Developer(s) | Christophe Lejeune |
---|---|
Stable release | 3.18.01.31 / Jan 2018 |
Written in | JavaScript on CouchDB |
Operating system | Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS |
Type | Qualitative data analysis |
License | GNU Affero General Public License |
Website | www |
Cassandre is a free open source software for computer assisted qualitative data analysis and interpretation in humanities and social sciences. [1] Although it refers, like other CAQDAS-software, to Grounded Theory Method, it also allows to conduct discourse analysis or quantitative content analysis. [2] The software is designed as a server to support collaborative work. Formerly focused on semi-automatic coding, it now provides diaries assisting qualitative analysis.
In academia, Cassandre is used by social scientists in sociology, [3] [4] psychology, management, [5] [6] communication studies, [7] education and political science. [8] Some researchers also use it in computer science, namely in knowledge management, [9] design, human-computer interaction and topic mapping. Many of the Cassandre users are academics and PhD students. The software tool is also used in public services (police and government departments) and in the industry (namely by Cockerill Maintenance & Ingénierie).
In 2010, in the so-called KWALON experiment, representatives of selected CAQDAS-Software were invited to analyze a dataset composed of newspapers articles and videos related to the 2008 financial crisis. [10] [11] The software packages Atlas.ti, MAXQDA, NVivo, Transana and Cassandre were taking part in the experiment. Commentators depicted Cassandre as the only software limited to text material [12] and as an integrated approach between algorithms and hand-made coding. [13] The experiment, however, suggested that the outcome of the analysis depended more of the analysis strategy than the software. [14]
Its features include:
Christophe Lejeune created Cassandre's first version in 2006 after his post-doctoral stay in the University of Technology of Troyes where he involved in the Social Semantic Web team and participated the definition of the Hypertopic protocol. [15] This protocol was used by Cassandre to exchange data with other software tool from the Hypertopic suite. As a server, Cassandre was storing texts and provided a semi-automated coding feature. Rather than highlighting excerpts (like in most of QDA software), the user highlights keywords or idioms (markers) that instantly match several excerpts of material. These markers are gathered in into registers, which represent analysis categories. [16] Markers and registers are created, managed and browsed with Porphyry's Portfolio, a Hypertopic client developed in Java by Aurélien Bénel. Cassandre also provided meta-data and some lexical analysis (words counts) accessible through the Porphyry sidebar, a Firefox add-on.
Cassandre second version surfaced in 2010. Initially designed as PHP/SQL server (first MySQL then PostgreSQL), Cassandre was refactored as a CouchDB application. Lexical analysis was optimized and included in the per text view. Coding was integrated to the browser thanks to a Firefox add-on, LaSuli, developed by Chao Zhou.
Released in 2017, the third version of Cassandre consists in a in-depth refactoring. Resting on a typology of memos inspired by Grounded Theory Method, the application provides collaborative diaries aimed at structuring qualitative analyzes. Rather than coding, analysis is made through writing.
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 type of research typically involves in-depth interviews, focus groups, or observations in order to collect data that is rich in detail and context. Qualitative research is often used to explore complex phenomena or to gain insight into people's experiences and perspectives on a particular topic. It is particularly useful when researchers want to understand the meaning that people attach to their experiences or when they want to uncover the underlying reasons for people's behavior. Qualitative methods include ethnography, grounded theory, discourse analysis, and interpretative phenomenological analysis. Qualitative research methods have been used in sociology, anthropology, political science, psychology, communication studies, social work, folklore, educational research, information science and software engineering research.
IntelliJ IDEA is an integrated development environment (IDE) written in Java for developing computer software written in Java, Kotlin, Groovy, and other JVM-based languages. It is developed by JetBrains and is available as an Apache 2 Licensed community edition, and in a proprietary commercial edition. Both can be used for commercial development.
Grounded theory is a systematic methodology that has been largely applied to qualitative research conducted by social scientists. The methodology involves the construction of hypotheses and theories through the collecting and analysis of data. Grounded theory involves the application of inductive reasoning. The methodology contrasts with the hypothetico-deductive model used in traditional scientific research.
Digital anthropology is the anthropological study of the relationship between humans and digital-era technology. The field is new, and thus has a variety of names with a variety of emphases. These include techno-anthropology, digital ethnography, cyberanthropology, and virtual anthropology.
This is an alphabetical list of articles pertaining specifically to software engineering.
