ATLAS.ti 6 Quick
Tour
ATLAS.ti 6 Quick Tour
Revision 346
Copyright Notice
Copyright © 2003-2010 by ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH, Berlin. All rights reserved. Author: Dr. Susanne Friese (Quarc
Consulting). Editorial advisor: Sarah Matthews (ATLAS.ti GmbH). Technical realization: Dr. Thomas G. Ringmayr (hypertexxt.com).
Copying or duplicating this manual or any part thereof is a violation of applicable law. No part of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including, but not limited to, photocopying, without written permission from ATLAS.ti
GmbH.
Trademarks
ATLAS.ti is a registered trademark of ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH. Adobe Acrobat is a trademark of Adobe Systems
Incorporated; Microsoft, Windows, Excel, and other Microsoft products referenced herein are either trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
United States and/or in other countries. Google Earth is a trademark of Google, Inc. All other product names and any registered and unregistered
trademarks mentioned in this document are used for identification purposes only and remain the exclusive property of their respective owners.
Contents
Objectives.....................................................................................................................................4
Basic Concepts..............................................................................................................................5
ATLAS.ti – The Knowledge Workbench............................................................................................5
Software for Creative Analysis? .......................................................................................................5
Some Basic Terms and Concepts.......................................................................................................5
First Steps.....................................................................................................................................7
The Project.......................................................................................................................................7
Starting ATLAS.ti..............................................................................................................................7
The ATLAS.ti User Interface..............................................................................................................8
Viewing Your Files – The Primary Document Manager.....................................................................9
Coding........................................................................................................................................11
Coding a Text Document................................................................................................................11
Coding an Image Document...........................................................................................................12
Coding an Audio or a Video Document..........................................................................................12
Coding a PDF Document................................................................................................................13
Assigning Existing Codes................................................................................................................15
Coding a Google Earth (GE) Document..........................................................................................16
Creating a GE Snapshot..................................................................................................................17
Retrieving Coded Data...................................................................................................................17
Comments and Memos...............................................................................................................19
Writing Comments.........................................................................................................................19
Writing Memos...............................................................................................................................21
Some Fun (and Useful) Things to Try Out...................................................................................23
Transcribing Data Inside ATLAS.ti...................................................................................................23
Grouping Documents – Creating Variables.....................................................................................24
Network Views and Linking........................................................................................................26
Exploring Network Views................................................................................................................26
Linking Data...................................................................................................................................26
Exploring and Querying Your Data ............................................................................................30
Simple Retrieval..............................................................................................................................30
Complex Retrieval..........................................................................................................................30
Cooccurrence Explorer....................................................................................................................31
Quantitative Retrieval in Excel Format............................................................................................32
3 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
Objectives
Perhaps you have just downloaded the trial version of ATLAS.ti 6 because you
are generally curious about its possibilities. Or you are evaluating software
packages for qualitative data analysis. Or maybe you just purchased an
ATLAS.ti license and are now eager to take your very first steps with the
program.
The ATLAS.ti 6 Quick Tour was designed with users like yourself in mind. Its
main objectives are to provide an initial orientation for working with our
software, quickly acquaint you with its most important features, and
demonstrate some of its typical applications.
The tour begins with an overview of the ATLAS.ti user interface and
demonstrates typical methods for working with the various file types supported
by ATLAS.ti.
We will introduce the essential processes of coding, memo writing, building
networks, and data retrieval, and finally get into more advanced territory by
showing you how to create and work with variables. Along the way, you will
get to know some special options such as transcribing your data directly within
the program and learn how to retrieve data in different ways.
For users who want to know more, we recommend Getting Started With
ATLAS.ti 6 (forthcoming online). This tour will provide step-by-step guidance
through typical project phases, from project setup to coding, managing, and
querying your data.
ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour 4
Basic Concepts
ATLAS.ti – The Knowledge Workbench
The image of our software as a “knowledge workbench” is more than just a
lively analogy. Analytical work involves tangible elements: research material
requires piecework, assembly, reworking, complex layouts, and some special
“tooling”. A well-stocked workbench provides you with the necessary
instruments to thoroughly analyze and evaluate, search and query your data, to
capture, visualize and share your findings.
