How can I analyze data & discover insights in ATLAS.ti Web?

How can I analyze data & discover insights in ATLAS.ti Web?

Save quotations of relevant data segments, associate codes to tag quotations, and write comments on any data segment. NEW! Now you can also code your data with code categories and sub-codes.

After adding your data, you can begin analyzing and pinpointing qualitative insights. Open a specific document and begin with your analysis workflow.

Generating quotations, using codes, and adding comments across your documents plays a central role in your qualitative analysis process in ATLAS.ti Web. To create a quotation, highlight relevant text for your research topic in a document. After generating a quotation you can then apply codes to tag qualitative insights such as perspectives, attitudes, emotions, behaviors, and more that are connected to your research goals.

Additionally, you can add comments to a quotation. If a certain passage seems relevant to you, but you’re not sure which code to apply, begin with a comment and return to this quotation later.

A quick overview: 

1. Read and review your documents
2. Create quotations by highlighting interesting and relevant text
3. Apply new or existing codes to each quotation (similar to tags)
4. You can also write comments on each quotation

You can create quotations for single words, sentences, or whole paragraphs. This open workflow offers you full flexibility and allows you to get more granular when needed.

To create new codes:

1. Highlight a relevant segment of text
2. Type in the name of your new code in the "search codes" field
3. Press the "+" button (in the "create code" window) or the "Enter" key on your keyboard to save the new code name (you will then see the new code name appear and toggled "on") 
4. Press the "Quote" button to save the new quotation along with the new code attached to it

You can create as many codes as you would like, and you can create any kind of code name you would like. Most importantly, you can easily create these new codes as you are reading and analyzing your documents.

To create in-vivo codes:

1. Highlight the word or phrase you want to use as a code name
2. Click on the "In-vivo" button, which will create a new code using the highlighted text 
3. Press the "Quote" button to save the new quotation along with the new code attached to it

An in-vivo code means that the exact name of the code comes directly from the data. Thus, you simply need to highlight the word or phrase in your data that you want to use as a code name, and ATLAS.ti Web automatically offers the option for you to save that as a code.

To use an existing code:

1. Highlight a relevant segment of text
2. Click on the field labeled "Find or create codes" field and you can a) select your code from the list that appears or b) start typing any part of your code name to easily find it 
3. Click on the code name or toggle the code "on" to attach it to your selected quotation
4. Press the "Quote" button to save the new quotation along with the new code attached to it

As you analyze your data, you will most likely want to attach some codes that you have already created to additional quotations. ATLAS.ti makes it very easy for you to use your already existing codes as you can see them whenever you highlight a segment of data and you can search for any codes by starting to type any parts of the code name (which saves you the hassle of scrolling through your list of codes, of course!). If you are following a deductive approach to analyzing your data, you can first create your codes from the code manager, and then as you read and analyze your documents, you can simply select whichever code you want to apply.

To choose codes from a specific code group:

1. Highlight a relevant segment of text
2. Click on the "Code groups" button
3. You can a) select your code group from the list that appears or b) start typing any part of your code group name to easily find it
4. Click on the code name or toggle the code "on" to attach it to your selected quotation
5. Press the "Quote" button to save the quotation 

You can use code groups to further organize your codes. Once you have created code groups in the code manager, you can easily view codes form a particular group while analyzing your documents. This could be helpful to maintain an overview of the codes in your project or to facilitate your coding process, for example.

To write comments on quotations:

1. Highlight a relevant segment of text or click on an already created quotation (in the margin area, on the right side of an opened document)
2. Click in the comment field and write your notes, thoughts, reflections, or anything else you would like to jot down about that quotation

You can use the comment space to write any notes about that quotation in particular. Take advantage of quotation comments to jot down ideas, write deeper reflections about the data, leaves notes for yourself or team members, and more. Quotation comments can be helpful to elaborate your analyses about the different segments of data you are identifying, while memos could be used to write about broader ideas, themes, and/or interpretations that cut across your data, for example. 

