And the winner is ….

For several weeks now I have made an effort to finally come to a decision concerning which software to use for my research.

In 2004 in a class on research methodology I heard about CAQDAS – Computer Assisted Qualitative Analysis Software – for the first time. A professor introduced us to ATLAS, C-I-SAID, Ethnograph, HyperResearch and NUD*IST. I downloaded several of them and did some experimenting with it. Eventually, I decided to test ATLAS during this class. I had to code two interviews and was very happy with the coding process and the possibility to produce a graphic representation of the relationship between these codes.

For some time now, I knew I would need to buy one of these programs to analyze the interviews which I did in 2007. Some time last year I made a new effort to look at the different options. Among other things I discovered the CADQAS networking project and Text Analysus Info, and an article comparing the different software packages “Choosing a CADQAS package” by Ann Lewins and Christina Silver (July 2006, which is now available as book by Sage publications). The article compared the following software packages: ATLAS.ti 5, HyperRESEARCH 2.6, MAXqda2 (MAXdictio & MAXmaps), N6, NVivo2, NVivo7, QDA Miner, Qualrus and Transana. I downloaded several of them as trial versions, but did not get much further than that.

Now I had to come to a decision as there was more and more material that needed thorough filing and coding. After looking again at the article, I installed several of the demo programs but realized soon that ATLAS or MAXQDA are most appropriate for what I want to do. I liked certain features that Qualrus could offer (a digital sorting of notes) but when I looked at the program I realized it would take more programing than I was willing to learn. NVivo also came highly recommended but the pricing options were less attractive. ATLAS and MAXQDA offer a student price while NVivo requires a yearly subscription.

Since I had already tested ATLAS in the past, I started using MAXQDA. After some time, I tried to do the same kind of testing with ATLAS and realized that both program are excellent, but there are features that I love in one program that are not available in the other. I started making a list of advantages and disadvantages. For days I would go back and forth weighing the arguments for one or the other software. Now, I have finally come to a decision but it was not an easy decision.

In the following table you can see the features and aspects that seemed important to me and where the two software program differed from each other. In the margins I marked which features spoke for one or the other software.

	ATLAS	MAXQDA
	document organization:
+	imports many types of data including photos	imports only RTF files, but it is possible to past tables and graphics into a document
	cannot import PDF	cannot import PDF
	documents are listed in a long list without any sorting and can be sorted later	documents can be organized in different text categories	+
	documents can be grouped in families but this is not reflected in the document listing	documents are listed in hierarchical order, according to their text category, which provides clarity (Übersichtlichkeit)
+	easy to zoom in on a text with a small font	no zooming option
+	documents can be imported in RTF or DOC format, but only RTF can be edited inside the program	documents have to be saved first as RTF before they can be imported
+	allows highlighting of passages with different colors	highlighting not possible (or so I thought)
	other options for marking text:
	changing a font and font size takes several clicks (buried in the menu)	changing a font or font size is easy, only one or two clicks	+
	changing a font color takes several clicks (buried in the menu)	highlighting through changing the font is possible, but still takes two clicks	+
	using the program for field notes:
	field notes can be written as memos	very easy to create new documents inside the program	+
	it is possible to create new documents but they are not automatically integrated into the program	these field notes can be organized in a separate text category and included in the analysis on the same level as other text material
	ease of coding:
	very easy	very easy
	codes can be grouped later into families and displayed graphically	codes can be organized in hierarchies	+
	all codes have equal weight	codes can have different weights	+
+	the grouping of codes is flexible and can more easily reflect semantic networks and schema than a hierarchical order of codes	the hierarchical order of codes gives them clear arrangement or clarity (Übersichtlichkeit)	+

It was interesting when I realized that the most important features had to do with my personal way of doing things – I am very visual and things need to be clearly arranged (übersichtlich).  Therefore ATLAS’ feature of highlighting and marking quotes in a text became very important for me. Some of the imported texts had lost their clear formatting (probably because of the RTF conversion) and I was suddenly lost in a long text without any marking. On the other hand, the way the documents were arranged in MAXQDA, nicely grouped into categories was much more convenient for me than the random list of ATLAS. This is why I was so torn and could not decide. Until ….

Finally, I discovered that the new version of MAXQDA also has an option for highlighting text portions in four different colors. Woohooo! And so the winner is ….. MAXQDA.
And I get both – the highlighting and the neatly arranged document list.

