Qualitative Analysis Using MAXQDA

The method of Five-Level QDA® helps researchers to analyse what makes for an expert analytic performance when using qualitative data analysis software. Written by experienced trainers, this practical guide to MAXQDA will allow qualitative researchers to increase the effectiveness of their data analysis.

Software is cut-and-dried - every button you press has a predictable effect - but qualitative analysis is open-ended and unfolds in unpredictable ways. This contradiction is best resolved by separating analytic strategies - what you plan to do - from software tactics - how you plan to do it. Expert MAXQDA users have unconsciously learned to do this. The Five-Level QDA^® method unpacks the process so that you can learn it consciously and efficiently.

The first part of the book explains how the contradiction between analytic strategies and software tactics is reconciled by "translating" between them. The second part provides both an in-depth description of how MAXQDA works and comprehensive instruction in the five steps of "translation". These steps are illustrated with examples from a variety of research projects. The third part contains real-world qualitative research projects from a variety of disciplines, methodologies, and kinds of qualitative analysis, all illustrated in MAXQDA using the Five-Level QDA method. The book is accompanied by three sets of video demonstrations on the Companion Website.

The functionality and interface design of MAXQDA for Windows and Mac are identical. The Five-Level QDA method learned from this book is therefore the same whether you are working on a Mac or Windows computer.

The Five-Level QDA method is based on the authors' combined 40 years of experience teaching MAXQDA and other software packages used as platforms for conducting qualitative analysis. After many years observing their students' challenges they developed the Five-Level QDA method to describe the process that long-time MAXQDA experts unconsciously adopt. The Five-Level QDA method is independent of software program or methodology, and the principles apply to any type of qualitative project.

Please see the following URL to access the accompanying materials for this book: https://www. qdaservices. co. uk/five-level-qda

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Boxes

Acknowledgments

Case Contributors

Orientation

Part I: The Principles of the Five-Level QDA Method

Chapter 1: Strategies and Tactics

Chapter 2: Developing Objectives and Analytic Plans (Levels 1 and 2)

Chapter 3: Translating Analytic Tasks Into Software Tools (Levels 3, 4, and 5)

Part II: The Five-Level QDA Method in Practice

Chapter 4: Orientation to MAXQDA

Chapter 5: The Architecture of MAXQDA

Chapter 6: Mastering the Process of Translation

Part III: Case Illustrations

Chapter 7: Orientation to Case Illustrations

Chapter 8: Case Illustration - An Exploratory Literature Review

Chapter 9: Case Illustration - A Thematic Analysis to Evaluate an Education Program

Appendices

Appendix 1: Three Levels of Detail of Analytic Tasks

Appendix 2: Five Analytic Activities

Appendix 3: Examples of Units in Analytic Tasks

Appendix 4: Identifying the Units of Analytic Tasks

Appendix 5: Identifying the Purpose of Analytic Tasks