RQDA is an
R package
R packages are extensions to the R statistical programming language. R packages contain code, data, and documentation in a standardised collection format that can be installed by users of R, typically via a centralised software repository such as ...
for computer assisted
qualitative data analysis
Qualitative research is a type of research that aims to gather and analyse non-numerical (descriptive) data in order to gain an understanding of individuals' social reality, including understanding their attitudes, beliefs, and motivation. This ...
or
CAQDAS
Computer-assisted (or aided) qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) offers tools that assist with qualitative research such as transcription analysis, coding and text interpretation, recursive abstraction, content analysis, discourse analysis ...
. It is installable from, and runs within, the
R statistical software, but has a separate window running a graphical user interface (through
RGtk2). RQDA's approach allows for tight integration of the constructivist approach of qualitative research with quantitative data analysis which can increase the rigor, transparency and validity of qualitative research.
Features
In the graphical interface it has the following functions:
* Import documents from plain text
* Support non-English documents, Simplified Chinese Character is well-tested under Windows
* Support character-level coding
* Memos for documents, codes, coding, project, files etc.
* Retrieve coding, and easily gets back to the original file. Conditional retrieval is supported as well.
* Single-file (*.rqda) format, which is basically the
SQLite
SQLite (, ) is a database engine written in the C programming language. It is not a standalone app; rather, it is a library that software developers embed in their apps. As such, it belongs to the family of embedded databases. It is the most ...
database
* Categorize codes (tree-like categories are avoided)
* Categorize files
* Search files by keywords and can highlight keyword in the open file
* Show attributes of files, which is useful for content analysis
* Categorise cases and related attributes of cases (to bridge qualitative and quantitative research)
* Search information about selected cases from the web
* Rename files, codes, code categories, cases etc.
* Write and organize fieldwork journals
Through use of R functions, it can:
* Import a batch of files
* Calculate the relation between two codings, given the coding indexes
* Give a summary of coding and inter-code relationship.
* Export file/case attributes and show subset of files/cases.
* Allow for more flexible conditional retrieval.
* Boolean operations of and, or and not.
See also
*
Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software
Computer-assisted (or aided) qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) offers tools that assist with qualitative research such as Transcription (linguistics), transcription analysis, coding and text interpretation, recursive abstraction, content ...
References
External links
*
RQDA video tutorialsTutorial "Qualitative Data Analysis in R"Warner, L. (2012). Eval12 Session 682: R Qualitative Data Analysis (RQDA) Package: A Free Qualitative Analysis Tool (skill-building presentation)
Free QDA software
Cross-platform free software
Free R (programming language) software
Qualitative research
Science software for macOS
Science software for Linux
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