.

P.S. Übersichtlichkeit is one of these German words that are very hard to translate. LEO suggests clarity, clearness, lucidity, clear arrangement, facility of inspection. None of these seems to match the German meaning perfectly, therefore my felt need to add the German word for those who understand German.

Photo tools

Here comes the second installment that I had promised (here) on computer programs I am using. The first one was on reference works (Information at my finger tips). This second one covers the programs that I am using to organize and edit my countless photos (15000+ and counting). I will include some programs that I have used in the past and loved but for some reason had to stop using. The reason why I am no longer using them might not apply to you.

1) Photo organization

Foto Album – for the longest time I used Foto Album which allows you to organize your photos into albums and then synchronize them very quickly with the online albums on Foto Time. There are two editions – one is free for subscribers, the other is a professional version that costs $39.95. The online albums also have two subscription options, one is free and one costs $23.95 per year. It was great during a time when I rarely had online access. I could prepare everything offline and then synchronize. The reason why I stopped using it was that the long picture captions (in two languages) did not show in the overview.

Thumbs Plus – After that I mainly used Thumbs Plus. I had tried several other programs, but I liked especially the possibilities for tagging photos, adding captions, also to multiple photos, and the like. There are several ways of displaying existing captions, notes and tags. I mostly used a chart like layout, with thumbnail, and whatever database fields I chose. Another reason for choosing Thumbs Plus was the database where all this information is stored was easy to backup and transfer. Who wants to lose all that after spending hours on organizing your photos, because the program puts it in some obscure place on your hard disk?

ACDSee – Recently I changed to ACDSee Manager 2009 (without the editor). I did not like the options and procedures for tagging as much as in Thumbs Plus, but I realize that I am slowly getting used to it and now find it just as practical. The reason to change was that ACDSee has a plug-in for uploading photos to Flickr. And Flickr is the online storage which can be integrated with my blog (this blog!) on WordPress.com through a widget in the sidebar. What else do I want? [N.B. I had tried several other Flickr upload plug-ins and programs that worked for others but none had worked for me, maybe because my Internet connection was not stable enough.]

You might have noticed that all these programs do cost something. Personally, I have not found a free program that fits my needs. It seems many people are quite happy with programs such as IrfanView but I did not like any of them. Also, most digital cameras come with some kind of free photo organizing software, such as  Adobe Photoshop Album, Canon Zoombrowser EX. Again, these are good programs and you might be very happy with any one of them, but their way of organizing things and doing routines did not suit me.

2) Photo editing programs

Micrografx Picture Publisher – After some research and reading reviews in several photo magazines, I decided that this was a good program for my editing needs. I used it for several years and was very happy with it. Until one day some strange conflict with Microsoft Outlook occured. Nobody was able to resolve this problem and so uninstalling the program was the only solution.

Arcsoft Photo Impressions – is a program that came with either my camera or my scanner (I don’t remember) and it was great for bridging the time in between, until I decided what to use next. Again, this might be a good program for somebody who has different expectations than I do.

Adobe Photoshop Elements – Now I am using Photoshop Elements, even though I still think that certain editing procedures, such as drawing a free hand line to cut out a part, worked easier with the Picture Publisher. Oh well, no program is perfect. Maybe this too, is a matter of getting used to different routines and approaches. Photoshop Elements comes with the Photoshop Album and has as lot of potential which I have not yet explored completely.

The program I use most often, however, came with Microsoft Office – the Microsoft Office Picture Manager (C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE11\OIS.EXE). This is my favorite program for all the basic editing jobs, such as rotating and cropping pictures, basic color corrections, or compressing pictures before mailing them. I always associate all the picture file extensions with this program by default. [This is not the same as the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer which is usually the factory default for picture files but does not have any editing capabilities.]

PicMarkr Pro – is my latest gadget. You might have noticed that the last two “Wednesdays without words (Bridge)” and “Wednesday without words (Pills)” had watermarks. This is what this little program can do for you. A plus is that it works nicely together with Flickr and can apply a watermark to all images that you have already uploaded. Sweet!

P.S. If none of these programs appealed to you or if you would like more information and/or comments of other users, Download.com is always a good place to look for that. Have fun!