Software for Creative Analysis?
Your typical project deals with sifting through large sets of diverse documents,
notes, and multi-media files, and examining and comparing such sources with
regard to a specific line of inquiry.
While the technical side of selecting and organizing useful portions of your data
might seem manageable when dealing with just a handful of source
documents, it can tend to become overwhelming as the number of sources
mount.
Enter a specialized software package like ATLAS.ti: It lets you extract,
categorize, and interlink data segments from a large variety and volume of
source documents. Based on your analysis, the software supports you in
discovering patterns and testing hypotheses. With numerous output options
and collaboration tools, your analysis is easily accessible to yourself and others.
Some Basic Terms and Concepts
To understand how ATLAS.ti handles data, visualize your entire project as an
intelligent “container” that keeps track of all of your data. This container is the
ATLAS.ti project file, called the Hermeneutic Unit or HU for short.
The HU maintains the pathways to your source data and stores the codes, code
families, network views, etc. that you develop in the course of your work.1
Opening a HU automatically activates all associated material, thus streamlining
your data and enabling you to work with a single entity.
Your source data can comprise text documents (such as interviews, articles,
reports); images (photos, screenshots, diagrams), audio recordings (interviews,
broadcasts, music), video clips (audiovisual material), PDF files (papers,
brochures, reports), and even geodata (locative data using Google Earth).
Once you assign a data file to your project, it becomes a Primary Document
which represents and contains additional information about its source
1 It may be useful to understand that your source documents are not actually copied or imported into
the Hermeneutic Unit. The HU contains only references to these files. ATLAS.ti presents a
significant advantage over similar products in this regard, as the number and size of the files that
can be included in your project is virtually unlimited.
5 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
counterpart (i.e. the assigned data file). The paths to your data are maintained
as part of your project.
Once your various documents are assigned, your real work can begin. Most
commonly, early project stages involve coding different data sources.
Coding is the basic activity you engage in when using ATLAS.ti and is the basis
of everything else you will do. In practical terms, coding refers to the process of
assigning categories, concepts, or “codes” to segments of information that are
of interest to your research objectives. We have modeled this function to
correspond with the time-honored practice of marking (underlining or
highlighting) and annotating text passages in a book or other documents.
In its conceptual underpinnings, ATLAS.ti has drawn from what might be called
an earlier “paper & pencil paradigm.” The user interface is designed
accordingly and many of its processes are based on (and thus can be better
understood by) this analogy.
Because of this highly intuitive design principle, you will quickly come to
appreciate the margin area as one of your most central and preferred
workspaces—even though ATLAS.ti usually offers a variety of ways to
accomplish any given task.
* * *
Equipped with this basic knowledge, you are now definitely ready to get your
feet wet and get acquainted with ATLAS.ti.
ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour 6
First Steps
To get acquainted with ATLAS.ti 6 quickly, you will be working with a sample
project that we have already created for you to experiment with.
The sample project has already been copied to your computer during
program installation and/or with the update to v.6.1.11. However, you can
also find it online for download at http://www.atlasti.com/samples.html
The Project
Our sample project for this tour contains a variety of data related to the events
and persons surrounding the mysterious historical figure of “Jack the Ripper.”
Different materials and data sources have been included in order to
demonstrate the broad functionality of ATLAS.ti. In the course of this project,
you will be introduced to a number of ways in which the program can assist in
your research.
The sample consists of two versions of this project. The first is entitled “Jack the
Ripper_stage I.” As its name suggests, this sample was created to represent an
earlier analytical phase and it contains only a few objects, such as codes or
memos. We will work with the stage I project at the outset of our tour. Later,
when we move on to the topics of network views and data retrieval, you will
be asked to open the file “Jack the Ripper_stage II,” which is already fully
coded.
This tour is designed as a hands-on introduction. You’re encouraged to follow
along and try all the steps described in these pages for yourself. We hope that
this approach will allow you to quickly get a feel for the tools ATLAS.ti places at
your disposal, and for the possibilities it opens up for your own work.
