[Air-L] Qualitative Data Analysis Software Recommendations

[Quinn Warnick]

I'm evaluating various qualitative data analysis (QDA) software  
programs for a project that involves web-based artifacts, and I'm  
hoping that the collective wisdom on this list will help me find the  
right program for the task at hand.

My data set includes several hundred discussion threads from an online  
forum, and I would like to save these threads in a web-native format  
(e.g., .html, .mht, .webarchive) rather than "print" them to .pdf  
or .rtf format. When I open the artifacts in the QDA software, I would  
like to see a web page, not Adobe's or Microsoft's mangled output.

Unfortunately, very few QDS programs are able to import HTML files.  
I've tested trial versions of Atlas.ti, NVivo, MAXQDA, Qualrus, QDA  
Miner, and HyperRESEARCH, but only Qualrus seems to be able to open  
web-native files.

Has anyone out there had success with Qualrus? Its coding and  
crunching capabilities don't seem very robust compared to Atlas.ti and  
NVivo, but my first impression may not be correct.

Alternately, are there other QDA programs I should consider that can  
handle HTML files? I'm on a Mac, but all of the programs I've  
mentioned (other than HyperRESEARCH) are Windows-only, so I've been  
running the trial versions using VirtualBox. Suggestions for either  
platform are welcome.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer. I'm trying to weigh my  
options carefully before I break into my grad-student budget for the  
non-trial version of one of these programs.

- Quinn


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Quinn Warnick
PhD Candidate, Rhetoric and Professional Communication
Graduate Teaching Assistant, English Department
Iowa State University
435 Ross Hall
Ames, IA 50011
(515) 294-3625