Computer gains

No – I am not yet done, but made some progress today. Ever since I started planning enough time for installing this new computer, I often got the reaction from people around me: “Why do you need so much time for it? 160 programs? For what do you need so many programs?” This got my analytical mind going and I started to analyze the programs I am using and why.

[I know that this is not one of my common blog topics and I apologize to those readers who have no interest at all in this domain.]

I love a well organized Start Menu. So, all my programs are grouped into categories, which makes it clearly arranged and less messy than when you allow each installation to put icons and shortcuts no matter where all over the place.

My main categories already show some of my priorities (in alphabetical order): Appliances, Games, Internet, Linguistics and Research, Music, Palm, Photos, References, Utilities. There is also the category of Accessories created by Windows where I put all those program shortcuts that come with the computer but which I rarely use. A few programs don’t fit anywhere and are filed under Divers.

I admit that I might have more programs than necessary – as I mentioned in “25 random things about me“, I am from the tribe of “hunters and gatherers”, which means that I am a “collector” of useful computer programs and I am always interested trying out new programs that might be useful. I always have a list of programs that I have downloaded but need time to test before I am willing to pay a registration fee. However, this list got shorter and shorter over the years. Now that I am installing my new computer, I noticed that I am quite happy to keep the same programs that have worked in the past and my appetite for new programs is nearly gone. Not disappeared has my desire to configure the computer my way. I am probably rather particular when it comes to decide which program to use and in which configuration. This is why it takes so much time to get the computer in exactly the state I am used to and then can work most efficient.

My slogans when it comes to working with the computer:

• I want the information at my fingertips. That’s what computers are for.
• The computer is there to do what I want. Not the other way around. Let’s see who wins.
• I am not willing to do any work that the computer can do for me – even if it means investing a lot of time first.
• (and when it does not work) Even computers are only human.

Anyway, the questions of others sparked off the idea to share why on earth I am using so many program, which programs I found useful and why. Stay tuned!

Computer pains

Now I have had internet for nearly a week but I am still not completely “here/there”. Because now I am busy installing a new laptop. One reason (among others) to buy a new one right now was that it is possible to still find computers with a downgrade option to Windows XP (until the end of May 2009). Unfortunately, this did not mean that all the programs would work like on my old laptop because the new one has an additional service upgrade which seems to have changed a lot.

In the past I had to reinstall my computers several times and just know that it is a lot of work. Normally, I expect to spend one to two weeks until everything is up and running and all the configurations are like I want them to be (as opposed to MS or whoever). Well, the first week is nearly over and I am not even half way through all the installations because of some additional unexpected problems.

[Not surprisingly this effected my ability to do some creative thinking and writing for the blog, reading others' blogs and comment on them. Sorry!]

On the one hand, I think that I am quite proficient in installing and configuring my computer. As I mentioned I have done it several times in the past. I try to be consistent in keeping records of all kinds of information needed for reinstalling programs (passwords, registration keys, settings, websites for download, which need online verification, etc..). Despite of this I discovered I am still missing important information, such as:
- Where has ACDSee now stored all the captions and keywords that I have added during long hours and don’t want to lose? (In this case not too much of a problem, because I can open the old computer and export the database. This would not be possible after a crash.)
- Why do I need to reconfigure so many things in Outlook when I thought I had copied all the old configurations?
- I still don’t know where Microsoft Office stores the “auto correct” definitions and so I have to redo them every time I reinstall the program.
- etc

All of this takes time. Especially when you have to try to find one obscure file on the old computer that the new one is missing, and it takes three or more attempts before you find the right one and the program is “happy” and willing to start. In most cases so far I have found a solution or at least a work around.

So, this is just a quick update between two installations. You can pray that I won’t run into more time consuming problems. I need to soon get started with some serious study work, like several book reports.

25 random things about me

I’m back after one week of involuntary internet withdrawal. It took me that long to establish an internet connection at my temporary home (for the next half year). During this week (without internet) I was tagged twice on Facebook with the meme “25 random things about me”. Now I will follow Tim’s example and also post it on my blog.

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to Facebook “notes” under tabs on your profile page (if it’s not there, use the “+” to get to it), paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the upper right corner of the app) then click publish).

1. I am dyslexic and had a hard time in school with German and English, but was top of the class in Math. I consider it God’s humor that he called me into a language related work. This year I plan to learn my seventh language.

