenville, North Carolina, United States

The Company Based in Berlin, Germany. First commercial release in Currently in release 7 (June 2012). Native Mac version to be released in mid © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD

What is ATLAS.ti? Software that assists in the process of qualitatively analyzing research data. Data collected through unstructured or semi-structured methods of data collection. The researcher is in control of the analysis process. © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD

Ultimate Purpose of Using ATLAS.ti in Analysis To facilitate the process of analysis and interpretation of data collected through unstructured and semi-structured methods of data collection. To allow for evidence-based research: findings, theses, and interpretations grounded in the evidence. © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD Original Text, Participants’ Voices Final Text, Interpretative Text Note: This figure was inspired by Wolcott, Harry F “Transforming Qualitative Data: Description, Analysis, and Interpretation”. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

Properties of the ATLAS.ti Analysis Process © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD

The Qualitative Analysis Iterative Cycle in ATLAS.ti © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD Outputs Reports in Rich Text Format, PDF, and XML Matrices and tables in Excel Conceptual networks in graphic formats HTML Reports SPSS file of entire project

The Deductive-Inductive Dialogue in ATLAS.ti © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD You are not forced into a deductive or an inductive approach. The decision as to what approach to take is a methodological one. However, commonly people combine both: start with a set of a priori concepts (codes), as a general framework, but leave enough space for discovery in the form of emergent concepts (codes).

The Hermeneutic Unit or Project © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD The data analysis workbench Container that includes the sources of information and all the analytical work A file with the extension “hpr7”

Primary Documents: Sources of Information © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD The multiple file formats accepted allows for rich triangulation.

Primary Documents: Loading Multiple Primary Documents Simultaneously Loading up to four documents simultaneously. Allows to conduct rich comparative analysis (e.g., coding two or more interviews conducted at different points in time). Allows for rich transcription of audio or video documents. © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD

Primary Documents: Multimedia and Google Earth © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD Video frame showingquotations and codeson the margin Audio primary document showing quotations andcodes on the margin Google Earth primary document showingquotatio n named “My house” Graphic primarydocument showingquotations and codes on the margin

Quotations Segments of the text selected by researcher or automatically (auto-coding). Quotations can be created in all kinds of primary documents. The quotation constitutes the basic unit of the analysis project. They can be linked to other objects, they can be left unlinked, they can be described in- depth, and their linkages can be visualized as rich graphic representations. © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD Quotations always shown in context Codes that are linked to quotations show on margin Interactive list of quotations shown in the “Quotation Manager”, each one identified by unique ID “Comment” space wher e each quotation can bedescribed

Codes Concepts that can either derive from external frameworks (deductively created) or emerge from the text (inductively created). Codes can be linked to quotations, memos, arranged in families, and represented in networks. They can also be left alone, unlinked. © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD Codes shown on an optional side panel Codes that arelinked toquotationsshown on themargin Codes shown in the “CodeManager” specifying howgrounded in the evidence theyare, how connected they are toother codes (density), theirauthors, and their definitions.

Memos Spaces for reflection, analysis, integration, and interpretation. Spaces where to make sense of the data. Writing memos should accompany the process of coding. Memos can be linked to quotations, codes, and other memos. If memos are systematically linked to supporting quotations, it follows that the reflections, analyses, and interpretations contained in them are grounded in evidence. © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD Memo that is linked to quotation is shown on the margin Memos shown in “Memo Manager”. This shows how grounded the memo is in the evidence (number of quotations linked to it) The memo text

Families Grouping of primary documents, codes, and memos according to shared characteristics. Families allow for comparison across cases, conceptual categories, themes, etc. © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD Network view of primary document family Network view of memofamily Network view of code family

Networks © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD Weak-link Network Linkages between elements created through the normal analytical process. Strong-link Network Graphical representations of a semantic type linking codes to codes and quotations to quotations through specific meanings. Researcher’s understanding of the problem. Weak link network showing quotations linked to codes as well as the primary document from which some of the quotations originate Code-to-code network showing semantic relations between codes Quotation-to-quotation network (hyperlinks) showing semantic relations between quotations

The Qualitative Analysis Iterative Cycle in ATLAS.ti © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD Outputs Reports in Rich Text Format, PDF, and XML Matrices and tables in Excel Conceptual networks in graphic formats HTML Reports SPSS file of entire project

Outputs Qualitative Quantitative © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD The co-occurrence table showing number of co-occurrences between codes The Query Tool, which produces qualitative outputs through Boolean, Semantic, and Proximity operators Rich Text Format written report produced through the Query Tool Excel graph with data from the Co- occurrence table. All quantitative reports can be exported into Excel

Exporting in Different Formats XML, HTML, SPSS, EXCEL, RTF, PDF, PNG, etc. © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD

Team Work © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD Paul Mary + Peter Susan + Paul Final HU Mary Peter Susan Base HU

Project Management: The Copy Bundle Function If working with documents that have been “added” (version 7) or “assigned” (version 6.2) into the project, it is necessary to create back-up files using the Copy Bundle function. Save the Copy Bundle file in an external drive. Use the Copy Bundle function to back-up and to migrate the project between computers. A. Create Bundle B. Save Bundle © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD

Document Management in Version 6.2 Create a new folder in a location of your preference in Windows (e.g., desktop, My Documents, shared drive, server). Name it with the name of your project. Copy all your source document files into this folder. Save the HU (extension “hpr6”) inside of the same folder. © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD Project A.doc.docx.pdf.rtf.jpg.wmv, etc. Project A.doc.docx.pdf.rtf.jpg.wmv, etc. HU.doc.docx.pdf.rtf.jpg.wmv, etc..doc.docx.pdf.rtf.jpg.wmv, etc. Project B HU The HU file (extension ‘hpr’) saved inside of the project folder together with the source documents. The HU file (extension ‘hpr’) saved inside of the project folder but not inside of the individual sub-folders where the source documents are stored.

Support Resources Free Product support by It does not Weekly introductory webinars ( Bi-weekly webinars on special applications ( Youtube channel with video tutorials ( Quick Tour manual ( Full reference guide Paid Six-hour workshops through web-conferencing Two-day face-to-face workshops in the United States, Canada, and Europe Two-day on-site workshops To learn ATLAS.ti on your own ( ): –Quick tour –Chapters of the manual (at the very least): Data management Creating, opening, and saving HU Setting up a new project Project back-up and transfer To learn ATLAS.ti under the guidance of an experienced instructor ( : –Online 6-hour workshops through web-conferencing –Face-to-face 2-day workshops –On-site 2-day workshops (on-demand) Additional guidance Book by Susanne Friese “Qualitative Analysis with ATLAS.ti”. London: Sage, Companion website of the book: with-atlasti/companion-website.htmlhttp:// with-atlasti/companion-website.html Multiple videos in Youtube. © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD

Licensing Three categories: –Student –Educational –Commercial Student –Two-year –Semester –Fully functional Educational and commercial –Single-user: perpetual –Multi-user (5 to 80): Perpetual Yearly lease © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD

Thank you! ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH Hardenbergstr. 7 D Berlin Germany © 2012 Ricardo B. Contreras, PhD