And now, prepare to embark on a journey with us back to the foggy streets of
London in the year 1888...
Starting ATLAS.ti
Start ATLAS.ti by going to START / PROGRAMS and selecting SCIENTIFIC SOFTWARE /
ATLAS.TI 6. Or double-click the ATLAS.ti shortcut on your desktop if you
selected this option during installation.
Once the program opens, you are greeted by the “Welcome Wizard" (unless
you have specifically disabled it—in that case, simply skip the next few steps).
In the background, the main working space, the Hermeneutic Unit (HU) Editor,
is already visible.
The Wizard offers four options:
7 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
Select “Just continue” for now.
Next, the ‘Tip of the Day’ window will open (unless it has been disabled in
GENERAL PREFERENCES). After reading the tip, close the window.
To load the sample project now, go to the HELP menu and select QUICKTOUR /
LOAD “JACK THE RIPPER STAGE I”:
Now, it is time to get acquainted with the ATLAS.ti user interface.
The ATLAS.ti User Interface
The main area of the HU Editor displays the ATLAS.ti logo, a background
image, and some licensing information.
At the top of the screen, you will see the title bar, where the name of the
current project is displayed.
ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour 8
Immediately below the title bar are the main menu and the horizontal tool bar,
which contains a number of shortcut icons. Below the icons are four dropdown
lists for the four main object types in ATLAS.ti (from left to right):
• Primary Documents or P-Docs
• Quotes or Quotations refer to selected data segments
• Codes and
• Memos.
You can view the objects listed in the drop-down lists by clicking on the small
arrow to the right of the list. All primary documents are numbered
consecutively, i.e.: P1, P2, P3, etc., followed by the name of the document.
Clicking on an item in the list will load a document’s content into the HU
editor.
Select “P3: 1_Jack the Ripper Story.rtf” to load it into the HU editor.
To the right of the document, the margin area is visible. For now, the margin is
empty; however, it will gradually fill up in the course of your work. To adjust
the size of these two main panes (the document pane and the margin area),
the window splitter can be moved from right to left as needed.
Viewing Your Files – The Primary Document Manager
In addition to the list view introduced above, you can also open a list of all
documents in a separate window called the Primary Document Manager. This
manager contains a number of additional functions.
To open the Primary Document Manager, select the main menu option
DOCUMENTS / PRIMARY DOC MANAGER or click on the P-Docs button to the left of
the drop-down list.
Double-click on P1 to select it from the list. The audio file will be loaded and
start to play automatically.
9 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
Try loading the other primary documents to become acquainted with the
project and, even more importantly, the wide variety of file formats that
ATLAS.ti supports: Text files, PDF documents, audio, video and image files,
Google Earth and Google Earth snapshots.
Note: P15 is a Google Earth document. To view it, Google Earth must be
installed on your computer (http://earth.google.com). As an alternative, try
P16, the Google Earth snapshot.
ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour 10
Coding
We are now going to code our first document, in this case a text file. But
following that we’ll also try coding all the other file types that ATLAS.ti
supports, and you will see how fast and easy it is.
While the principles of coding are pretty much the same for any type of
document type, there are certain techniques and specialities specific to each
type that you should be aware of.
Coding a Text Document
Close the Primary Document Family Manager.
Now load P3 by selecting it from the P-Docs drop-down list.
Use your mouse to highlight the first paragraph beginning with “Jack the
Ripper....” and right-click on the selected text.
Select CODING / OPEN CODING from the context menu.
Enter a code name like “Explanation of name” and click on the OK button. The
coded segment is displayed in the margin area. A bracket marks the size of the
coded segment (= quotation) and the code name appears next to it.
Now, take a look at the drop-down lists for quotes and codes. A new entry will
be visible in each list.
11 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
Coding an Image Document
Load an image document (e.g. P19), select a rectangular area and proceed to
code it as described above.
Coding an Audio or a Video Document
Load P7, the short video showing the location of the Chapman murder.
In addition to the Code Manager, open the Quotation Manager by clicking on
the Quotes button. Re-size the two windows, so they fit next to each other.
