| Program-characteristics |
QDA Software
|
| |
Atlas.ti 4.2
|
The Ethnograph 5.03
|
QSR Nud*ist 4
|
winMAX 97 professional
|
| Data Entry |
| Media type |
Text, graphic, audio, video |
Text |
Text, working with off-line documents is possible |
Text |
| Specific text
format required |
ASCII/ANSI, text
with line breaks. Imported documents can be edited, but this could mean
that the code boundaries are no longer accurate. |
ASCII + special
formatting rules, can be done semi-automatically in the built-in Editor |
ASCII + up-front
decision about length of text units, sections. Imported documents can be
edited. |
ASCII/ANSI, text
with line breaks |
| Coding |
| Smallest text
unit that can be coded |
1 character
|
1 line (= 42 characters) |
1 text unit (=
the distance to the next hard return) |
1 word
|
| On-screen coding |
by marking the
text with the mouse |
by marking the
text with the mouse or by entering start and stop lines |
by marking the
text with the mouse or by entering start and stop lines |
by marking the
first and last word of the segment to be coded with the mouse |
| Display of code
words and boundaries |
ode words and boundaries
are displayed in the margin against the text |
code words are
displayed within the text, the boundaries are displayed in the margin |
up to 26 boundaries
of coded segments can be displayed in the margin |
boundaries are
displayed left next to the text, code words are displayed when moving the
mouse pointer over the boundary |
| Length of code
words/node titles |
unlimited, the
list box for code words however displays only the first 35 characters.
Longer descriptions can be written into the codes' comment. |
10 characters,
longer definitions can be written into the code book. |
unlimited, however
only up to 7 characters can be seen in the tree view. Longer definitions
of up to 140 characters can be added to a special definition field. |
up to 29 characters |
| Layers of coding |
unlimited
|
12 code words per
segment, 7 layers deep |
unlimited
|
unlimited, however
within the code- word- sideways- tree display, only 10 levels can be created |
| Coding of graphic material |
You can code graphic documents by selecting rectangled areas with the mouse
|
not possible
|
not possible
|
not possible
|
| Coding of audio material |
Most common formats: WAV, AU, SND.
You can code fine grained segments down to milliseconds
|
not possible
|
not possible
|
not possible
|
| Coding of video material |
Most common formats: AVI, MOV, QT, MPG.
Videomaterial can be segmented on the basis of the video frames.
|
not possible
|
not possible
|
not possible
|
| Text search
function |
string, category
and GREP searches |
very limited, only
simple strings can be found |
string and pattern
search (= category and GREP search) |
string search,
AND and OR combinations possible |
| Autocoding |
The process can be
controlled, i.e. hits can be checked before they are coded |
not possible
|
process can be
controlled, i.e. hits can be checked before they are coded. |
only limited control
possible |
| Memos |
Memos can be attached
to almost any object. |
Memos can be attached
to a project, a data file or lines of text. |
Memos can be written
for documents and nodes. In the Node Explorer nodes that have a memo attached
to them are marked with an exclamation mark (!). |
Memos can be attached
to lines of text. Lines of texts that have a memo attached to them are
marked with a small symbol in the left margin. |
| Comments
|
Comments can be written for specific objects |
Contextual comments are recognized and displayed as part
of the search output, they must however be added when transcribing the data. |
not possible |
not possible |
| Annotations |
not possible |
not possible |
Annotations can be inserted at any point in the text. |
not possible |
| |
Atlas.ti 4.2
|
The Ethnograph 5.03
|
QSR Nud*ist 4
|
winMAX 97 professional
|
| Retrieval of coded segments |
| Search Engine |
3 sets of operators
(boolean, semantic and proximity), 14 operators in total |
Boolean, proximity
and sequence operators are available |
17 operators: collating,
contextual, negation, restrictive, taxonomic and matrix operators |
10 logical search
operators plus boolean operators |
| Search Filters |
Families (= a group
of documents or code words) can be used as search filters |
Variables, Identifiers and file codes
can be used as search filters |
Searches can be
restricted to certain documents or nodes. |
Variables can be
used as search filters |
| Display of search
results |
Atlas.ti generates
a hit list displaying a source tag and the first 30 characters of the coded
segment (quotation). You can first check and edit this list and then generate
a complete report. The report contains complete information about the source
of the hit and the search function used. |
The Ethnograph
immediately displays the full results, offering you very detailed information
about the source of every hit, including the relevant speaker or identifier
of the hit, and the search function used. |
Nud*ist 4 saves
the results to a node and puts them on the node clipboard. Results can
be viewed by clicking the browse option. The search function is displayed
in the definition window. |
winMAX immediately
displays the full results,. Source tags show the name of the data file
and the line numbers of the hit. |
| System closure |
Search results
can be saved in form of supercodes, which can be used in further searches.
