德國 Maxqda 12 質性分析軟體入門及完整參考手冊

2

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sion from the publisher.
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crosoft Windows, Word, Excel, Power Point are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners, and may be registered in the
United States and/or other jurisdictions.
We thank ResearchTalk for providing example data used in this Getting Started Guide.
 VERBI Software. Consult. Sozialforschung. GmbH, Berlin 2015 (v1.0)

Content 3

Introduction............................................................................................................... 4
The MAXQDA interface ............................................................................................ 5
Starting MAXQDA .....................................................................................................................5
The user interface......................................................................................................................7
The standard toolbar .................................................................................................................9
Important keywords.................................................................................................................11
Import and explore your data................................................................................ 12
Importing data.........................................................................................................................12
Exploring data .........................................................................................................................13
Search your data......................................................................................................................16
Color-coding and memos ........................................................................................................17
Code your data........................................................................................................ 19
Coding data segments.............................................................................................................19
Analyze your data................................................................................................... 22
Activating documents..............................................................................................................22
Assembling all segments coded with one code ........................................................................23
Using visualizations..................................................................................................................24
Conduct Mixed Methods analyses......................................................................... 26
Defining document variables....................................................................................................26
Entering variable values ...........................................................................................................27
Transforming code frequencies into variables...........................................................................28
Using document variables in your analysis................................................................................29
Goodbye .................................................................................................................. 30
Further literature......................................................................................................................30

4 Introduction

Introduction
Welcome to the MAXQDA Getting started guide! As no one likes to read long introductions and
manuals, we tried to make this one as short as possible to help you get started as quickly as possible.
The guide will enable you to start your analysis and make your own experiences with MAXQDA. We
will focus on the actual usage of the program, and not on the presentation of different analysis and
research methods. If you want to find out more about those, we have provided a list of useful pub-
lications in the chapter “Further literature”. As you may know, there is an endless number of differ-
ent qualitative methods. But most of them can be conducted with the help of MAXQDA as they all
follow the same basic structure as pictured in this illustration.
The vast majority of qualitative analysis
methods work with categories. These
can either be created from within the
data or based on prior knowledge of the
data, existing theories, or recent re-
search results. Categories are often also
named codes or keywords, but whatever
the name, they all have the function to
organize and systematize the data, often
even working as analytical codes. Analyt-
ical codes are the result of an analytical
process that exceeds simply determining
a topic, and this is what we refer to as
Codes in this guide. Coding data can
take a long time, but don’t worry: there
are many different ways to make use of QDA (qualitative data analysis) software. It’s not always
necessary to code your data in order to analyze it with MAXQDA; you can also use it simply for or-
ganizing your data, or searching for words and word combinations.

Starting MAXQDA 5

The MAXQDA interface
Starting MAXQDA
When opening MAXQDA, you have the option to watch different tutorials or look at some example
projects.

If you decide to skip these options, the following dialog box lets you type in a user name or a user
abbreviation (which can be more practical in your later work). You can then click Create and open
new project, name your project and save it to a place of your choice.

Simply click Skip if you
want to start right away.

6 The MAXQDA interface

MAXQDA project files have the file ending MX12. You can also recognize these files in Windows
Explorer or Mac Finder by the description “MAXQDA 12 Project”.

MAXQDA uses Projects, like Excel uses workbooks (.xlsx), and SPSS uses data files (.sav). Nearly eve-
rything you import to or create with MAXQDA (like your Codes and Memos) will be saved in Pro-
jects.

The user interface 7

The user interface
Once you successfully created and saved your first MAXQDA project, the following four-window
screen will appear – still mostly empty.

The division into four windows makes working with MAXQDA very easy: as you can see, the first
window (1) in the upper left corner contains the Document System, the window below (2) contains
the Code System, the window in the upper right corner (3) is the Document Browser, and the
fourth window (4) is called Retrieved Segments.
These four windows make up MAXQDA’s basic structure. You can rearrange them by swapping the
windows’ sides, or by displaying the windows in three instead of two columns, which can be bene-
ficial when working with a 16:9 screen. You can change those settings in the main menu with View
> Screen Layout Manager.

1
2
3
4


Alternatively, you can open or close individual windows and arrange the screen according to the
work you intend to do. On top of that, you can “undock” individual windows from the four-
window structure and drag them to a different position or even a second computer screen. To open
and close the windows, you can tick and untick the respective window(s) under View in the main
menu, or simply close a window by clicking the “x” symbol in its upper right corner. The example
below shows that all four windows in our project are currently displayed.

The standard toolbar as well as other toolbars can be shown or
hidden via View in the main menu.

The standard toolbar 9

The standard toolbar
The four main windows can also be shown or hidden via the icons in the Standard toolbar. We rec-
ommend to always keep the Standard toolbar on display, as it shows you those functions that you
will probably need most during your work with MAXQDA. On the left you can, for example, find
the icons to create or open a new project, on the very right you can find the Screen Layout Manager.

Now, let’s return to the four main windows! All files that you wish to work with will be imported
into the Document System window. In case you use codes and subcodes, you can manage them in
the Code System window. MAXQDA administers everything you import, comment, or define in one
single file, the Project file. So, once you create it: one project = one file. As we learned earlier,
those files end in MX12 (older versions’ projects end in MX11 or MX5). MAXQDA Exchange files are
special types of files used to make data exchanges between different program versions.
New
project
Open
project
Import MAXApp
Project
Reset
activations
Reset Coding
Query
Overview
of memos
Lexical
search
Coding
Query
Summary
Grid
Summary
Tables
Smart
Publisher
Screen
Layout
Manager
Code System
open/close
Retrieved
Segments
open/close
Data editor
(document
variables)
Data editor
(code
variables)
Statistic of
document
variables
Statistic of
subcodes
Document
System
open/close
Document
Browser
open/close


In order to ensure that your project is always safe, please read the following box:
Please note: MAXQDA automatically saves everything that is imported or created by the user(s).
However, you should still make sure to regularly create back-ups via Project > Duplicate project and
save them on a secondary storage device.
To sum up, the Project file contains all the data material you need to work on your research project,
bachelor thesis or master thesis. But there’s an exception to every rule: if you use a lot of audio or
video files, the Project file may become too large, even after importing only a few video files. The
standard setting therefore automatically embeds pictures and PDF documents only up to a certain
file size (5 MB), whilst audio and video files are saved separately. Of course you can change these
settings. But when your Project file becomes too large, it may be difficult to exchange it with others.

Important keywords 11

Important keywords
Here are some of the most important keywords you should know for your work with MAXQDA:
Projects are the system files, or “work units” in MAXQDA. They contain all imported data, like texts,
PDFs, pictures, tables as well as the codes, memos, comments you created.
Documents are those units that you want to analyze. They can be interviews, focus group proto-
cols, video or audio recordings, articles from scientific journals and many more.
Codes are your most important analysis tool. They can be assigned to anything you consider worth
marking, be it text segments, sections in a photo or parts of a video.
The Code system or Code tree describes the entirety of all codes and subcodes which can be or-
dered hierarchically.
Coding is the act of assigning a code to a marked segment of your material.
Coded segments are those material segments that have been assigned a code.
Memos basically serve as your records. You can note your ideas, assumptions, and questions for
your next analysis steps, or formulate first hypotheses regarding possible connections in the data.
Comments are shorter than memos. You can use them to assign comments like “contradictory”, or
“important part!” to coded segments.
Overviews are tabular presentations omnipresent in MAXQDA. There are overviews of coded seg-
ments, memos, variables, links and so on. All MAXQDA overviews follow the same principle and al-
low easy access to individual elements so that you don’t lose track of your data.

12 Import and explore your data

Import and explore your data
Importing data
Before we learn about the different ways to import your data let’s have a closer look at the Docu-
ment System window.