To resize a quotation:

1. Click on an already created quotation (in the margin area, on the right side of an opened document)
2. Drag-and-drop the edges of the quotation to make it bigger or smaller

ATLAS.ti makes it easy for you to adjust your quotations so that you can make sure you are capturing whichever segments from your data are relevant for your research question and/or objectives. After resizing your quotation, you will also see the quotation bar immediately resized in the margin area (to the right of the opened document).

To remove a code from a quotation:

1. Click on an already created quotation (in the margin area, on the right side of an opened document)
2. Click on the code name or toggle the code "off" to remove it from the quotation 

You can always easily remove a code from a quotation from an opened document as well as from the code manager, quotation manager, and views page. Please keep in mind that this only removes the code from that quotation, but this does not delete the code from your project.

To delete a quotation:

1. Click on an existing quotation in the margin area, on the right side of a document
2. Click on the three dots in the bottom-right corner
3. Click on the "Delete quotation" button

If you decide you no longer need a particular quotation, you can always easily delete it from an opened document as well as from the code manager, quotation manager, and views page. 

To edit the contents of your documents:

1. Click on the three dots in the top-right corner
2. Toggle "Edit mode" in the pop-up menu

Toggling edit mode on or off allows you to enable or disable editing on the document. Enable edit mode when you are structuring, editing and writing text in your document. You can still code your data while in edit mode. Disable edit mode to make sure that no changes are accidentally made to the content of the document.

How do I structure codes into categories and sub-codes in ATLAS.ti Web?

Organize your codes into a hierarchical structure with code categories and sub-codes. In this article, we explain why code categories are important in qualitative research and how you can create code categories, remove sub-codes from categories, code your data with categories, and query your coded data with categories.

How do I code my data with code categories and sub-codes?

Code categories make it easier to sift through your codes as you code your data. For example, you can search for a sub-code or code category from the coding window. When coding your data, you can attach any category sub-codes to a quotation, and the code will be automatically displayed with its category name, a colon, and the sub-code name (i.e., "Category: Sub-code").

ATLAS.ti's AI Coding also utilizes code categories to organize the resulting AI codes into overarching categories. You can thus see the main categories that were identified by the AI, and you can see more specific details about each category by viewing its sub-codes.

How to use code categories while coding your data:

1. Open a document that you wish to code.
2. Highlight a relevant segment of text.
3. Click in the search bar ("Find or create codes") from the coding window that appears.
4. ATLAS.ti Web lists all the codes in your project. If you have already created code categories, you will see your codes organized by their categories.
5. You can scroll through the list of codes, or you can start typing in the search bar and ATLAS.ti will show all code names that contain the text you typed.
6. Click the button to the right of any code to attach that code to the quotation. You can attach all the sub-codes of a category by clicking the button next to the code category name.

How can I query my code categories?

One of the greatest advantages of working with code categories is that they make it easy for you to analyze your data across different levels: You can "zoom out" to the category level to explore overarching themes, and you can "zoom in" to the sub-code level to examine more specific details.

View all quotations within a code category:

1. Go to the Code Manager (click on the code icon in the lefthand panel)
2. Hover your mouse over a code category and click on the "Details" button to open the right-hand side panel.
3. Now you can see all all the quotations associated with any of the sub-codes.
4. Click on the "Open in manager" button to view these results in the Quotation Manager. Now you can see a bar chart displaying the frequencies of the codes attached to the quotations from that code category.

5. Click on the "Save as View" button to save these results so that you can easily come back to them later.

   

Use code categories to filter your analyses or reports:

1. Views in ATLAS.ti Web refer to different kinds of analyses or reports you can create to gain insights from your data. Go to the Views page (click on the views icon in the lefthand panel).
2. Click "New View" and select the kind of View you would like to create (e.g., code distribution, code-document table, code co-occurrence, or concepts).
3. Whenever you are selecting codes to include in a view, you will now see your codes organized by their categories. You can scroll through the list of codes, or you can start typing in the search bar and ATLAS.ti will show all code names that contain the text you typed.
4. Click the button to the right of any code to attach that code to the quotation. You can attach all the sub-codes of a category by clicking the button next to the code category name.
5. For example, you can include entire code categories in code-document table, code co-occurrence, or concepts views. In code distribution views, you can apply a filter rule and select code categories.