When you coded the text and image documents above, the quotations were
created automatically. This is not the case when coding audio and video files.
After you mark an audio or video segment (equivalent to highlighting a piece
of text), you need to create a quotation before a code can be assigned.
You can mark a segment’s boundaries in the Media Control Window:
Move the cursor to the start position on the time line. Click the button “Mark
selection start” (see below).
Position the cursor at the end point of the quotation. Click on the “Mark
selection end” button. Then click on the “Create Quotation” button.
ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour 12
A new quotation will be listed in the Quotation Manager with the ID 7:1. The
default name for audio and video quotations is the document name. Each
quotation can, however, be renamed (right click on a quote and select the
option RENAME).
To code the video quotation, drag and drop a code from the Code Manager
onto the quotation in the Quotation Manager (or vice versa). You can also
create a new code in the Code Manager (SELECT CODES / CREATE FREE CODE). When
you apply a code, the quotation count behind the code name will increase by
one.
There is not yet a margin area for audio and video files, though this feature is is
on our list of future improvements. With the current version, you can review
video quotations after retrieving them via their codes (i.e., by double-clicking
on a code in the Code Manager). Or right click on the black background. There
you will find the option: SHOW LINKS.
Coding a PDF Document
Load P6 by selecting it from the P-Docs drop-down list.
Because PDF documents have a page-based format, only one page can be
viewed at a time in the primary document pane. To navigate between pages:
Click on the Page button at the bottom right of your screen.
To adjust the size of the PDF document, click on the Size button.
Coding a PDF document is essentially the same as coding *.rtf, *.doc or *.txt
files. Selecting a text passage in PDF documents does require just a bit more
practice, and perhaps finesse. Placing your cursor too far to the left of the text,
will result in the selection of a rectangular graphical image instead of the actual
text segment. This technique may be useful if you wish to code images or part
of an image in a PDF document.
13 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
To select a string of text, place the cursor directly to the left of the first letter.
Try coding a few text passages in the PDF file.
Now experiment with selecting a graphical image in the PDF file: Select and
code the picture of the victim Mary-Ann Nichols.
Note: It is possible to modify the length or size of each coded segment in all
data file formats. You can unlink codes, attach new codes, attach multiple
codes to one segment or code overlapping segments. This is explained in the
Getting Started with ATLAS.ti 6 tour.
ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour 14
Assigning Existing Codes
By now you have entered a number of codes and may want to begin to assign
some of your codes to other text passages. The easiest way to do this is by
using the Code Manager.
Open the Code Manager by selecting CODES / CODE MANAGER from the main
menu. Or click on the Codes button next to the drop-down list for codes.
In the manager, you will see a list of your existing codes (including your own
codes) together with some additional information.
Position the document pane and Code Manager so that the text occupies
about one third of the screen. Leave some space at the right to view your
codes in the margin area. Position the Code Manager at the far right of your
screen.
For the time being, we will work with the Code Manager in single column
view: Select the option VIEW / SINGLE COLUMN.
In this view, the names of codes are followed by two numbers. The first
number tells you how often a code has been applied; the second number refers
to the number of links between it and other codes. Linking codes is described in
more detail in the section on network views below.
For instance, the code victim_economic situation {2 - 0} has been applied to
two text passages and is not linked to any other codes (as indicated by the
zero).
In order to assign an existing code, highlight a piece of text, select the
appropriate code in the Code Manager, and drag & drop it into the document
pane.
15 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
Coding a Google Earth (GE) Document
Load the GE document P15. This may take a while, depending on the speed of
your Internet connection.
While working with GE documents, try reducing the main workspace size to
leave some space to the right or left for other ATLAS.ti windows.
The managers for quotations and codes should still be open. Position them to
right of the GE editor, e.g. stacked on top of each other. Now we are ready to
“fly” to a specific location and set ATLAS.ti tags:
In the “Fly To” field, type the following location: “Jack the Ripper murder
sites.” A list with links to specific points will appear. Select, for example, the
location “JtR – Annie Chapman’s body.”