When you right-click the word Documents or the symbol next to it, a large context menu will open.
You can see a part of it here:
Alternatively, you can go via the main menu and chose Documents > Import document(s) or – even
easier – drag and drop the files from Windows Explorer or Mac Finder into the Document System
window. From the image above you can tell that there are additional options to import special types
of data, including importing documents from spreadsheets or creating a text directly in MAXQDA.
This is where you will find
all your documents.
Compile sets of documents
according to certain criteria.
Create a new folder to
subcategorize your
documents
There are several import
options, but Import
document(s) is the best
one for now.

Exploring data 13

In the way that your computer lets you create folders to organize your files, MAXQDA’s New docu-
ment group function lets you create document groups to organize your documents. Right-click a
document group and choose Import document(s) to import them, or drag and drop your docu-
ments from one group to the other.
Exploring data
Analyzing qualitative data does not really work without you knowing the data. So MAXQDA makes
it easy for you to look through your files: simply double-click on a document in the Document Sys-
tem window, and it will be opened in the Document Browser, looking roughly like the interview
transcript in the following example:

Paragraph numbers make it easier to discuss certain segments in a team (“Have a look at the com-
ment in paragraph 14!”) as well as coding whole paragraphs at once. MAXQDA therefore automat-
ically numbers all paragraphs in your text documents.
In the example above you can see three colored vertical stripes, as well as a yellow sticky note sym-
bol next to the text. The latter shows that a memo has been attached to that paragraph. The verti-
cal stripes are the so-called coding stripes symbolizing which code the text was assigned to (in this
case long codes ending on “..Interests”, “..Education” and “..Work Issues”). To view the whole
code name, simply enlarge the coding column by dragging the separator to the right.


What is a memo? Memos serve to create notes and records to attach them to texts, text segments,
document groups, images, audio or video files, and even codes – just like you would do with “real”
sticky notes.
When you open a text in the Document Browser for the first time, that sector will still be empty as
you have not coded nor created a memo yet. Just try to create one now: double-click somewhere in
the memo sector and a memo dialog window will automatically open. As we will talk about memos
in more detail later, this is all you need to know for now.
The standard setting for the codes is to be displayed left of the data. If you prefer them on the right,
however, you can just place the whole sector there by clicking the sector head and dragging it to
the other side. There is no functional difference.
In the very top of the Document Browser, a toolbar shows you the most important features.
If you import and open a PDF document in the Document Browser you can use a few additional set-
tings. You will see that you are provided with icons, which enable you, for example, to zoom in or
out or to jump to the next page of the PDF file.

Zoom
in
Zoom
out
Original
size
Edit
mode
Print
docu-
ment
Export
displayed
document
Filter
visualized
coding stripes
Search
First
page
Previous
page
Next
page
Last
page
Book-
marks
Optimal hori-
zontal size
Fit to
window

Exploring data 15

At some point of your research, you may wish to print a text including the paragraph numbers. To
do so, chose the symbol Print document or use the shortcut key Ctrl+P (on Windows) or cmd+P (on
Mac OS X). The print menu will give you a variety of choices for the design of your print:

Chose the margin size
Define a header or footer
Choose whether to display
codings and/ or memos
Maximum coding column width
intended for print


Search your data
The exploration phase of your research may call for the necessity to search your documents for cer-
tain words. In MAXQDA, word search can be done locally in each of the four main windows, that
means in one window at a time. You will find a magnifying glass symbol in each window to enter
the search word upon click. MAXQDA will display the term’s frequency, and you will be able to nav-
igate from each hit to the next to view its context by using the arrow keys.
A more powerful tool than the local search is the Lexical search (to be found in the main menu
Analysis or via the magnifying glass symbol in the Standard toolbar). The Lexical search enables you
to search several documents at a time; it is not restricted to opened documents.

In this example, all available documents will be searched for the term “family”.
After clicking the button New, you will be able to enter as many search items as you like at once.
The standard setting follows the “OR” logic, i.e. as soon as one of the search items is found, it will
be listed as a hit. Clicking an item will show you the relevant paragraph in the Document Browser
window.

Color-coding and memos 17

Color-coding and memos
Sometimes you may want to mark something in a text or note comments, hypotheses and further
ideas, before you have even started thinking about categories and the general direction of your
analysis. Just like you may then highlight passages in a book or stick a sticky note to a page, you can
use the Highlight coding function in MAXQDA to mark texts with five colored, virtual pens (red,
blue, green, yellow, and purple). You can find the color-coding button on the Codes toolbar.

You can select any text part with your mouse and then click one of the symbols to highlight it with
the color of your choice. The difference to highlighting in “real life” is that it is much easier to find
those passages again in MAXQDA than to skim through a book. How to retrieve coded segments
created with Highlight coding, will be described further down in Data analysis.
As we learned, color-coding is a useful tool to mark important things even before the explicit coding
process. Another useful tool is the Memos function. With the help of In-Document-Memos you can
attach memos to any place in any document. Double-clicking the grey memo section to the left of
the document will create a new memo for you to fill with your thoughts and ideas:

Highlight coding


You can put in a title for the memo, assign a matching symbol for the type of memo, and link it to certain codes.
Similar to color-coding, it is simple to retrieve Memos. In MAXQDA, all Memos can be accessed in
the Overview of memos (in the main menu Analysis), and searched, e.g. for memos written in a cer-
tain time period or memos with a certain title. The Lexical search will enable you to find words (or
word combinations) in the memo descriptions.

Coding data segments 19

Code your data
Coding data segments
As we learned earlier, the central work technique among most analysis methods is Coding the da-
ta. But what does this mean? Coding describes the process of selecting part of the data material,
for example a paragraph or one part of an image, with the mouse (just like in Word or other pro-
grams) and assigning a code to it. This is principally the same as tagging contents, but coding in
empirical social research includes much more than that.
So, what is a code then? Your first associations may be of secret services and their coding and de-
coding machines, or of codes as strictly regulated mappings as in Morse codes. Both associations
are misleading! In the context of qualitative research a code is more of a label used to name phe-
nomena in a text or an image. In technical terms, a code is a character string that can consist of up
to 63 characters in MAXQDA, be it several words or more cryptical strings like “CR128”. In social
research, codes can possess different meanings and take on different functions in the research pro-
cess: there are factual codes, thematic codes, theoretical codes and many more (see Kuckartz 2014,
Richards 2014). From simply looking at the code itself, its role in the research process is not always
clear: it could be of minor importance or play a key role. Only its context or framing will shed light
on that.
So, how can codes be created? Simply right-click the root of the Code System in the Code System
window and choose the option New code from the context menu. Alternatively, you can select the
corresponding symbol in the toolbar in the upper right corner.

Use the magnifying glass symbol to search
for a certain code. The icon on its left lets
you create new codes.

20 Code your data

A dialog window to define your new code opens:

How can I assign a code to a certain document section? First, you select a section with your mouse
(if you want to mark the whole paragraph, just click the paragraph number). Then you either drag
and drop the marked section onto a code, or the other way around, i.e. you drag the code on the
selected section. Once you did that for the first time, you will see that the number next to that code
in the Code System, showing how many times a code has been used, changed from “0“ to “1“. If
you look at the Document System you will see that the number of coded segments in a document is
displayed next to each document as well.

assign a certain color to it (in
this case magenta),
Name your code (in this case
“Money and Financial Issues“),
and use a code memo to note
the code’s meaning, when you
intend to apply it, or possible
issues with that code.

Coding data segments 21

MAXQDA offers you other coding possibilities; you can access them via right-clicking a selected sec-
tion in the document or via the icons in the toolbar Code.
In case that toolbar is not visible, please open it via the option View in the main menu. It will look
like this:

The code that you used last is always displayed on the very left. If you click the red coding symbol
on the right, it will assign this code to a selected text section. Each of the following icons refers to a
different coding function; you can for example click the Undo code symbol and then choose one or
several codes from a drop-down list.
The context menu in the Document Browser contains even more coding options, which you can see
when you right-click into a marked text section:

Code
highlighted
segment
Code
with a
new code
Code
in-vivo
Highlight
coding
Recently used
code
emoticode
Undo
code
Codes that are assigned at this section will be listed.
All activated codes will be assigned.
Code with recently used code.
Create a new code and assign it to the
highlightd segment.

