ATLAS.ti (Software)

ATLAS.ti is a qualitative computer software package that assists researchers in their management of textual, graphical, audio, and video data. ATLAS.ti was originally designed for social scientists but is now being used in diverse disciplines such as psychology, literature, medicine, nursing, linguistics, stylistics, history, geography, theology, and law. However, although ATLAS.ti can benefit the qualitative researcher in terms of speed, consistency, rigor, and access to analytic methods not available by hand, it is not a replacement for methodological training.

ATLAS.ti offers two levels of interaction for the qualitative researcher. At the textual level, it allows basic “code and retrieval” of data, and at the [Page 37]conceptual level, it allows more sophisticated analysis of model-building activities such as linking codes to form semantic networks and algorithms (Figure 1). Moreover, although ATLAS.ti is intended primarily for supporting qualitative reasoning processes, it is sometimes also useful to analyze the data in a quantitative manner using statistical approaches (especially with large amounts of data). This process is achieved by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) export function in ATLAS.ti that treats codes as variables and treats data segments (quotations) as “cases.” However, such a function is open to criticism because it may result in the qualitative researcher performing types of analysis more suited to quantitative data.

Figure 1 An ATLAS.ti Network Editor Displaying a Network of Codes

Source: Copyright 2007 with ATLAS.ti GmbH; used by permission.

Note: The shadings denote groundedness (amount of data coded) and density (number of links to other codes) of the respective codes.

Another very useful function of ATLAS.ti is its facilitation of co-authoring, where two or more researchers or work groups are involved in the same research project. It allows the transfer and conversion of research data while keeping the respective sources of ideas identifiable at all times.

ATLAS.ti's main strategic modes of operation are termed VISE (visualization, integration, serendipity, and exploration). It allows all aspects of the data and analysis on-screen at once and is able to visually map out relationships between different parts of the data and theoretical ideas—to form links between them and jump back and forth—and this encourages creative processes such as stimulating ideas and recognizing patterns. However, this loose structure of ATLAS.ti may be anxiety provoking for some researchers who may prefer a more structured approach such as that offered by the NVivo software program. Nevertheless, the immediacy of ATLAS.ti is its strength because it is considered easy to understand what it does and how it works, at least at the basic level of operation. Therefore, for simple qualitative projects with limited time available, ATLAS.ti is suitable because it is considered a relatively easy package to learn.