WHAT IS ATLAS.ti? Sanna Herkama

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1 WHAT IS ATLAS.ti? Sanna Herkama Anne Laajalahti Methods Festival Jyväskylä Sanna Herkama Special Researcher, Ph.D. KiVa Antibullying Program Division of Psychology Department of Behavioral Sciences and Philosophy University of Turku Herkama & Laajalahti

2 Anne Laajalahti Project Researcher, M.A. Organizational Communication and PR Department of Communication University of Jyväskylä Public Empowerment Policies for Crisis Management (PEP, FP7) CBRN crisis management: Architecture, Technologies and Operational Procedures (CATO, FP7) -> Terror Emergency Communication (TEC) Doctoral student, M.A. Speech Communication Department of Communication University of Jyväskylä Computer assisted qualitative analysis Is there such a thing? Herkama & Laajalahti

3 QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS IN PRACTISE: TRADITIONAL OR COMPUTER ASSISTED ANALYSIS? Should I go for a traditional way of analyzing research material? paper prints and coloring, copy-paste procedures, hanging papers on the wall, post-it tags, Should I go for computer assisted qualitative analysis? ATLAS.ti, NVivo, Nudist, Ethnograph, AnSWR, HyperRESEARCH, winmax, MAXQDA, Transana, RQDA, CAT (Coding Analysis Toolkit), TAMS Analyser WHEN TO USE COMPUTER PROGRAM TO ASSIST QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS? Consider, for example, the size of the research material. the structure of the research material. the aims of the current study. the research questions, designs, and analysis methods characteristic to your own field of study. your own attitudes towards computer programs in general and readiness to learn new things. Herkama & Laajalahti

4 WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH ATLAS.ti? Explore various types of research material (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, and video documents) Organize and save research material Mark and analyze data segments (that is coding) Save ideas and thinking process Visualize abstract or theoretical ideas Create relationships Make comparisons Increase transparency and credibility of the research process by proceeding systematically WHAT YOU CAN T DO WITH ATLAS.ti? Researcher is still the key to successful analysis, not the computer program! Researcher is searching for meanings, a computer for character strings. Cheers to that small (?) of a difference! (Eskola & Suoranta 2008, 206) Herkama & Laajalahti

5 CODING WHAT IS IT? Classifying, categorizing, creating nodes, coding, Finding, marking, and labeling of the essential data segments from the perspective of the research task / problem Questions to be considered Whether to let the codes to emerge during the analysis process or use ready-made lists of codes? To which extend should one try to identify presumptions and to stay tuned for new openings? Inductive or deductive way of thinking and working? From large scale to smaller one or the other way around? HOW ABOUT CODING AND ANALYSIS? Coding is already part of the analysis! Herkama & Laajalahti

6 HOW ABOUT ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION? Codes demand interpretation! Unclear research problem or vague analytical approach is not solved by the assistance of a qualitative data software. (Jolanki & Karhunen 2010, 404) Herkama & Laajalahti

7 USING ATLAS.ti - BENEFITS The administration and organization of qualitative research material eases. The amount of potential mistakes decreases. The consistency and transparency of the analysis process increase. Remarks, thoughts, and comments can be saved and archived. Quotations can be easily searched and copy-pasted to a final research report. One is able to explore several research materials at the same time. At best ATLAS.ti can be a device for thinking! USING ATLAS.ti - CHALLENGES The program is not doing the analysis for you but instead it assists you doing the analysis! You might not need all the options available. Do I see the forest for the trees? Do not let yourself get lost! ( Mess of codes, Code jungle, Drowning in codes ) The codes created do not equal to insightful qualitative analysis! You may still need to think over again! Interpret! Do not stop too early! Do not give up! Do not hesitate to try out! Be creative! Herkama & Laajalahti

8 AND FROM WHERE COULD I GET IT? Free demo version available (ATLAS.ti 7) Information regarding the license at the University of Jyväskylä (ATLAS.ti 7: 60 at the beginning, update 45 ): ATLAS.ti/ATLAS.ti ATLAS.ti 4 (old in many ways) ATLAS.ti 5 and 6 (working still fine) ATLAS.ti 7 (in use, for example, at the University of Jyväskylä) FURTHER READING Bringer, J. D., Johnston, H. L. & Brackenbrick, C. H Using computerassisted qualitative data analysis software to develop a grounded theory project. Field Methods 18, Fielding, N. & Lee, R Computer analysis and qualitative research. London: Sage. Friese, S Using ATLAS.ti for analyzing the financial crisis data. Qualitative Social Research 12 (1), Art. 39. Jolanki, O. & Karhunen, S Renki vai isäntä? Analyysiohjelmat laadullisessa tutkimuksessa. In J. Ruusuvuori, P. Nikander & M. Hyvärinen (Eds.) Haastattelun analyysi. Tampere: Vastapaino, Kelle, U Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis. In C. Seale, G. Gobo, J. F. Gubrium & D. Silverman (Eds.) Qualitative research practice: Concise paperback edition. London: Sage, Konopásek, Z Making thinking visible with Atlas.ti: Computer assisted qualitative analysis as textual practices. Qualitative Social Research 9 (2), Art. 12. Rantala, I Laadullisen aineiston analyysi tietokoneella. In J. Aaltola & R. Valli (Eds.) Ikkunoita tutkimusmetodeihin II. 3rd ed. Jyväskylä: PS-kustannus, Seale, C Using computers to analyse qualitative data. In D. Silverman, Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook. 3rd ed. London: Sage, Herkama & Laajalahti

9 RELATED WEB SITES, GUIDES, AND LEARNING MATERIALS ATLAS.ti program's official website The program's internal guide in PDF format: Start > All programs > Scientific Software > Documentation > ATLAS.ti Manual Official Facebook community: Pitkänen, S. H ATLAS.ti-ohjeet. Itä-Suomen yliopisto. Herkama & Laajalahti