22 Analyze your data

Analyze your data
Activating documents
Maybe you saw the option Only in activated documents earlier in the dialog window for the Lexical
search and asked yourself what that means. Activation is one of MAXQDA’s key concepts: it means
that you can select documents (and/or codes) for your analysis and then work only with the selected
items. How does the activation work? This is very simple: in every document’s or document group’s
context menu you will see the option Activate right at the top. More experienced MAXQDA users
often choose a keyboard shortcut to activate documents: press the Ctrl (Windows) or cmd (Mac)
and select the preferred document or document group. Alternatively, you can click the light grey
circle next to the document name. The circle will then turn into a red arrow to show you which
documents are currently activated.

Further below, MAXQDA’s so-called Status bar displays the total number of documents currently ac-
tivated. Should you wish to limit your search to certain texts, you will activate them first, and then
chose the option Only in activated documents in the dialog Lexical search.

How can I reset the activation? Simply go to the Document System window and click the icon Reset
activations on the toolbar. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl (Windows) or cmd
(Mac) again, to click on documents and document groups.
Activated documents
-> 10
Activated codes
-> 7
Retrieved coded
segments -> 95

Retrieving all segments coded with one code 23

Retrieving all segments coded with one code
Coding isn’t everything and your analysis is certainly more than just coding. At one point you will
want to stop coding and start looking at the results of that process. The easiest way is to retrieve all
segments assigned to one specific code. If you, for example, do a research based on interviews, you
may ask: “What was said about a certain topic and who said what?” The magic word to get exactly
those answers is Retrieval. In MAXQDA such a Coding Query works – similar to the Lexical search –
via activations.
Activate all documents that you want to include in the Coding Query, as well as those codes as-
signed to the segments you are interested in. Activation of codes works just like the activation of
documents (right-click the code and choose the option Activate or press Ctrl (Windows) or cmd
(Mac) and choose all preferred codes). All coded segments found will appear in MAXQDA’s fourth
main window, the Retrieved Segments window. Next to every segment an info box will tell you the
segment’s source. In the example below the segment can be found in paragraph 8 of document
„Jon“ in document group “New York”.

The info box does not only tell you which document a certain segment is from, it also lets you go
directly to that document: click the info box, and the document will be loaded to the Document
Browser window with the coded segment right at hand, so that you can easily view it in its context.
The info box tells you
where the segment can
be found, e.g. Docu-
ment ‘Jon’ in document
group ‘New York’, para-
graph 8.

24 Analyze your data

Using visualizations
Visualizing results is one of MAXQDA’s strengths which is why we want to include this chapter in a
Getting Started Guide. There are several ways to visualize data in MAXQDA, starting with the possi-
bility to assign individual colors to codes and documents. This does not only help you with the visual
organization of your data, but colors can also be given certain meanings. MAXQDA is the first QDA
software to allow the use of emojis as a code symbol. This may be particularly useful to overcome
language barriers, for example when working in international projects.
The visualization tools also allow you to show data connections in a comprehensible way. The most
used visual tool is the Code Matrix Browser, which you can open via Visual Tools in the main menu,
or via the icon in the symbol toolbar.

MAX-
Maps
Code Relation
Browser
Document
Portrait
Code Matrix
Browser
Document
Comparison Chart Codeline
Tag
cloud

Using visualizations 25

So, what does the Code Matrix Browser show?

The columns list the different documents; in this case each document is one respondent in a survey
on life satisfaction. The respondents were for example asked about issues they encounter on a daily
basis. You can see here that all of them mention emotions, but that only two of the respondents
mention money-related issues.

26 Conduct Mixed Methods analyses

Conduct Mixed Methods analyses
Defining document variables
One of the most important MAXQDA features is its support of Mixed Methods approaches. For eve-
ry document in the Document System a whole set of attributes (that is, variables as used by statistics
programs) can be managed. You can, for example, record personal data or background information
for interviews as variables or variable values, and use them for your Mixed Methods analysis. The
option List of document variables in the main menu Variables will open the following dialog win-
dow:

On opening, you will see that several variables have already been defined. These are the so-called
system variables whose values are automatically set by MAXQDA and cannot be changed. The op-
tion New variable lets you define further variables. The most common variable types are Text (like
“teacher” or “student” for the variable “occupation”) and Integer (like whole numbers for the vari-
able “number of children”). You can define new variables anytime.
Create new
variable
Go to
data editor

Entering variable values 27

Entering variable values
To enter values for the Document variables, use the toolbar in the List of document variables and
switch to the Data editor.

The document variables table can be exported to Excel format, which means that you can continue
working on them with statistics programs like SPSS or Stata and conduct a statistical analysis.
The toolbar lists the most used functions, e.g. returning
to the variable list.
Simply click the column heading to sort the data
according to that column’s content.
Double-click to enter a value.

28 Conduct Mixed Methods analyses

Transforming code frequencies into variables
The frequency of segments assigned to a certain code can be transformed into a variable, which will
receive the code’s name. Right-click on the preferred code and choose Transform into a document
variable in the context menu. In the following example, the code “Significantly Positive” has been
transformed into a variable:

3 passages have been assigned
the code „Significantly positive“.
Nothing has been assigned the
code„Significantly positive“.

Using document variables in your analysis 29

Using document variables in your analysis
Quantitative and qualitative data can be connected in a variety of ways. The easiest way is to choose
the document variables as selection criteria when you run a Coding Query. This will enable you to
compare sociodemographic characteristics like “What did female participants over 50 say about XY?”
or “How did the suggestions by men compare to those of women?”. The relevant selection can be
made with the function Activate by document variables in the main menu Mixed Methods. First,
choose a variable from the list on the left (in this case: Gender), press the arrow and then choose
the variable value on the right (in this case: male). As soon as you click Activate, all documents with
matching variable values will be activated, in this example all interviews with male respondents.

30 Goodbye

Goodbye
We hope this Guide helped you with your first steps in MAXQDA and provided you with an over-
view of its most important features. Of course, MAXQDA offers many more functions and possibili-
ties for your analysis. You can, for example:
 transcribe audio and video files
 import and analyse Twitter data
 analyse focus groups
 visualize data or results
 conduct a quantitative text analysis with MAXDictio
 generate reports and statistical frequency tables
 and much more…
For further guides, online tutorials and videos please visit our website www.maxqda.com.
Further literature
Charmaz, Kathy (2014). Constructing Grounded Theory. 2nd ed., San Francisco: SAGE Publications.
Corbin, Juliet; Strauss, Anselm (2015). Basics of Qualitative Research. Techniques and Procedures for
Developing Grounded Theory. 4th ed., San Francisco: SAGE Publications.
Kuckartz, Udo (2014). Qualitative Text Analysis. A Guide to Methods, Practice and Using Software.
London: SAGE Publications.
Kuckartz, Udo (2014). Mixed Methods. Methodologie, Forschungsdesigns und Analyseverfahren.
Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
Kuckartz, Udo; Dresing, Thorsten; Rädiker, Stefan; Stefer, Claus (2008). Qualitative Evaluation. Der
Einstieg in die Praxis. 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Richards, Lyn (2015). Handling Qualitative Data. A Practical Guide. 3rd ed., London: SAGE
Publications.