Axial coding is the breaking down of core themes during qualitative data analysis. Axial coding in grounded theory is the process of relating codes to each other, via a combination of inductive and deductive thinking. The basic framework of generic relationships is understood, according to Strauss and Corbin who propose the use of a "coding paradigm", to include categories related to (1) the phenomenon under study, (2) the conditions related to that phenomenon, (3) the actions and interactional strategies directed at managing or handling the phenomenon and (4) the consequences of the actions/interactions related to the phenomenon. As Kelle underlines, the implicit or explicit theoretical framework necessary to identify categories in empirical data is derived, in the procedures explicated by Strauss and Corbin (1990), from a "general model of action rooted in pragmatist and interactionist social theory". This model or theoretical framework underlines the importance of "analysing and modelling action and interaction strategies of the actors". Axial coding is a cornerstone of Strauss and Corbin's approach but is regarded by Charmaz (2006) as highly structured and optional.
ATLAS.ti is a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software that facilitates analysis of qualitative data for qualitative research, quantitative research, and mixed methods research.
In the social sciences, coding is an analytical process in which data, in both quantitative form or qualitative form are categorized to facilitate analysis.
NVivo is a qualitative data analysis (QDA) computer software package produced by Lumivero. NVivo is used across a diverse range of fields, including social sciences such as anthropology, psychology, communication, sociology, as well as fields such as forensics, tourism, criminology and marketing.
Transana is a software package used to analyze digital video or audio data. Transana used to be a GPL licensed software, but has become proprietary software in recent releases.
RQDA is an R package for computer assisted qualitative data analysis or CAQDAS. It is installable from, and runs within, the R statistical software, but has a separate window running a graphical user interface. 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.
Computer-assistedqualitative 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, grounded theory methodology, etc.
Netnography is a specific type of qualitative social media research. It adapts the methods of ethnography to understand social interaction in contemporary digital communications contexts. Netnography is a specific set of research practices related to data collection, analysis, research ethics, and representation, rooted in participant observation. In netnography, a significant amount of the data originates in and manifests through the digital traces of naturally occurring public conversations recorded by contemporary communications networks. Netnography uses these conversations as data. It is an interpretive research method that adapts the traditional, in-person participant observation techniques of anthropology to the study of interactions and experiences manifesting through digital communications.
CAT or Coding Analysis Toolkit was a web-based suite of CAQDAS tools. It is free and open source software, and is developed by the Qualitative Data Analysis Program of the University of Pittsburgh. According to the CAT website, the tool was decommissioned on September 13, 2020.
MAXQDA is a software program designed for computer-assisted qualitative and mixed methods data, text and multimedia analysis in academic, scientific, and business institutions. It is being developed and distributed by VERBI Software based in Berlin, Germany.
Aquad is open source computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS). It supports analysis of text, audio, video, and graphical data.
The Qualitative Data Analysis Program (QDAP) was founded in 2005 at the University of Pittsburgh in the University Center for Social and Urban Research. QDAP is a fee-for-service research laboratory that develops software and methods to support multi-coder annotation projects. In 2008, QDAP-UMass was opened at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Researchers at QDAP developed the Coding Analysis Toolkit (CAT), which is a free, open source, web-based CAQDAS package.
KH Coder is an open source software for computer assisted qualitative data analysis, particularly quantitative content analysis and text mining. It can be also used for computational linguistics. It supports processing and etymological information of text in several languages, such as Japanese, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. Specifically, it can contribute factual examination co-event system hub structure, computerized arranging guide, multidimensional scaling and comparative calculations. Word frequency statistics, part-of-speech analysis, grouping, correlation analysis, and visualization are among the features offered by KH Coder.
Quirkos is a CAQDAS software package for the qualitative analysis of text data, commonly used in social science. It provides a graphical interface in which the nodes or themes of analysis are represented by bubbles. It is designed primarily for new and non-academic users of qualitative data, to allow them to quickly learn the basics of qualitative data analysis. Although simpler to use, it lacks some of the features present in other commercial CAQDAS packages such as multimedia support. However, it has been proposed as a useful tool for lay and participant led analysis and is comparatively affordable. It is developed by Edinburgh, UK based Quirkos Software, and was first released in October 2014.
Marilyn Gray Richards is an Australian social scientist and writer who, with computer scientist Tom Richards, developed the software analysis packages NUD*IST and NVivo.