To set a quotation, double-click a specific point on the map that is not already
set as a tag. Then select QUOTATIONS / CREATE FREE QUOTATION either from the main
menu or from the Quotation Manager menu. Or click on the quotes button in
the vertical tool bar (icon at left). The following new entry will appear
immediately in the Quotation Manager:
Like with audio and video quotations, the file name becomes the quotation’s
name. The geographic reference is visible in parentheses.
Now change the name of this quotation, e.g. to “Site of Crime: Annie
Chapman”.
In order to view the ATLAS.ti tag and name in the GE editor, the document
must be reloaded: Open the drop-down window for P-Docs and click on P15
or hold down the Shift key and click on the P-Docs button. And voilà, the new
quotation will appear:
ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour 16
A new entry is also added to the Places section of the GE editor in the lower
left pane.
To code this new GE quotation, drag & drop a code from the Code Manager
onto the quotation in the Quotation Manager (just like you did to code audio
and video quotations).
You can also create a quotation and code it directly. Select a point on the map
by double-clicking. Then select CODES / CODING / OPEN CODING or CODE BY LIST,
depending on whether you would like to enter a new code or assign an existing
code. Alternatively, you can use the vertical tool bar buttons shown at the left.
Creating a GE Snapshot
To produce an image document that includes your ATLAS.ti tags:
Click on the arrow next to the folder button in the main/horizontal toolbar and
select the option NEW GE SNAPSHOT PD.
The newly created PD will be immediately added to your project. Open the list
of primary documents and find P22.
Note: P16 was first exported as a *.jpg file using the option CREATE GE SNAPSHOT
3D. The red circle was added using a different application and the document
was then assigned to the project.
Retrieving Coded Data
To retrieve coded quotations, double-click on a code in the code manager that
has been applied more than once. A list of the code’s quotations will appear
and you can browse through the quotations and view them in their respective
documents (simply click on a quotation to view it in its original context).
17 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
In the example shown above, four quotations are listed, two from P5 (5:5 and
5:9 and two from P8 (8:1 and 8:2).
Note: If a code has been applied only once, the coded passage will immediately
appear highlighted in context; audio or video segments will be played
automatically.
ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour 18
Comments and Memos
All objects in ATLAS.ti can be commented. As you have probably guessed, a
comment is a short note.
Comments are always tied to other objects; they never stand alone. Memos,
on the other hand, are independent objects that can be linked to other objects
or used as free, stand-alone memos. Memos can also be assigned as primary
documents. Given these considerations, you can see that comments and
memos serve clearly different purposes. More on memos below.
Comments can be written for all object types. Here are the most common
types and how you would frequently use comments with them:
• Comments for P-Docs: Can include meta information about the document,
e.g., a source reference, comments on an interview situation, etc.
• Comments for quotations: Notes on a particular quotations, thoughts that
occur during analysis, descriptions of video quotations, etc.
• Comments for codes: Code definitions, coding criteria for a particular code.
• Comments for the HU file: Comments for ATLAS.ti project files can contain
project descriptions.
• Comments for network views: Network view descriptions.
• Comments for “families”: Descriptions of object groups.
Writing Comments
Maximize the HU Editor window. Close the managers for codes and quotes.
Open the P-Docs Manager. There you will see that nearly every document has
already been commented. Comments are indicated by the tilde symbol
following each object title (~). You can read the comment in the bottom
manager pane.
19 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
Open the Code Manager, select a code and write a definition for this codes.
The comment is automatically saved if you click on another code in the list.
Close the Code Manager.
Next, we will see how to write a comment for quotations. Select P3 and click
on the code “Explanation of name” in the margin area, this will highlight the
corresponding text segment in the primary document. Right-click on the
highlighted text and select the option EDIT COMMENT from the context menu.
This causes a text editor to appear in which you can enter a comment for the
quotation.
Save the comment by pressing Ctrl+S or select COMMENT / SAVE from the editor
menu and close the window. The quotation bracket in the margin will now
appear with a triangle in its upper corner. If you open the Quotation Manager,
the quotation’s name will be preceded by a tilde symbol.
ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour 20
Note: You can create an output of all commented quotations or include
objects’ comments in other output forms.
Close the Quotation Manager.
Finally, take a look at the HU comment written for this sample project by
clicking on the speech balloon icon in the main tool bar.
Writing Memos
Open the Memo Manager and select the option MEMOS / CREATE FREE MEMO,
which will cause the Memo Editor to appear.
Enter a concise, useful title in the first entry field to replace the default heading
(e.g. Software Evaluation). Select an appropriate memo type in the second
entry field, or add a new type as needed, e.g. “Analysis.”
To begin this memo, you can enter the current date and time by pressing
Ctrl+D. Now, write a few sentences about what you have learned about
ATLAS.ti so far:
Save your entry by pressing Ctrl+S or by clicking the Save button.
Now create a second memo. Enter a title such as: “Commonalities of victims”
and save the memo.
21 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
If this sample project were fully coded, you could call up all text segments
pertaining to characteristics of the victims and analyze these commonalities in a
memo. Let’s pretend that this has already happened; you have written a memo
and now want to link it to a quotation that supports your own analysis:
To attach this memo to a coded text segment: Open P6 and click on a code in
the margin area to highlight its corresponding quotation. Drag the memo onto
the highlighted text just as you did to code data using the Code Manager.
ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour 22
Some Fun (and Useful) Things to Try Out
Transcribing Data Inside ATLAS.ti
ATLAS.ti can be used to transcribe your audio and video material. More
precisely, the transcribing function is a useful “by-product” of the new
“Associated Documents” feature, i.e. the synchronization of a multimedia file
with its corresponding text file. To see this feature in action, proceed as follows.
Load “P2: Transcript_Jack the Ripper Introduction” in the HU Editor. This is the
transcript of the audio file P1. The red dots are the association points that link
the transcript to the audio file.
Close or minimize the Primary Document Manager to optimize the space on
your screen.
To view the associations between P1 and P2, open the Association Editor from
the main menu A-DOCS / EDIT ASSOCIATION.
Double-click on the various association points. This will highlight different
segments of the document. Press the F4 button to listen to associated audio
segments.
To view the text of the transcript and the audio simultaneously:
In the main menu, select A-DOCS / SYNCHRO MODE.
Open the menu again and select A-DOCS / KARAOKE. Click on the first association
point in the Association Editor, then press F4.
Once you’ve finished experimenting with this feature, stop the audio file in the
Media Control window.
23 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
Grouping Documents – Creating Variables
Depending on your data, you may want to include a comparison of different
groups based on categories such as gender, profession, age, income, location,
as well as data types and sources.
ATLAS.ti offers a feature that allows you to group your documents according
to the criteria you specify: the “document family”. In similar programs, this
feature goes by the name of “variables” or “data attributes.”
Nevertheless, as we see it, the term “family” is a suitable analogy with regard
to this feature’s functionality in ATLAS.ti. As in life, so in ATLAS.ti: complex,
multiple memberships are a reality.
Thus, you can group a single document into various families, for instance:
“Gender:: female” / “Profession:: teacher” / “Age group:: 31 - 40”, and so
on.
Simply follow these steps:
Close the Media Control window and the Association Editor.
From the main menu select the option DOCUMENTS / EDIT FAMILIES / OPEN FAMILY
MANAGER.
Create a new family by selecting the option FAMILIES / NEW FAMILY or click on the
button for creating a new object (see left).
Enter a name of your first ATLAS.ti family; try “Victims” out for starters and to
continue with the next step. Click OK.
Highlight the family “Victims.” Then select P5 to P10 at the bottom right of
the Family Manager. Now click the button with the arrow pointing to the left.
This will add all documents that pertain to Jack the Ripper’s victims to this
family.
ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour 24
Document families can be used as filters, for example to create an output of
only a particular subset of your data. They are also very useful when used in
combination with the query tool to hypothesize about your data. These
features will be explained towards the end of this tour.
Note: If you double-click on a family, the family will be set as a filter. Doubleclick
again to remove the filter or select EXTRAS / RESET ALL FILTERS from the main
menu.