Support, Distribution:
VERBI Software. Consult. Sozialforschung. GmbH Berlin/Germany
http://www.maxqda.com
We thank Research Talk Inc. for providing the life satisfaction study data and Christina Silver and
Ann Lewins for allowing the use of their example data set, which they created for the book: Using
Software in Qualitative Research. 2nd edition 2014, Los Angeles / London / New Delhi / Singapore /
Washington DC, Sage Publications Ltd.
MAXQDA is a registered trademark of VERBI Software. Consult. Sozialforschung. GmbH, Berlin/
Germany; SPSS is a trademark of SPSS Inc.; Adobe Acrobat is a trademark of Adobe Inc.; Microsoft
Windows, Word for Windows, Excel, Power Point are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners, and may be registered in the Unit-
ed States and/or other jurisdictions.
All rights reserved.
 VERBI Software. Consult. Sozialforschung. GmbH, Berlin 2015 (v1.0)

Content 3
Table of Contents
1 Welcome................................................................................................................9
2 MAXQDA Screens and Menus ............................................................................10
2.1 Starting the Program ...............................................................................................................10
2.2 The MAXQDA Interface and the Four Main Windows..............................................................11
2.3 The Toolbars............................................................................................................................16
2.4 The Status Bar .........................................................................................................................18
3 Use of Table Overviews in MAXQDA .................................................................20
3.1 The Toolbar in Table Overviews ...............................................................................................20
3.2 Managing Table Overviews......................................................................................................20
3.3 Searching inside Table Overviews ............................................................................................24
3.4 Filtering Table Overviews .........................................................................................................25
4 Documents and the “Document System” ..........................................................27
4.1 General Information about Importing Documents in MAXQDA ...............................................27
4.2 General Information on the Preparation of Text Documents ....................................................27
4.3 Importing Documents into MAXQDA ......................................................................................29
4.4 External Files............................................................................................................................32
4.5 Objects Embedded in Text .......................................................................................................35
4.6 Hyperlinks Embedded in Texts .................................................................................................36
4.7 Opening and Editing Documents.............................................................................................37
4.8 Opening two documents simultaneously .................................................................................38
4.9 Opening Documents in Tabs....................................................................................................40
4.10 Renaming and Deleting Documents.........................................................................................41
4.11 Moving and Sorting Documents ..............................................................................................41
4.12 Creating a New Document in MAXQDA..................................................................................42
4.13 Assigning Colors to Documents...............................................................................................44
4.14 Creating Document Sets..........................................................................................................44
4.15 Inserting Line Numbers in a Text Document.............................................................................45
4.16 The Document Properties Window ..........................................................................................46
4.17 MAXQDA supports Unicode: Analyzing texts in different languages........................................46
4.18 Notes on PDF Documents ........................................................................................................47
4.19 Notes on Image Documents ....................................................................................................48
4.20 Notes on Table Documents......................................................................................................49
4.21 Converting a Text Document into a Table Document...............................................................54
5 Importing Structured Documents.......................................................................56
5.1 What are Structured Documents?............................................................................................56
5.2 Importing Structured Documents with the Preprocessor ..........................................................56
5.3 Importing Text from a Table/Spreadsheet (e.g. Answers to Open Questions) ...........................60
5.4 Importing Bibliographical Data from Endnote, etc. ..................................................................64
6 Links: Document Links, External Links, Web Links, and Geolinks.....................68
6.1 Links in MAXQDA....................................................................................................................68
6.2 Document Links.......................................................................................................................68
6.3 External Links ..........................................................................................................................69
6.4 Web Links ...............................................................................................................................70
6.5 Geolinks ..................................................................................................................................70

Content4
6.6 The “Overview of links” ..........................................................................................................73
7 Codes and How to Code .....................................................................................75
7.1 Information on Codes and Coding in MAXQDA ......................................................................75
7.2 The “Code System”.................................................................................................................75
7.3 Creating a New Code..............................................................................................................77
7.4 How to code ...........................................................................................................................79
7.5 Highlight Coding / Color Coding .............................................................................................84
7.6 Coding with MAXMaps...........................................................................................................86
7.7 Coding with the Code Favorites ..............................................................................................87
7.8 Coding with Keyboard Shortcuts.............................................................................................87
7.9 Emoticode: Coding with Emoticons and Symbols.....................................................................89
7.10 Displaying Code Frequency in the “Code System”...................................................................93
7.11 Assigning Colors to a Code .....................................................................................................94
7.12 Coding Stripe Column Visualization Options............................................................................97
7.13 The Properties Window for Codes ...........................................................................................99
7.14 Creating a Code Alias..............................................................................................................99
7.15 Deleting Coded Segments: The Undo Function......................................................................100
7.16 Deleting a Coded Segment....................................................................................................101
7.17 Deleting Codes......................................................................................................................103
7.18 Modifying Coded Segments ..................................................................................................104
7.19 Moving and Sorting Codes in the “Code System” .................................................................106
7.20 Creating Code Sets................................................................................................................107
7.21 Copying Subcodes.................................................................................................................108
7.22 Moving all Coded Segments of a Code..................................................................................108
7.23 Copying all Coded Segments of a Code ................................................................................111
7.24 Creating a New Top-Level Code ............................................................................................112
7.25 Splitting up a Code................................................................................................................112
7.26 Transferring the “Code System” to another Project...............................................................114
7.27 Importing Codes and Code Memos from an Excel Table........................................................114
7.28 Weight Scores: Indicating Segment Relevance .......................................................................115
7.29 Creating Comments for Coded Segments .............................................................................117
7.30 Overview of Codes ................................................................................................................118
7.31 The „Overview of Documents“ for a Code ............................................................................120
8 Creative Coding: Arranging Codes in MAXMaps ............................................122
8.1 The Idea behind Creative Coding...........................................................................................122
8.2 Starting Creative Coding and Selecting Codes.......................................................................122
8.3 Organizing Codes..................................................................................................................123
8.4 Quitting Creative Coding and Transferring Changes to the Code System ..............................126
9 Intercoder Agreement ......................................................................................128
9.1 The Problem of Intercoder Agreement in Qualitative Research...............................................128
9.2 The Agreement Testing Concept in MAXQDA .......................................................................128
10 Memos: Managing Your Ideas..........................................................................135
10.1 About Memos .......................................................................................................................135
10.2 Memos Attached to Document Segments .............................................................................135
10.3 Viewing and Editing Memos..................................................................................................137
10.4 Creating Document Memos in the “Document System”........................................................141
10.5 Creating Code Memos in the “Code System” .......................................................................142
10.6 Printing and Exporting Individual Memos...............................................................................143

Content 5
10.7 Managing Memos in the “Overview of memos”....................................................................144
10.8 Searching for Text in Memos .................................................................................................148
10.9 Exporting a Selection of Memos ............................................................................................149
10.10 Linking Codes to Memos.......................................................................................................151
10.11 Viewing Memos Linked to a Code.........................................................................................152
10.12 Compiling Memos of a Specific Document or Document Group............................................153
10.13 Converting a Memo into a Document ...................................................................................153
11 Variables ............................................................................................................154
11.1 Document and Code Variables in MAXQDA ..........................................................................154
11.2 The “List of document variables” and the “List of code variables”.........................................154
11.3 Adding new variables ............................................................................................................157
11.4 Changing Variable Types .......................................................................................................158
11.5 Renaming and Deleting Variables ..........................................................................................159
11.6 The “Data editor” .................................................................................................................159
11.7 Entering Variable Values in “Data editor”..............................................................................163
11.8 Exporting Document and Code Variables...............................................................................164
11.9 Importing a Data Matrix for Document Variables...................................................................165
11.10 Importing a Data Matrix for Code Variables...........................................................................167
11.11 Importing the Data Matrix into SPSS......................................................................................167
11.12 Displaying Document Variables as Tooltips ............................................................................169
12 Searching for Text: The Lexical Search.............................................................171
12.1 Lexical Search Options...........................................................................................................171
12.2 Search in the Four Main Windows.........................................................................................171
12.3 The Lexical Search: Options in the Dialog Window ................................................................172
12.4 Search Results .......................................................................................................................174
12.5 The Extended Lexical Search ..................................................................................................175
12.6 Exporting Search Results........................................................................................................176
12.7 Autocoding Search Results ....................................................................................................178
12.8 Keyword in Context (KWIC)...................................................................................................180
13 Coding Query: Finding Coded Segments .........................................................182
13.1 Activation: The Principle of Segment Retrieval .......................................................................182
13.2 Activation by Color................................................................................................................185
13.3 Removing Activations (Deactivation)......................................................................................185
13.4 The “Retrieved Segments” Window ......................................................................................186
13.5 Include Subcodes in Retrieval.................................................................................................189
13.6 Finding Important Coded Segments Using Weight Scores......................................................190
13.7 The Simple Coding Query......................................................................................................191
13.8 Jumping from Retrieved Segment to the Original Document .................................................192
13.9 “Overview of retrieved segments”.........................................................................................193
13.10 Table view of the “Retrieved Segments" ...............................................................................197
13.11 Printing and Exporting “Retrieved Segments”........................................................................197
13.12 Coding “Retrieved Segments”...............................................................................................199
13.13 Copying “Retrieved Segments” with Source Information into the Clipboard .........................200
14 Complex Retrievals............................................................................................202
14.1 Logical Combinations of Codes .............................................................................................202
14.2 Detailed Information about Complex Retrieval Functions.......................................................205
14.2.1 Intersection (“small picture”)....................................................................................205
14.2.2 Intersection (Set) ......................................................................................................206

