Congrats on passing the proposal! I agree with much of what has been said. I would only ever recommend Dedoose for collaborative projects. NVivo is better for individual projects. Like Methods-Geek, I have also switched to MAXQDA. The reason for that is that it is far superior to all the other programs for integrating both qualitative and quantitative logics of analysis. For instance, qualitative codes can be easily converted into quantitative document variables in MAXQDA, but it was almost impossible to do when I was using NVivo. Granted, that was a decade ago, but I have not regretted the switch. Answer from guywithabigknife on reddit.com
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/sociology › nvivo or dedoose?
r/sociology on Reddit: NVivo or Dedoose?
March 5, 2025 -

I just passed my dissertation proposal defense and my committee recommended I use one of these two qualitative data analysis software. What are the pros and cons of each?

If the scope of my project affects your answer, my data will include: 25 interviews of 1-2 hours each and content analysis of roughly 1000 pages of court documents. I will not be coding by keywords, but rather doing line-by-line coding using a thematic approach.

I am unlikely to need to collaborate much given it is an individual project.

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Reddit
reddit.com › r/gradschool › which qda software do you use?
r/GradSchool on Reddit: Which QDA software do you use?
August 17, 2025 -

Hi there!

For context: I’m starting out a PhD in Law this year. In the context of my research, I’ll be taking a grounded theory approach to study a pretty large sample size of opinions written by Advocates General before the French Conseil d’Etat.

I’m currently looking for QDA software that I would be able to use for this type of research on legal materials.

My supervisor is on board with my approach but can’t really give any advice on the software to use seeing that it’s quite uncommon for legal researchers here to use data analysis software at all. I don’t want to go “analogue” because I expect to be managing anywhere from 300 to 500 opinions that can range anywhere between 15 and 50 pages each (based on similar research completed under my professor’s supervision).

My university doesn’t provide any particular software, so what do you all use for your qualitative data analysis? Are there any legal researchers here that have used QDAS in the past and successfully used it for our discipline? Are there any softwares that I should avoid?

Thanks Reddit ;)

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Okay qualitative researcher in a different field here. You’ve got a lot of options but some of it is going to depend on how much you/your advisor are willing to pay. Qualcoder is completely free but you get what you pay for to a point - it’s harder to collaborate and the user interface isn’t the best. Taguette is online and has a free tier but it’s super limited. The interface was “meh” at best. Dedoose seems to be popular but it’s basically browser only so no use while you’re on a plane with no Wi-Fi or anywhere else you’re offline. NVivo is one of the more full featured, expensive programs. It wasn’t super user friendly when I tried it so I abandoned it quickly even though there’s a copy of it on my desktop in the office. Does a lot, costs a lot. Also in the pricey bracket are programs like MaxQDA and Atlas.ti. Lots of features like NVivo. When you get to the level of MaxQDA, Nvivo, and Atlas.ti you’re to the point it’s like Windows vs Mac vs Linux - down to preferences, very specific features, and convenience. I would say to check out who has demos and free trials and see which ones you vibe with. See if any of the paid ones are worth the money and fit with your usual workflows. That way if you do wind up shelling out for something, it’s not something you wind up hating. I personally use QualCoder for interview studies and my literature review project with a couple thousand articles (and their associated PDFs) is actually being coded in excel. The former is because I hated NVivo and the latter is because I don’t have time to train my mentees on something more complicated.
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I have just started out with this (in the context of a doctorate in education), but I tried out Dedoose, Nvivo and MAXQDA24 while working on a scoping review and I really strongly prefer MAXQDA. I find it to be the most intuitive of the three and the easiest to use. I also am liking the analysis tools the best - it has been pretty easy to figure out how to create all the various types of analysis visualizations and reports (tables, charts, etc.) that I can think of with the coding I've done, plus some I wouldn't have thought of on my own.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/uxresearch › what tools do y'all use for analysis and synthesis (qual and/or quant)?
r/UXResearch on Reddit: What tools do y'all use for analysis and synthesis (Qual and/or quant)?
January 11, 2020 -

I do a lot of manual grouping and sorting in Excel, Airtable is better sometimes, as well as using Mural. I've looked into some QDA software like Dedoose and Atlas.ti, but it'd be great if there was a tool that also helped with survey analysis (maybe those tools do, I didn't get to explore a whole lot during my free trial due to time constraints).

