Oct 24, 2019 Realistically, open-source software works best when the people using it are able to contribute and add to the development of the code. However, for qualitative analysis (not quantitative text analytics), there are few social scientists or those in the humanities using qualitative methods who also are able to develop software code.
Weft QDA is (or was) an easy-to-use, free and open-source tool forthe analysis of textual data such as interview transcripts, fieldnotesand other documents. An excerpt from my MSc dissertationexplains the thinking behind the software in more detail.
The software isn’t being maintained or updated, but the most recentversion is available for interest. This version includes some standard CAQDASfeatures: (Follow the links to see screenshots)
![]() Using Weft QDA
The currrent version is 1.0.1, which was released in April2006. IMPORTANT: this software is offered without any warranty orsupport. Some people may still find it interesting or even useful, but:
For Windows
Weft QDA 1.0.1 was developed for Windows XP, but may work on newerversions. Windows users should download this installer which containseverything you need to use Weft. It’s available to download viaSoftpedia’s Weft QDA page.
Weft QDA download[2.66MB - version 1.0.1 - 26/04/2006]
Save the installer somewhere on your hard disk, then double-click thesaved icon to run the installer. Follow the on-screen instructions.
Using 1.0.1 on Linux
Unfortunately, Weft QDA 1.0.1 depends on such old versions of systemlibraries (e.g. GTK) that it is very difficult or impossible to run WeftQDA 1.0.1 on a modern Linux distro. The source was hosted on RubyForge,but the site no longer exists. There is historic information on installation options and prerequisites.
The best way to run Weft QDA on Linux is to useWINE. C Lejeune offers furtherinformation on Weft QDA on (Debian) Linux.
Getting started and getting help
The Weft QDA Manual is the best place to start learning howto use the software. This manual is also availableas a PDF for printing or on-screenviewing. Documentation in a variety of formats is included in thedownloadable packages for off-line browsing.
There is also aspanish translation of the manual,courtesy of M. Cecilia Martínez.
Getting Help
I’m afraid there is no support for using Weft QDA; the mailing listpreviously on Rubyforge is no longer operational. Please don’t email medirectly with requests for help using Weft QDA; I’m afraid I won’treply.
History and Future
Weft QDA was originally written out of curiosity whilst completing aMasters in Social Research Methodsat the University of Surrey in 2004. I was annoyed by over-priced andover-complex commercial CAQDAS. The software was tidied up anddocumented, and then first released in 2005.
Development / Abandonment
I did a lot of work towards a version 2.0 of Weft QDA, and got as faras a basic alpha release. Version 2.0 was going to add support formultilingual text, photos, audio and video documents, along with othernew features and interface improvements, and was going to work well onOS X and modern Linux distros. However, I haven’t done any seriousdevelopment on Weft QDA since early 2009, and it’s unlikely I’ll resumeat any time soon. I’m just interested in thinking about and doing otherthings at the moment.
The project has thus been orphaned for several years. If you have aserious interest in reviving it, I do still have the source codesomewhere. Weft QDA was written in the Rubyprogramming language, using WxRuby forthe user interface and SQLite for the filestorage.
Thanks
Thank you to those who’ve tried the application, and especially to allthose who’ve tried it and responded with their suggestions, views andkind words of thanks. Thanks to Rubyforge, who did for a long timehosted the project, including providing the downloads. Thanks also tothe other open-source projects upon which it depended.
A few QDA Links
18. Workshop of the Center of Qualitative Psychology
Due to the Corono Crisis the upcoming Workshop in Melilla had to be postponed – new provisional date end of September or October 2020.
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Qualitative Data Analysis Software Open Source Mac Download
AQUAD 8 for qualitative and quantitative text analysis (free/open source, according to the conditions of GNU GPL v.3), complemented by separate modules for the analysis of sound recordings, videos, and graphic material, was revised using LAZARUS 1.8.4 / FPC-Version 3.0.4. The version for Windows of AQUAD 8 shows, prints, copies, etc. results with the built-in editor „notepad.exe“. Numeric results (eg., code frequencies or word frequencies) are stored in CSV-tables.
The separate module aquad-eda.exe contains software scripts in „R“ for exploratory data analysis. During the installation of AQUAD 8 you are asked to enter the path for the RGui-module, therefore you have to download and install the R statistical package in addition.
Due to the revision the software is now in principle running also on Linux and Mac-OS machines, however the source code still needs some adaptations (eg., definitions of directories; integration of an alternative text editor) and, of course, it has to be compiled on these platforms.
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If you are interested to assist in transporting AQUAD 8 to Linux and Mac-OS you are invited to join a team and to ask for the source code.
A full feature list of AQUAD 8 can be found on the informationen and features page. AQUAD 8 allows to analyze all kinds of qualitative data:
AQUAD supports the following data types:
Qualitative Data Analysis Software Reviews
Stepwise we will add more pre-constructed scripts for the open-source statistical software package R, which will enable users to realize combined quantitative-qualitative analyses. Besides pre-configured analyses, the plugin offers to use one’s own written R scripts.
AQUAD 7 is still available on demand.
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