Content6
14.2.3 Overlapping (“big picture”)......................................................................................207
14.2.4 Only One Code ........................................................................................................208
14.2.5 Only This Code.........................................................................................................209
14.2.6 If Outside .................................................................................................................210
14.2.7 If Inside ....................................................................................................................211
14.2.8 Followed By..............................................................................................................212
14.2.9 Near.........................................................................................................................213
15 Visual Tools........................................................................................................214
15.1 Code Matrix Browser: Visualizing Codes per Document.........................................................214
15.2 Code Relations Browser: Visualizing Overlapping Codes........................................................218
15.3 Document Comparison Chart: A Visual Comparison of Coded Text.......................................221
15.4 Document Portrait: Visualizing a Document...........................................................................222
15.5 Codeline: The Sequential Visualization of a Document ..........................................................225
15.6 Tag Clouds............................................................................................................................227
16 MAXMaps ..........................................................................................................229
16.1 What Does MAXMaps Do?....................................................................................................229
16.2 Getting Started – Creating a New Map..................................................................................230
16.3 Arranging a Map...................................................................................................................231
16.4 Objects in MAXMaps.............................................................................................................232
16.5 Object Properties...................................................................................................................236
16.6 The Object Library .................................................................................................................242
16.7 Link Mode: Linking Objects....................................................................................................243
16.8 Exporting and Printing Maps .................................................................................................244
16.9 Synchronization with MAXQDA.............................................................................................245
16.10 Model Templates in MAXMaps..............................................................................................248
16.10.1 The One-Case Model ...............................................................................................249
16.10.2 The One-Code Model...............................................................................................252
16.10.3 The Code Theory Model...........................................................................................254
16.10.4 The Co-Occurrence Model .......................................................................................257
16.10.5 The Code-Subcode-Segments Model .......................................................................258
16.11 Options in MAXMaps ............................................................................................................260
17 Statistics and Graphics Functions......................................................................262
17.1 Frequency Tables and Charts for Subcodes............................................................................262
17.2 Frequency Tables and Diagrams for Variables ........................................................................267
18 Summary-Grid....................................................................................................272
18.1 The Idea behind the Summary Grid .......................................................................................272
18.2 Creating and Editing Summaries............................................................................................273
18.3 Summary Tables ....................................................................................................................274
18.4 Overview of Summaries.........................................................................................................277
19 Mixed Methods Functions ................................................................................279
19.1 General .................................................................................................................................279
19.2 Activation by Document Variable: Variables as Selection Criteria for the Coding Query .........280
19.3 Crosstab................................................................................................................................285
19.4 Quote Matrix.........................................................................................................................288
19.5 Typology Table ......................................................................................................................289
19.6 Configuration Table...............................................................................................................292
19.7 Similarity Analysis for Documents ..........................................................................................295
19.8 Transforming a Code into a Document Variable ....................................................................300

Content 7
19.9 Transforming a Code into a Categorical Document Variable..................................................301
20 Importing and Analyzing Twitter Data............................................................307
20.1 What Possibilities does MAXQDA offer for Analyzing Twitter Data? ......................................307
20.2 Importing Twitter Data ..........................................................................................................307
20.3 Autocoding and Analyzing Twitter Data ................................................................................313
21 Focus Group Analysis ........................................................................................316
21.1 How can MAXQDA support Focus Group Analysis?...............................................................316
21.2 Importing Focus Group Transcripts ........................................................................................316
21.3 The “Overview of Focus Group Participants”.........................................................................319
21.4 Coding Query for Coded Segments.......................................................................................321
21.5 The Code Matrix Browser: View Coded Segments per Participant..........................................324
21.6 Crosstab for Focus Groups.....................................................................................................326
21.7 Using the Lexical Search for Contributions from Participants..................................................328
21.8 Notes on Teamwork and Exporting Code Systems .................................................................328
22 Transcribing and Coding Audio and Video Files .............................................329
22.1 General Information about the Analysis of Audio and Video Files ..........................................329
22.2 The “Media player” Toolbar ..................................................................................................329
22.3 Inserting Audio and Video Files in a MAXQDA Project ...........................................................330
22.4 Playing Audio and Video Files in MAXQDA............................................................................331
22.5 Notes on Synchronizing Transcripts and Media Files ..............................................................332
22.6 Importing Transcripts without Timestamps and Subsequently Inserting Timestamps ..............333
22.7 Importing f4/f5 Transcripts with Timestamps .........................................................................335
22.8 Transcribing Directly in MAXQDA: Transcription mode ..........................................................336
22.9 Synchronizing Transcribed Text with Audio/Video files...........................................................338
22.10 The “Overview of Timestamps”.............................................................................................339
22.11 Coding Audio and Video Files in the Multimedia Browser......................................................339
23 Teamwork: Using MAXQDA as a Team............................................................345
23.1 How can MAXQDA support Teamwork? ...............................................................................345
23.2 Transferring a MAXQDA Project to Other Team Members .....................................................346
23.3 Transferring Coded Segments, Memos, Variables, etc. from one Project to another ..............347
23.4 Merging Two MAXQDA Projects ...........................................................................................352
24 Admin System for User Management..............................................................355
24.1 Calling Up and Activating User Management ........................................................................355
24.2 The Main User Management Window ...................................................................................356
25 Reports...............................................................................................................359
25.1 Smart Publisher .....................................................................................................................359
25.2 Creating a Codebook with Category Definitions....................................................................364
25.3 Code Frequencies per Document, Document Group and Document Set ................................365
25.4 Project Information................................................................................................................366
26 Project Organization and Data Security ..........................................................367
26.1 Renaming, Deleting, and Duplicating Projects........................................................................367
26.2 Manual and Automatic Backups for Projects..........................................................................368
27 Import/Export Options ......................................................................................369
27.1 Overview of Import and Export Options.................................................................................369
27.2 Opening Projects from Earlier Versions (MAXQDA 11 or older)..............................................370
27.3 Opening MAXQDA Projects in MAXQDA 11..........................................................................372

Content8
27.4 Importing Projects from MAXApp..........................................................................................372
28 Special Features and General Options .............................................................374
28.1 The Logbook .........................................................................................................................374
28.2 Checking for Updates............................................................................................................375
28.3 General Preferences...............................................................................................................375
29 Keyboard Shortcuts...........................................................................................379
30 Troubleshooting................................................................................................383
31 Technical Data and Information.......................................................................385
31.1 Limitations and technical information....................................................................................385
31.2 File Management...................................................................................................................386
31.3 System Requirements ............................................................................................................386