25 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
Network Views and Linking
Visualization can be a key element in discovering connections between
concepts, interpreting your findings, and effectively communicating your
results. Network views in ATLAS.ti allow you to accomplish all three of these
important objectives. These small segments of your larger web of analysis are
modeled using the Network View Editor, an intuitive workspace that we also
like to think is easy on the eye.
Exploring Network Views
The next exercise requires that we work with data in a later stage of analysis,
i.e., a project file that contains a few more codes and some network views.
Click HELP on the main menu and select the project "Jack the Ripper_stage II"
from the QUICK TOUR submenu.
Click on the main menu option NETWORKS / NETWORK VIEW MANAGER. Select the
Network View “RQ5: Who was Jack the Ripper?”.
Network views contain a wide variety of features and options. Here is just a
sampling to get you started:
• Move an object by selecting it and dragging it to different locations in the
network view. Right-click on a code or a link to view a series of options in
the context menu.
• Listen to an audio quotation (indicated by a small loudspeaker icon) by
double-clicking on it in the network.
• Explore different DISPLAY options. For instance, select DISPLAY / SET COLORS /
USE COLORED LABEL or USE AS NODE COLOR .
After you have experimented with some of these features, close the network
view. Select NO when asked if you would like to save your changes.
Take a look at the other two network views listed in the Network View
Manager.
Linking Data
Now we will learn how to create new links between objects.
Close the Network View Manager.
Open the Code Manager. Select a code in the Code Manager and then enter
the letter R to jump to the first code in the list that begins with R. This is the
main category code: REASON RELEASED. Continue down to the blue category:
REASON SUSPECTED and select the code: “reason: could have been there {15
– 2}”.
The numbers behind the code tell you that it has been applied 15 times
(double-click on the code to see a list of its quotes) and that it has been linked
to two other codes. To see these links, select the Network View button in the
tool bar of the Code Manager (see image below).
ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour 26
Different display formats are available in network views. If you do not see full
text relations as shown below, select the option “Menu label” in the Network
View Editor under Display / Link Display
27 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
Place the Network View Editor in a convenient working location and add a few
codes to this network view by dragging them from the Code Manager into the
Network View Editor. If you select a code that has already been linked to one
of the codes in the Network View, the link will be shown automatically.
Now select a code and click on the Link button in the toolbar. A red “rubber
band” will appear and you cursor will be shown as a cross. Move your cursor
onto another code and click on it.
This will open a list of default relations, as well as a few new relations created
for this project. Select one of these relations.
Now the two codes are linked.
Right-click on the name of the link to view some additional options. For
example, you can add a comment to the relation or flip the direction of the
link. This of course only applies to non-symmetrical relations. For symmetrical
relations, such as “is associated with,” flipping the link will not make a
difference. It is also possible to select a different relation or to cut the link.
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Close the window and select NO when asked if you would like to save the
Network View. The new links you have created will be saved, but your changes
to the network view will be discarded.
Note: Network Views can be exported as graphic files and inserted into other
applications, or you can copy and paste them into Word or PowerPoint files.
You can create any number of new relations and change the properties of the
links. The links can be displayed in different colors and widths as those shown
in the network view RQ5. The nodes can be displayed with or without bitmaps.
In addition, node labels or boxes can be shown in user-defined code colors.
Code colors can be set in the Code Manager.
Specific relations with definable properties can be used for code-code links and
for quotation-quotation links, i.e. “hyperlinks.” All other object relations are
simple links with no attributes and are shown as a plain line.
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Exploring and Querying Your Data
There are a number of ways to query your data. Four are discussed below. The
classic approach is to use the categories created in the course of your analysis:
the researcher might formulate different questions or hypotheses pertaining to
a specific code.
Simple Retrieval
You are already familiar with this function. Double-click on a code in the Code
Manager to call up a list of its quotations.
To output these quotations as rich text document, select OUTPUT / QUOTATIONS
FOR SELECTED CODE (from the Code Manager menu). Send the output to: EDITOR.
Review the output content and close the editor.
