Adding Variables and Quantifying Codes

Abstract

Even in strictly qualitative research, a set of standardized (quantitative) data will usually be collected, e.g., to record sociodemographic characteristics such as age, gender, education, number of children, religious affiliation, and much more. This data can be used very well to form groups and compare them with one another. What do women say about a certain topic, for example, and what do men say? Quantitative data, referred to as “variables” in MAXQDA, is of course also used in mixed methods projects, where qualitative and quantitative methods, data, and analyses are combined and interlinked. A third area that involves numbers also directly relates to qualitative analysis. Each time you assign a code to a segment of data, you are essentially classifying it, which in turn generates information about the frequency of code assignments per code and per case. You can then use this information in your analysis, for example, to find out who spoke about which topic and how often.