Common CAQDAS

• ATLAS.ti
  ATLAS.ti helps you to annotate textual, visual and audio data. It facilitates the categorization process of these types of data and enables you to organize the evolving categories in a (causal) network. You can code data in ATLAS.ti and export them for further analyses to other programs, particularly SPSS, for which it has a syntax generating interface.
• Ethnograph
  Ethnograph, the grande dame of computer-assisted qualitative analysis has not been updated since 1998 and, thus, has become outdated. It supports hierarchical coding, text annotations, and advanced data search strategies.
• HyperRESEARCH
  HyperRESEARCH primarily assists in the coding of textual data. It shows that the program has not been updated since 1999, as it lacks data structuring capabilities its main competitors offer. In addition, the handling of its interface is rather cumbersome, as HyperRESEARCH only allows you to code one case at a time.
• Kwalitan
  Kwalitan, designed to assist in the development of grounded theories, enables hierarchical coding and the navigation of data with Boolean searches.
• MAXqda
  MAXqda is the successor of winMAX, a software similar to NVivo and ATLAS.ti.
• N6
  N6 is the newest version of NUD*IST. It is designed to both code textual data and to efficiently search and navigate your research material.
• NVivo
  NVivo, a derivative, but not necessarily a replacement for NUD*IST, helps you to annotate and organize qualitative data. While it has less coding capabilities than its sister N6, its organizing functions are more elaborate, allowing you to link data in a variety of ways.
• Qualrus
  Qualrus is the most general program in this category. It allows for a number of coding strategies, has sophisticated search possibilities, and can handle a variety of data types. Its facilities for data structuring are a little less developed than their counterparts in ATLAS.ti and NVivo.
• See also our section on hybrid programs, which contain CAQDAS functions.