CODING THE DATA USING ATLAS.TI IN THE QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS

Authors: Mehdi Morchid & Pr. Youcef Hdouch

ABSTRACT

The integration of Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) in quantitative research hardly requires a case to be made. Quantitative researchers exuberantly avail themselves of the plethora of digital platforms which assist in sifting through the data and computing measurements and frequencies. Qualitative research, however, does not garner such a unanimous embrace of computer-based technologies. The use of software is primarily designed to code the data. In this paper, we address the particularities of qualitative research, especially the qualitative analysis of conceptual metaphors (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980). We look into the perils that surround the coding of the data in qualitative research, and whether these perils are surmountable. Amongst the variety of digital platforms that assist in qualitative research, we zero in on Atlas.ti showing its merits, and how it could be optimised for the study of conceptual metaphors. We detail different coding types, how they are used cyclically, and how they add more depth to the analytic operation. There is a fine line between automating aspects of the research process and maintaining a commanding omnipresence over the investigation which the researcher has to tread. We provide theoretical considerations behind the utility of coding the data through Atlas.ti and practical applications of the features that it puts at the disposal of the researcher.

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