International survey of users of qualitative data analysis and CAQDAS

As part of an ESRC funded project ( RES-333-25-0009) “Online QDA” ( http://onlineqda.hud.ac.uk/ ) that addressed the need for online materials for researchers learning qualitative data analysis (QDA) and computer assisted qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS) we undertook in 2005 an online survey of qualitative researchers. This investigated a range of issues including the subject background of the researcher: the main approaches to analysis they were using, the training (if any) they had received in QDA and CAQDAS, what they needed training about and what aspects of QDA they had found difficult to learn, whether they had used software (and why or why not), which software they had used, their experience of learning the software and their expectations about it.

Because it was an online survey, the representativeness of the sample is hard to judge. However, we went to some lengths to ensure that those we invited to respond were not just those currently using CAQDAS. However, most respondents had used CAQDAS at some time in their research.

251 researchers replied, with three-quarters of replies coming from universities. Nearly 45% of respondents were from the UK with just over a quarter from the US or Canada. The biggest group was PhD students (32%) with significant numbers of academics and researchers