Close the Code Manager.
Complex Retrieval
For more complex retrievals based on multiple codes, use the Query Tool.
Select the main menu option TOOLS / QUERY TOOL.
For example, we can consider how the police investigation of the White Chapel
murders may have contributed to the legendary status of “Jack the Ripper.”
Double-click on the code family “Investigation” (1.). Double-click on the code
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The results for this query are shown in the result pane (4.). The number of
results is shown in the bottom left corner of the window. To display the results
in context, click on each quotation.
To create an output of these results, click on the printer button (5.). Try
experimenting with the different output options.
Let’s enter a second query: Click on the button C (CLEAR) at the top of the
query tool. Double-click on the code family “Suspects,” which will display the
47 quotations in this family.
Then click on the Scope button at the bottom right of the query tool to filter
the results for audio quotations. In the “Scope of Query” window, select the
primary document family “Investigation: audio files” as your filter.
In the result pane, you will see that 13 of the 47 quotations are audio
quotations.
Note: The Scope button in the Query Tool allows you to combine code queries
with variables. In a different data set, you might formulate a query to show
you all quotation in which females between the ages of 20 and 29 discuss their
attitudes towards the environment. Or you might ask ATLAS.ti to give you all
quotations from 8th
grade boys from school X related to their experiences with
a specific computer game.
Cooccurrence Explorer
The Cooccurrence Explorer allows to ask a different type of questions. Using
this tool, you can ask ATLAS.ti to show you all codes that co-occur across all of
your primary documents. The result is a cross-tabulation of all codes.
Instead of cross-tabulating all project codes, it is often more meaningful to
apply filters for certain codes and documents in order to concentrate on a more
specific set of concepts. The output of the Cooccurrence Explorer can be
displayed in a tree view or a data matrix.
Let’s take a look at the full data matrix for this sample project:
Close the Query Tool window.
Select TOOLS / COOCCURRENCE TOOLS/ TABLE EXPLORER. The table shown below
displays c-coefficients alongside the co-occurrence frequencies as a measure of
the strength between two codes. The coefficient values lie between 0 and 1.
Click on the c-coefficients button to view these values as well.
31 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
Click on a cell to view the list of co-occurring quotations. Select a quotation to
display it in context.
Quantitative Retrieval in Excel Format
A number of functions offer the option to output your results in an Excel table.
Two of them are shown below.
For example, you can export the Cooccurrence Table that you just created to
an Excel file.
In the Cooccurrence Table toolbar, click on the button: “Export the table to
Excel” shown in the figure above. In the next menu, select the output option
FILE & RUN. Enter a new file name or use the default title; save the file and wait
for it to load.
Another Excel output provided by ATLAS.ti is the Codes-Primary Document
table. It lists the frequency of all (or selected codes) by documents (or
document groups).
First, select a code group and then a document group before creating this
table. Object groups can be created using what we call “families” in ATLAS.ti.
Select the main menu option CODES / FILTER / FAMILIES / MODUS OPERANDI. Open up
the Code Manager, which now only displays the codes contained in this family.
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Select the main menu option DOCUMENTS / FILTER / FAMILIES / *JACK THE RIPPER_STAGE
II. Now open up the Primary Document Manager. The list has been reduced to
the current family filter.
Select CODES / OUTPUT / CODES-PRIMARY DOCUMENT TABLE. In the “Send output to:”
window, select the option: FILE AND RUN. Select a name and location for the Excel
file (or use the default settings) and wait for Excel to open.
Note: To undo all filters, select EXTRAS / RESET ALL FILTERS
33 ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour
And That’s a Wrap!
Congratulations, you have now reached the end of the ATLAS.ti Quick Tour.
After working through these exercises, you should now have a good grasp of
the main functions in ATLAS.ti 6. You should be able to assess how powerful a
tool it is, and have a good idea how productively it can be put to use in your
day-to-day work.
We thank you for taking the time to get to know our product and hope that
this demonstration of its core functionality has convinced you that ATLAS.ti 6 is
the right software for your needs.
ATLAS.ti 6 – Quick Tour 34