Software comparison – VERSION: October 2014 Christian Schmieder
UW-Madison, School of Education, MERIT Library cschmieder@wisc.edu
NVIVO MAXQDA DEDOOSE ATLAS.TI
ORGANIZE
Import of text RTF, TXT, DOC, PDF RTF, TXT, DOC, PDF RTF, TXT, DOC RTF, TXT, DOC, PDF
PDF Import either as externals, or as
internals.
Internals can be coded.
Externals have to be organized by the
user, cannot be coded.
Import or linked.
Either can be coded in MAXQDA.
Software creates library with backup
copies.
Import Linked.
Either can be coded in ATLAS.TI.
Software creates library with
backup copies.
Video & Audio Supported Supported Supported; pay per minute imported Supported
Transcription Integrated transcription tool, but not
mouse-free; import with time stamps
Integrated transcription tool; import with
time stamps from f4
Transcription possible, but not mousefree
& somewhat clunky
Integrated transcription tool; ;
import with time stamps from f4
File Organization Central project file, full access to the
file itself
Central project file, full access to the file
itself
Central project file, only access to export Central project file, full access to
the file itself
Folder Layering Multiple layers One layer of folders No folders No folders; organization in families
Variables Yes. Built for having multiple sets of
variables for different data.
Yes. Somewhat clunky handling &
organization of variables.
Yes. Good integration & workflow, also
allows for different data points under one
variable.
Via document organization in
families, thus somewhat more
limited than the other 3 programs
Tables Excellent visualization & access. New feature, basic functionality. n/a n/a
Images Yes, sections can be coded &
annotated. Very powerful table for
annotating images densely.
Yes, sections can be coded & annotated. Only as parts of text documents, but
prone to crashing
Yes, sections can be coded &
annotated.
ANNOTATE
Coding Somewhat sluggish; poor
visualization.
Basic colors available.
Multiple coding trees can be organized
in different folders.
No weight available.
Smooth and responsive; excellent
visualization. Excessive color options &
tools to use colors.
New feature: coding with icons
(somewhat gimmicky).
One coding tree.
Coding weights available.
Somewhat clunky 2-step process of
creating a snippet and then adding
codes.
Automatic coding colors.
Coding weights can have extended
functionality.
Coding tree easily visually overloaded;
coding tree organization somewhat
tedious.
Smooth and responsive, good
visualization.
One coding tree.
Coding tree is non-hierarchical, and
family-based instead. In effect,
handling of massive amounts of
codes can overload the visual
accessibility.
Memos Memos can be coded; each item can
have one memo attached to it, and
one memo can be attached once.
Multiple linking options available (see
below). Visualization of memos in the
text poor.
No limit on memo length.
Basic word processing in memos.
Excellent visualization of memos in-text.
Indefinite number of memos can be
attached to instances of data, but only
one to a document as a whole, or a code
as a whole.
Memos can only be coded as a whole,
not more fine-grained as in NVIVO.
No limit on memo length.
Basic word processing in memos; code
classes available, time stamp insertion
available.
Excellent visualization of memos in-text.
Indefinite number of memos can be
attached to instances of data.
Multiple memos can be attached to one
item (including memos themselves).
Memos cannot be viewed simultaneously
to the data.
Both comments (i.e. localized
memos) and memos feature
excellent word processing features.
No limit to memo length.
Via network functions and family
organization, memos can be
interlinked with multiple elements in
the database.
Memos can be interlinked with other
memos, comments, and codings.
Hyperlinking Elaborate functions available
(hyperlinks, see also links,
relationships that can be transformed
to nodes)
Hyperlinks available n/a Hyperlinks available
Software comparison – VERSION: October 2014 Christian Schmieder
UW-Madison, School of Education, MERIT Library cschmieder@wisc.edu
NVIVO MAXQDA DEDOOSE ATLAS.TI
SEARCHING &
RETREIVING
Complex searches; menus
somewhat dated; incudes
wizard though.
Results viewed in separate tab
that can be detached to buffer
de-contextualization.
Complex searches; menu slightly clunky.
Very quick simple searches.
Results viewed on the same screen as
data. Information on snippets incudes
weight & position, as well as attached
memos.
Extremely efficient & effective recontextualization
(seeing the result in
context)
Complex searches; selecting the scope
of the search somewhat tedious.
Display of results contains information
on linked memos and other linked
codes.
De-contextualization does not allow for
seeing the excerpt and the original data
at the same time.
Complex searches; menu slightly
clunky.
Very quick simple searches.
Co-occurrences can be found
using automatically generated c-
coefficient.
Word search Yes. Quantification options
available
Yes. Quantification options available (in
MAXQDAplus version).
Auto-coding and semi-auto coding
available.
Yes. But not across documents/sources. Yes. Quantification options
available
Auto-coding and semi-auto
coding available.
EXPORT &
DISPLAY
Export Numbering in export not
consistent with in-software
enumeration.
Excellent options for export of
interlinked objects.
All items exportable.
Numbering consistent in software &
export. Allows for breaking text into line
numbers. Standard automatic
enumeration in paragraphs.
Excellent options for export of interlinked
objects.
All items exportable.
Numbering in export not consistent with
in-software enumeration. Enumeration
in paragraphs can be displayed in
software, but not in exports.
Excellent options for export of
interlinked objects.
All items exportable.
Numbering consistent in software
& export.
Excellent output options including
coding strips.
Excellent options for export of
interlinked objects.
All items exportable.
Visualization Various options. Various options, including visualizations
drawing heavily on code coloring.
Various options, extensively for
integration of variables; easy access to
a variety visualization options
Various options.
Mapping tools Yes, but clunky. Yes, but clunky. No. Tightly integrated. By far the
best integration of a mapping
tool of any QDA software.
Overall design Menus are redundant, overall
the design does not make
good use of the screen space.
Dated design and hard to learn
intuitively.
Efficient use of space, all relevant pieces
of a project can be seen on one screen.
Easiest to learn.
Often many clicks are necessary to do
simple tasks. Dated design, and
oftentimes the flash-based design gets
in its own way.
Good use of space, use of space
is customizable. Some menus
such as the query tool and the
family managers seem a bit
dated in design.
Price around 670 around 570 around 11/ month plus cost for audio &
video data
Around 670
Platform PC & MAC (mac version
missing some features)
PC & MAC (mac & win projects not directly
compatible)
PC, MAC, Linux (browser-based,
requires online connection)
PC & MAC
Documentation Excellent. Good user forum Excellent. Good user forum Poor. Vital details are not given. User
forum not functional.
Excellent. Good selection of
guides and materials.
Software comparison – VERSION: October 2014 Christian Schmieder
UW-Madison, School of Education, MERIT Library cschmieder@wisc.edu
NVIVO DEDOOSE MAXQDA ATLAS.TI
Textual data Tier 2 Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 1
Integration of video & audio data Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 1
Data in tables Tier 1 n/a Tier 2 n/a
PDFs Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 1 Tier 1
(Online) collaboration Tier 1 Tier 1 Tier 3 Tier 2
Integration of quant data Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
Organization of massive and diverse data sets Tier 1 Tier 3 Tier 2 Tier 3
Learning curve Tier 2 Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 2
Coding visualization Tier 3 Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 1
Memo visualization & writing options Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 1 Tier 1
Integration of network maps Tier 2 n/a Tier 2 Tier 1