Welcome 9
1 Welcome
MAXQDA 12 is a high-performance program for professional social science oriented data analysis –
ideal not only for researchers but also for students and for teaching at universities and high schools.
MAXQDA is used in a variety of disciplines: the social sciences, education, health sciences, the hu-
manities, economics, marketing, and many others. In short, MAXQDA is the ideal software for those
who require a program for the effective management and systematic evaluation of texts, docu-
ments and all kinds of media data.
MAXQDA 12 is a result of more than 25 years of continuous development that began with MAX for
DOS in 1989. MAXQDA 12 is groundbreaking as it is the world's first QDA software that provides
the same functionality for Windows and Mac and allows you to switch effortlessly between the two
platforms. The user interface is almost identical; aside from the ever-present Mac menu bar at the
top of the screen that is unknown in Windows. The menu, icons, shortcuts and functions are nearly
identical, eliminating the need for two different user manuals.
This guide provides a detailed overview of the features of MAXQDA. The “Getting Start Guide”
offers a brief introduction. The manual explains all the functions and features of MAXQDA rather
than following the logic of learning the program. Further help can be found on the website
www.maxqda.com, including online tutorials, textbook references and information on the annual
user conference in Berlin, the Conference on Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis (CAQD).
Information on past and future conferences can be found on the website www.caqd.org.
In our continuous effort to improve and troubleshoot MAXQDA, we are always interested in your
feedback and suggestions on how the program could be enhanced. Simply send us an email or
watch for issues of interest in the MAXQDA forum and propose your contributions.

Starting the Program10
2 MAXQDA Screens and Menus
2.1 Starting the Program
After opening MAXQDA, a window will appear with the MAXQDA logo and then the following
welcome dialogue, which allows direct access to instructions to help get you started in MAXQDA:
The quick introduction to MAXQDA: direct access to online tutorials, and sample projects
A click on the Open Examples button lists the example projects included in the installation of
MAXQDA, allowing you to explore the features of MAXQDA in detail. First click on a project from
the list, and then click OK to open the selected sample project.
After clicking Next, the following start and login window appears. If you selected Open Examples,
the startup window appears immediately.

MAXQDA Screens and Menus 11
The MAXQDA start window: choose user name and projects
You can enter your name or initials in the user field, so that all of your actions, whether they be
importing documents, coding segments, or writing memos, are marked with your user signature.
This user system is especially helpful when you are working in a team. You can then look to see
who in the team did each action.
To create and open a new project, click OK. Otherwise select Open Existing Project. In the bottom
pane select a recent project, or click on OK to open another project.
Important: It is strongly recommended that you regularly create project backups and save them on
external hard drives or flash drives, in order to minimize losses in case of computer problems.
Project files from MAXQDA 12 have the extension MX12. If your computer system hides file exten-
sions, you can identify data by the MAXQDA symbol and by the file type “MAXQDA 12 Project
File.” You can now enter your data including interview transcripts, reports as PDF files or video clips,
as well as import documents into the created or opened project.
2.2 The MAXQDA Interface and the Four Main Windows
After opening or creating a new project, you will see the MAXQDA interface:
 At the very top of the screen, you will see the project document name including the location
where it is saved.

The MAXQDA Interface and the Four Main Windows12
 Underneath the file name, you will see the drop-down menus and various toolbars with buttons
that offer quick access to frequently-used functions.
 A status bar is found at the bottom of the screen.
MAXQDA's four main windows occupy the main part of the workspace:
The four main MAXQDA windows
The four windows have the following functions:
 The “Document System” provides an overview of all the texts, PDF files, tables, pictures and
media files of your project. You also have the option of organizing these documents in docu-
ment groups, which act as folders.
 The “Code System” displays all the codes, subcodes and code memos along with the number of
associated coded segments.
 The “Document Browser” displays one of the documents from the “Document System,” where
it can then be worked on. You can highlight, edit, code, create links, or attach memos in this
window. Geo-Links are also displayed in the Document Browser.
 The “Retrieved Segments” window is a results window. Here you can display a selection of cod-
ed segments (Retrieval).
Small Toolbars in the Windows
Each window has a toolbar, which gives you quick access to frequently-used functions. By hovering
over each symbol, you can see what each symbol does. Symbols that are found in more than one
toolbar always have the same function, such as:
prints out the content of the window
exports the content of the window
allows for search in associated window

undocks the window
maximizes the window to the largest possible size
closes the window
Small toolbar within a window
Hide and Show Main Windows
All four windows can be shown or hidden in various ways so that you can control the arrangement
of windows on your screen and optimize your work space.
1. You can hide or show the windows by selecting View > Windows in the main menu.
1.
Hide and show four main windows in the menu
2. You can hide or show the windows by clicking on the appropriate icons in the “MAXQDA
standard” toolbar: .
3. You can close the windows by clicking on the appropriate icon in the upper-right hand corner
of each window. Next to the close icon, you also have the option of clicking to maximize the
window to its largest possible size.
Note: You can hide or show all windows, but at least one window must be shown at all times,
which means it isn’t possible to close all four windows.

The MAXQDA Interface and the Four Main Windows14
Optimize interface: Customize Window Width
The optimal setup of your windows in MAXQDA depends largely on the size of your monitor and
the set resolution. It is not recommended that you use a resolution smaller than 1024 x 768.
The size of each window in comparison to the others can be adjusted as you wish by clicking with
the left mouse button on a border and dragging it in the appropriate direction.
Window height and width can be adjusted by clicking and dragging borders with the mouse
Optimize Interface: Customize Coding Columns
The “Document Browser” window includes the coding column, a gray area left (or right) of the text
document in which codes are displayed. To adjust the width of the coding column, move the mouse
pointer to the top of the line separating it from the document, press the left mouse button, and
drag the column to the left (or right) side of the text.
Adjusting the width of the coding column
You can choose whether or not to display the names of each code by clicking on an empty spot in
the coding column and right-clicking. A window will then appear that allows you to change this
setting.
Optimize Interface: The Two-Column and Three-Column Layout
With a screen width of over 1,440 pixels, MAXQDA 12 uses a three-column layout by default. This
takes advantage of the widescreen format of modern monitors better than the traditional four-
window layout, which has long been a characteristic of MAXQDA. You can easily change back to
the traditional four-window view with the help of the “Screen Layout Manager.” This is appropriate
for screens with normal formats.

To call up the Screen-Layout-Manager, select:
1. In the opening window View > Screen Layout Manager; or
2. The icon in the main toolbar.
The Screen-Layout-Manager allows you to select from among four options:
The Screen-Layout-Manager
Top left: The new default layout in three columns for wide screens. The “Document Browser” is
found in the middle and “Retrieved Segments” in the third column on the far right.
Top right: Alternative three-column layout with the “Document System” and the “Code System”
on the right side.
Bottom left: The classic two-column layout with the “Document System” and the “Code System”
on the left side.
Bottom right: Alternate two-column layout with the “Document System” and the “Code System”
on the right side
Optimize Interface: Small Screens
When coding a document, it is sometimes helpful to close the “Document System” and “Retrieved
Segments” window, so the “Code System” and “Document Browser” are larger. The “Document
Browser” can then be made even bigger by dragging the border in the direction of the “Code Sys-
tem.”

The Toolbars16
Optimal window setup when coding
It is similarly helpful to close the “Document Browser” when you are doing retrievals (Coding Que-
ry), so you have access to the three necessary screens while maximizing the size of your “Retrieved
Segments” window. Whenever you now click on the text information box in the “Retrieved Seg-
ments” window, the corresponding text will be open in the “Document Browser” window.
2.3 The Toolbars
MAXQDA's main toolbar is called “MAXQDA standard” and should always be visible. It contains
icons that provide quick access to frequently used program functions. By default, the toolbar is lo-
cated directly below the main menu:
“MAXQDA standard” toolbar
The icons represent the following:

Overview of the buttons in the “MAXQDA standard” toolbar
In addition to the main toolbar (”MAXQDA standard”), there are four other toolbars that can be
shown or hidden as necessary. These toolbars can be hidden or displayed in the View menu.
The “View” menu
The “Code” toolbar offers quick access to functions for coding, linking text segments, and turning
on/off Edit Mode.
“Code” toolbar
The “Media player” toolbar makes it possible to play audio and video files connected to texts and
insert time stamps.
“Media player” toolbar
The “Visual tools” toolbar has seven symbols, giving you quick access to the mapping tool MAX-
Maps as well as the visualization functions “Code Matrix Browser,” “Code Relations Browser,”
“Document Comparison Chart,” “Document Portrait,” “Codeline,” and “Tag cloud.”