2. I can’t read a book or article without finding spelling mistakes.

3. I was not allowed to speak the local dialect as a child so my pronunciation sounded rather “German” (not Austrian), to the point that some Austrians would not believe me that I am Austrian, especially after 3 years at a Bible college in Germany. For Germans it was always clear that I am not German but Austrian. Talk about identity conflict.

4. I hate traveling but keep doing it a lot for the sake of God’s calling. I have lived in Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Mexico, France, USA, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Mali. I have visited Italy, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Zaire, Chad, Kenya, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Santa Domingo, Croatia, Greece, and maybe some more which I forgot. I even travelled three times to Eastern Europe as Bible smuggler before the fall of the Iron Curtain.

5. My original training was in plastic engineering, as part of a technical high school, but equivalent to a college degree. I would have needed to work in this domain for two years to obtain my engineers title, which I never did.

6. I am fascinated by other cultures and love to observe and analyze cultural differences. I also love guessing where people in public come from and what language they speak.

7. I am an organizer and love logic puzzles. My love for whodunits probably falls in the same category.

8. I first need a framework before any detail information makes sense to me.

9. I got my first camera at age 14 and loved photography ever since.

10. I am from the tribe of “hunters and gatherers” – in the past this meant catching frogs, lizards, grasshoppers, and collecting stamps, coins, dried plants, books, song texts, poems, etc. – Now most of my collecting is digital: photos, music files, computer programs, song texts, articles, etc). And I no longer put dead mice in my colleague’s in-baskets.

11. Ten years ago I started painting watercolors. I have experimented with a few other painting techniques but haven’t done a lot in recent years.

12. I love all kinds of dancing and started teaching others to dance at age 16. I once opened a ball with the Lutheran Bishop of Austria, Oskar Sakrausky – he was a very good dancer. During a recent furlough I won two tickets for the Concordia Ball, the ball of the Austrian Press club, in the Vienna Rathaus (city hall). It was a challenge to find all the things (dress, shoes, accessories) AND a dance partner within three days but it was great fun.

13. During school I learned playing recorder, during Bible college guitar, and during a recent furlough I started playing clarinet. I did not get very far with playing the pan flute.

14. During the same furlough I took singing classes and even reached the high B. During the next furlough I learned to more use my chest voice. Regrettably I am better in singing along than singing solo.

15. I love musicals and grew up listening to West Side Story, My Fair Lady, Man of La Mancha, Anatevka (Fiddler on the Roof), Porgy and Bess which my father had on tapes – old-fashioned big tapes.

16. I have a large family because my mother had 7 siblings and my grandfather 12. One of my great-grand-fathers was a wood turner. During his journeymanship he travelled all over Europe mostly on foot – Dresden, Vienna, Trieste, Lyon, Paris, London, and eventually got married in Paris with a wife sent from back home. Another line of my ancestors goes back to the Huguenots from France who fled to Czechoslovakia and later came to Austria.

17. I love watching (and photographing) sunsets and other sun atmospheres and clouds. They can calm my spirit in incredible ways. Watching birds from close by touches my heart deeply.

18. I can be very curious. Which really helps with strange food – I have eaten porcupine, snake, bush rat, monkey, gazelle, elephant trunk, elephant guts, cat, giant frog (3kg! photo below for those who can’t believe it), caterpillars, termites, locusts. Elephant trunk is the finest meat and caterpillars with koko leaves in peanut sauce was my favorite dish in CAR.

19. I won a bike with three gears at age 14 in a youth traffic quiz. I had it for may years until it was stolen in the Netherlands.

20. For a real vacation I like to read a lot and swim, preferably in the ocean with lots of surf. A special bonus is when I also have a chance to do windsurfing which unfortunately does not happen very often.

21. I never stick to a recipe but like to change it and call it creativity.

22. I learned the hard way that maintaining relationships is more important than avoiding high telephone costs.

23. I am half-African when it comes to temperatures after living in Africa for 15+ years – I hate the cold, and everything below 26C/80F is cold for me, which does not mean that I like it when it’s too hot, i.e. above 32C/90F.

24. I think that there are no black people, not even in Africa, because even those called black are shades of brown.

25. I love worshiping God through songs and started expressing them through free style worship dance a few years ago.

At first I could not think of so many random facts, but after reading the list of several friends, my own list got longer and longer, until I had to delete a few.  Let me know if you have done a similar list on Facebook.