One of the businesses I support is maturing their UXR efforts very quickly and I am the only researcher at the company (gulp). So until there are other warm bodies to help, I need tools! 😅

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Delve
delvetool.com › blog › easiest-qda-software-to-learn
Which Qualitative Data Analysis Software is Easiest to Learn? — Delve
July 22, 2025 - Choose MAXQDA when you need powerful analysis capabilities but want more intuitive workflows than NVivo. The software bridges mixed method research well, making it ideal for researchers who work across methodologies.
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Usercall
usercall.co › post › top-5-qualitative-data-analysis-software-tools
Top 5 Qualitative Data Analysis Software Tools
Dedoose – Affordable, cloud-based solution for geographically distributed teams. NVivo – Comprehensive features for analysis and visualization, plus strong mixed methods support.
Find elsewhere
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I use both, below are my impressions, hope it helps, cheers. Dedoose Pros: it is simpler, much easier to collaborate with (cloud based) and is payable on a monthly use basis, Cons : since it is browser based, can get slow and crash, also although you can easily modify your coding tree to create sub codes, in context, it is difficult to split a code, once the excerpt is coded you can relabel it as something else but not easily break it into smaller coded excerpts. I feel this lack of in-text flexibility could potentialy impact your analysis as it makes it harder to evolve from your initial, first cycle coding tree. Nvivo Pros: you can sub code excerpts (lump and detail) including from within -soon to be- parent code excerpts, or on the other hand merge codes (split and gather) at will. the software is computer based, no lagging, very rare crashing. Cons: it is expensive (easily worth 20 months of Dedoose subscription), the learning curve is longuer, it is difficult to collaborate with, but not impossible (you either need to coordinate coders to regularily export and then you gather and consolidate NVP files, or have access to Nvivo servers/ Nvivo for teams which is very expensive-in the thousands USD per year). in brief, it depends: the shorter the analysis timeframe, the more collaborative= Dedoose; the longuer the analysis timeframe, the less collaborative (i.e. PhD thesis)=Nvivo
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Using NVivo for such a small dataset would be a bit like trying to crack a nut with a piledriver. Also it's not cheap. I'm not familiar with Dedoose, but I have heard very good things about Quirkos for small-study data analysis, so you might want to check that out too (apologies if I'm complicating rather than simplifying your life). Good luck!
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/sociology › good alternatives to nvivo?
r/sociology on Reddit: Good alternatives to nVivo?
July 6, 2022 -

I've been using nVivo a few years and am tired of the difficulty in collaborating with co-authors and just the general lack of quality. Wondering, especially from people who have used nVivo, if you have found a better alternative. I am a Ph.D. student in social science and primarily want simple coding of interview transcripts. If anything can easily include social media then that's a bonus but not required. Thank you!

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CivicomMRS
civicommrs.com › home › best of the best: the top 8 qualitative analysis tools out right now
Top 8 Qualitative Analysis Tools Out Right Now
November 12, 2024 - Dedoose is a data analytics application that helps you explore the underlying meaning of your qualitative and mixed methods data.
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George Mason University
infoguides.gmu.edu › qual › software › choose
Choosing - QUALitative Research & Tools - InfoGuides at George Mason University
Dedoose - Designed for mixed methods projects with fewer but more complex codes (allows ratings), this full-featured online software is a solid choice in some circumstances, especially distributed groups with somewhat complex projects, or those ...
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SaaSHub
saashub.com › home › ai › market research
MAXQDA VS Dedoose - compare differences & reviews?
Limited Offline Capability Dedoose offers limited functionality when offline, restricting access to data and tools without an internet connection. ... Share your experience with using MAXQDA and Dedoose.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/statistics › [r] qualitative analysis software
[R] Qualitative analysis software : r/statistics
May 25, 2021 - I majored in research methods related to school psychology and our program paired dedoose with something like excel, SPSS or R for any additional analysis but it doesn't sound like you even need that.
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George Mason University
infoguides.gmu.edu › qual › software
QDAS Software - QUALitative Research & Tools - InfoGuides at George Mason University
Which Qualitative Data Analysis Software is Easiest to Learn? (Delve) - NVivo, ATLAS.ti, MAXQDA, Delve, Quirkos, Taguette, Dedoose.