The Status Bar18
“Visual tools” toolbar
The “MAXDictio” toolbar makes it easy to access six of the most common functions in the add-on
module MAXDictio for quantitative, dictionary-based content analysis.
“MAXDictio” toolbar
Position Toolbars on the Screen
All toolbars can be positioned anywhere on the screen. Simply click on the four points on the left
edge of a toolbar or the title of a free-floating toolbar and place the toolbar at the desired position.
Position toolbars
2.4 The Status Bar
At the bottom of the MAXQDA screen, you will see a status bar that includes information about
various aspects of your current workspace (e.g. the number of activated documents and codes, the
number of retrieved segments, the current retrieval option, etc.)
Status bar at the bottom of the MAXQDA screen
Activated Documents – number of currently activated documents
Active codes – number of currently activated codes
Coded segments – number of coded segments, which are displayed in the “Retrieved Seg-
ments” window based on the current retrieval.
Default weight – displays the current standard weight, with which each new coded segment is
provided. The icon is interactive! Click the icon to customize the standard weight.

Include Subcodes – displays the current status of the retrieval: If there is a checkmark on the
icon, the subcodes are included in the retrieval; if no checkmark is displayed, the subcodes are not
included. The icon is interactive! Click the icon in order to determine whether subcodes will be
included or not.
Use Weight Filter – displays the current status of the weight filter for the retrieval: If there is
no checkmark displayed on the icon, the weight filter is switched off and all segments will appear in
the “Retrieved Segments” window, regardless of their weight. If a checkmark appears on the icon,
the weight filter is active and only the segments which satisfy the conditions of the filter will appear.
The icon is interactive! Click the icon to turn the weight filter on and off.
Sort sequence – shows the sequence of the coded segments in the “Retrieved Segments”
window, which can be sorted by Document System, Code System, or weight. The icon is interac-
tive! Click the icon to toggle between the various sorting options.
Coding Query – displays the selected mode of retrieval, such as “Simple Coding Query” or
“Overlapping.” The icon is interactive! Click the icon to call up the Coding Query Tool.

The Toolbar in Table Overviews20
3 Use of Table Overviews in MAXQDA
3.1 The Toolbar in Table Overviews
There are many situations in MAXQDA where table overviews are used to display information, and
they are similar in how they can be worked with, which is similar to the handling of tables in Excel.
All table overviews have a toolbar offering quick access to frequently-used functions.
The overviews include various icons depending on their function and purpose. The following icons
are found in nearly all of these toolbars:
Only activated documents – Displays only the rows in which activated documents appear. The
symbol can only be clicked when at least one document is activated.
Only activated codes – Displays only the rows in which activated codes appear. The symbol
can only be clicked when at least one code is activated.
Filter – Turns the filter for the columns on and off. The symbol can only be clicked when a filter
has been set for at least one column. Set the filter by right-clicking on the column header.
Delete filter – Deletes the defined filter for all columns of the table.
Search – Turns the search toolbar for the table on and off.
Excel table – shows the current table in an Excel document. This does not happen within
MAXQDA, but can be printed out or saved as a separate file.
HTML table – shows the current table in an HTML document. This can also be saved or printed
out, but is no longer connected to your MAXQDA project.
Export – saves the content of the table in diverse formats including Excel (XLS/X) or Website
(HTML) and opens the file. Unlike the two functions above, you can choose the file name and loca-
tion. This exported file is also no longer connected to your project file.
3.2 Managing Table Overviews
Tables in MAXQDA can be customized as in Excel or other similar spreadsheet programs. For the
following example, we’ll use the table view of the document variables in MAXQDA:

Use of Table Overviews in MAXQDA 21
Table view of an example project’s document variables
The heading of each column has the name of each variable, although the standard MAXQDA sys-
tem fields are written in a different font color:
 Document group – the name of the Document group in which the document is found
 Document name – the name of the document
 Creation date – the date on which the document was imported
 Author – the user that was logged in when the document was imported
 Number of coded segments – the number of coded segments in the document
 Number of memos – the number of memos in the document
Adjusting column width and position
The width of each column can be changed by clicking and dragging the border between the col-
umns. Double-clicking on the column header border to the right of the column resizes the col-
umn to its optimal size, so that the contents of each row can be fully seen.
Adjust column width and position
It is also very easy to change the order of the columns. You just need to click on a column header
and drag it to the place you wish to have it.

Managing Table Overviews22
By right-clicking on a column header, the context menu appears for that particular column. This
includes various options, including the option to hide the column or search within the column. The
Select field option opens a window where you can select which of the columns should be viewed
in the standard view.
Sorting Tables
Tables can be sorted very easily. Just click on the column header of the column that you want to
sort the rows by.
Sorting a table
Tables can be sorted alphabetically or in reverse alphabetical order. Clicking once on the column
header sorts it alphabetically; clicking a second time sorts it in reverse. A small triangle appears in-
side the column header of the column that is currently being used to sort the table and whether it is
sorted alphabetically or in reverse alphabetical order.
Tables in MAXQDA contain both editable (blue) and un-editable (black) columns. The system varia-
bles, for example, cannot be edited. You would therefore need to change the document name in
the “Document System” and change the document group of a document by dragging it to a differ-
ent document group in the “Document System.”
In the editable cells of the table, you can enter or change a value by double-clicking on the cell and
then typing the value.
Selecting Rows in the Table
The table contents can also be selected and copied into the Windows clipboard. The selection of
one or multiple rows, or a section of the table, is done as follows: A single cell can be selected by
simply clicking on it, and additional cells can be added to the selection by holding the Ctrl key
(Windows) or Command key (Mac) and a section of the table can be selected by clicking the first
and last rows to be included while holding down the Shift key. In MAXQDA, the selected sections
of a table are highlighted in green.
You can also search for certain values within each column of tables in MAXQDA. You only need to
right-click on the column in which you want to search and select Search. In string fields, the
search will start with the initial character. If you wish to search for a certain word or phrase that

does not have to appear at the beginning of the value, you can use the asterisk (*) at the beginning
of your search.
Context Menus for Tables
All overviews in MAXQDA have context menus that can be called up by using the right mouse but-
ton. The number of options that appear in the context menu depends on the overview. It is usually
possible to delete a selection (e.g. a coded segment or memo). In the “Overview of coded seg-
ments,” you also have the option to change the weight score of each segment. The most options
are available in the document variables table.
Context menu in the document variables table
Table overviews with detailed view
The "Overview of coded segments" differs from, for example, from the "Overview of variables" in
that it is divided into two parts. The lower section is used just as in other tables. The upper section
serves as a detailed view. Here, the coded segment, or text or image segment itself that is selected
in the bottom section appears. The same applies to the “Overview of Memos”: Here the detailed
view of the memo will appear.

Searching inside Table Overviews24
Detailed view of the “Overview of Coded Segments”
3.3 Searching inside Table Overviews
To browse a table overview, click on the symbol at the top of overview. Another toolbar will
appear, in which you can enter the search term.
Browsing table overviews
Highlight all rows with hits – Highlights all the lines in which the search term appears.
Choose search columns – Allows you to select which columns will be searched.
Tip: If you want to limit your search to a single column in the table, right-click on the column head-
ing and select the Search option. MAXQDA automatically selects only the indicated column for the
search.