Memos can be assigned as primary documents. |
Search results can be saved as a new document and assigned to a project.
All coding that has been done is preserved. |
Search results
are saved at a node and can be manipulated as any other node (i.e. used
in another search, coded, etc.) |
Search results
can be saved in form of a code word and used in other searches |
| |
Atlas.ti 4.2
|
The Ethnograph 5.03
|
QSR Nud*ist 4
|
winMAX 97 professional
|
| Visualization, drawing links |
| Visual Display |
All objects of
a project (documents, codes and their comments, memos and supercodes) can
be displayed in form of symbols in a network view or in the object explorer
in form of a sideways tree. |
The coding scheme is displayed in form of a sideways tree. |
The coding scheme
can be displayed either in form of a hierarchical tree structure or in
the node explorer, a sideways tree. |
The coding scheme
is displayed in form of a sideways tree. |
| Linking various
parts of a project |
all objects of
an Atlas.ti project can freely be linked. The links can be named and displayed
in various formats. |
Not possible
|
both the tree display
and the node explorer allow the hierarchical linking of nodes. For further
manipulation the tree structure can be exported to either Decision Explore
or Inspiration. |
The sideways tree
allows for code words to be linked hierarchically. |
| Hypertext function |
yes
|
no
|
no
|
no
|
| |
Atlas.ti 4.2
|
The Ethnograph 5.03
|
QSR Nud*ist 4
|
winMAX 97 professional
|
| Quantitative elements |
| Use of Variables |
limited, only via
code words or families possible |
variables can be
added to documents or to individual speakers or identifiers (= cases) |
variables can be
added to documents and cases (works also via code words, but process can
be automated) |
variables can be
added to documents or cases |
| Importing tables
to read in variables |
no
|
no
|
yes |
yes |
| Quantitative
output |
code word index,
cross-tabulation of code words and primary documents). |
Code word index,
frequency and summary output of search results. |
For search results,
percentages of text units across and within data files are given. |
Code word index
and frequency table |
| Export of tables |
Export of coding
scheme in form of an SPSS syntax file (codes = variables, quotations =
cases) |
Search results
can be saved as tables in ASCII format and exported. |
Export of document
and case base data tables. |
Variable matrix
can be exported. |
| Team work |
| Log function |
different users
can log in under different names, all activities are then "stamped"
with that person's name. Reports show the day and time of creation. |
limited: Only memos
are date and time stamped, the author's name can be added into a special
field. |
limited: date and
time can be added to memos, reports show the day and time of creation. |
limited: only memos
show the time of creation, the author's name can be added into a special
field. |
| Team support |
a project merge
tool is available, the log function supports team work as well. |
limited: the combine
data files option helps a little, memos can be sorted by authors. |
a project merge
tool is available, which also can be used across platforms for both Macs
and PCs. |
limited: memos
can be filtered by authors |
| User support |
Via: handbook,
e-mail discussion list, distributor, workshops |
Via: handbook, e-mail discussion list,
distributor, workshops |
Via: handbook,
e-mail discussion list, distributor, workshops |
Via: handbook,
distributor, user meetings, workshops |
| |
Atlas.ti 4.2
|
The Ethnograph 5.03
|
QSR Nud*ist 4
|
winMAX 97 professional
|
| Miscellaneous |
| System |
PC/Windows |
PC/Windows |
PC/Windows &
Macintosh TM |
PC/Windows |
| System requirements |
486 or better, Windows 9x or NT,
11 MB hard disc space required, 16 MB RAM, sound card for audio and video file processing |
486 or better, Windows 3.11
18 MB hard disk space required, 8 MB RAM minimum. |
486 or better,
16 MB RAM (32MB under Windows NT) |
486 or better, Windows 9x or NT,
11 MB hard disc space required, 16 MB RAM |
| Prices |
|
Prices for a single educational user license |
US $
|
$ 395
|
$ 295
student price: $ 200
|
$ 325
student price: $ 200
|
$ 350
|
|
British £
|
£ 250
|
£ 185
student price: £ 125
|
£ 195
student price: £ 135
|
£ 220
|
|
Sales
|
All discussed QDA packages can be bought from
Scolari, Sage Publication Ltd
http://www.scolari.co.uk (Europe)
http://www.scolari.com (US)
|