Limit search to one column
3.4 Filtering Table Overviews
Table overviews can easily be filtered. For example, in the Data Editor you can display only the rows
with documents containing more than 20 codes or whose names begin with “B”:
1. Right-click on the heading of the column you wish to filter, and select the Filter option.
Set filter by column
2. Set the desired filter options in the window that appears.
Filter window
In all four input fields, you can define criteria to filter. The following criteria are available:

Filtering Table Overviews26
 Contains
 Doesn’t contain
 Starts with
 Greater than or Lesser than (applies to both numbers and the alphabet)
 Earlier than and Later than (available only in columns containing a date)
OR/AND: Here you can select the manner in which the four input fields are combined. With OR,
the rows in which at least one of the criteria applies are listed. With AND, the rows in which all of
the criteria apply are listed.
Case sensitive – When this option is selected, you can differentiate based on whether the text in
the text column appears in upper or lowercase. In this case, if “interview” in lowercase appears in
the filtered column, “Interview” beginning with an uppercase letter would not be taken into ac-
count.
After clicking OK, MAXQDA filters the table overview according to the defined criteria. At the top
right MAXQDA indicates how many of the originally existing rows are currently displayed.
Filtered table overview
If you set a filter for multiple columns, they are combined with the AND function.
You can switch a filter for a table overview on or off at any time using the Filter symbol, to tog-
gle the view between all rows and filtered rows.
If you wish to delete all defined filters in an overview, click on the Reset all filters symbol.
Note: Each time an overview is reopened, filters in table overviews will automatically be set to
“off”. The filter settings are saved individually for each overview in the project, so if you have de-
fined a filter and reopen the project at a later time, you can turn on the filter by simply clicking the
Filter symbol.

Documents and the “Document System” 27
4 Documents and the “Document System”
4.1 General Information about Importing Documents in
MAXQDA
With MAXQDA you can
 import all types of DOC/X, RTF and TXT files without using any special formatting options unless
you want to use certain MAXQDA functions or achieve a specific document appearance,
 import all DOC/X and RTF documents with a certain structure (e.g. forms),
 import PDF documents,
 import XLS/X table documents,
 import pictures and graphics in JPG, GIF, TIF and PNG format,
 manage audio and video files in order to analyze them and the transcripts at the same time or
to code them yourself,
 create new text or table documents and input the data yourself,
 create new blank documents that are freely editable by typing or pasting content from the
Windows clipboard.
Important: DOC/X documents can only be imported in MAXQDA if you have Microsoft Office (for
Windows!) 2003 or later installed on your computer. Otherwise, the documents can be saved in RTF
format and then be imported into MAXQDA.
All text and table documents imported into MAXQDA can be edited in the “Document Browser.”
This means you have the option of fixing typos, deleting or adding text, etc. This is also possible
once you have done some coding and/or creation of memos. This means you don’t have to have a
completed document to start your coding. PDFs, images, and audio/video files cannot be edited in
MAXQDA.
4.2 General Information on the Preparation of Text
Documents
Documents can also be created within MAXQDA, but usually it is easier to work with a document in
a word processor or text editor and then import it. It does not matter which word processor you use
as long as you can save the document in RTF or DOC/X format, which is almost always the case.
There are almost no limits to the options available in RTF and DOC/X format when creating a docu-
ment. When transcribing an audio or video file or typing up field notes, it is necessary to develop a
transcription system or set of transcription rules.

General Information on the Preparation of Text Documents28
One option is the simple Hoffman-Riem system, which can be used by anyone looking for any easy
set of rules. Its translated version is below.
Characters Meaning
.. short pause
... medium pause
.... long pause
...... omission
/uh/ filler word
/eh/
((action)) nonverbal communication, e.g. ((shakes head))
((smiling)) nonverbal cues in combination with speech
very noticeable emphasis or rise in volume
v e r y drawn out speech
( ) indecipherable
(terrifying?) not clear, but best guess
RTF and DOC/X formats allow for all sorts of transcription rules so that it isn’t necessary to prefor-
mat things for import into MAXQDA. If you wish to handle certain sections of text as a single unit,
though, it makes sense to have them together in the same paragraph. A new paragraph number is
inserted automatically in MAXQDA after each hard return. It is also easier then to automatically
code these paragraphs in MAXQDA.
Here are the things to remember when importing a text document:
 All formatting aspects – like bold, italics, etc. – are carried over to MAXQDA.
 All fonts and text sizes are carried over.
 Paragraph formatting (e.g. right-justified) is also carried over although the spacing between
paragraphs does not necessarily stay the same.
 The text can contain tables, pictures, graphics, etc.
 MAXQDA supports Windows OLE, which means that audio file, PowerPoint slides, hyperlinks,
and video files can be embedded in the file. Double-clicking on these objects in MAXQDA will
open the appropriate program to view or play the file, assuming the program is installed on the
computer. If certain objects are imported or simply linked to depends on your settings in the
Options window in the Project drop-down menu.
The editing of tables within text documents is worth mentioning, as tables with more than two col-
umns were difficult to work with in older versions of MAXQDA. Since version 10, though, this is no
longer a problem; you can now easily edit and even code cells in tables that are embedded in text
documents. The only limitation is that the size of the table can no longer be changed once it has
been imported.

4.3 Importing Documents into MAXQDA
Importing Documents with Drag-and-Drop
Importing files into MAXQDA is simple and intuitive: you can simply highlight the documents in
Windows Explorer or Mac Finder and drag them with the mouse into the “Document System.” They
will then be inserted on the upper level of the “Document System” hierarchy, directly under the
“Documents” icon. In the following screenshot, you can see that eight documents (Teresa, Joanna,
Jon, etc.) have been imported.
Visualization of eight imported documents in the “Document System”
By moving the mouse over a document name, you will see a tooltip that gives you information
about the document, including its size, the author (MAXQDA user logged in at the time of import),
the date of import, and the number of coded segments and memos in the document.
Ordering the documents in document groups
All you have to do is drag documents into the “Document System,” and you’re ready to start your
analysis of those documents. Most people don’t start with the analysis immediately, though, and
prefer to organize the documents in folders, as they might do on their computer’s hard drive. Ra-
ther than using folders, MAXQDA uses document groups. They work just like folders do in Win-
dows Explorer or Mac Finder – you can name them and drag documents into them. The number of
document groups is not limited in MAXQDA; you can make as many of them as you want. When
you create a new document group, it will automatically be named “Group 2,” “Group 3,” etc.

Importing Documents into MAXQDA30
Newly created document groups are automatically named “Group 1,” “Group 2,” etc.
Import of documents into document groups can also be done via drag and drop. You just need to
highlight the documents in Windows Explorer or Mac Finder and drag them onto the document
group name. You’ll see that the documents are imported into the document group when the file
names appear under the document group icon and name.
Tip: To import an entire document folder into MAXQDA, drag the folder from Windows Explorer or
Mac Finder into the “Document System” window. MAXQDA will then create a new document
group with the same name as the folder, into which it will import all MAXQDA importable docu-
ments.
In addition to Drag & Drop, documents can be imported into MAXQDA in the following ways:
 Select a Document Group, then click the Import document(s) button in the “Document
System” toolbar.
 or you can also import documents by using the keyboard shortcuts Shift+Ctrl+T (import to the
upper level) or Alt+T (import to the selected document group).
 Or you can right-click on the root in the “Document System” and select Import document(s).
 or you can right-click on the document group that you want to hold the imported documents
and select Import document(s) from the context menu that appears.

Importing a document via the context menu
A dialog box will appear that allows you to select the documents that you would like to import.
Newly imported documents are put at the top of the list of documents in the document group.
They are given the same name as the original file, but you have the option of renaming them at any
point. If you want to import several files at once into the same document group, you can select
more than one document by holding the Ctrl (Windows) or the cmd button (Mac) while clicking on
the documents to import.
Note: The document group into which the document will be imported will be highlighted in blue.
When no document group is indicated, MAXQDA will insert the newly imported document at the
top of the document system.
The order of document groups in the “Document System” can also be changed at any time. You
simply need to click on the document group icon and drag it to the location you would like to
have it. In other words, it is not necessary to know how you will organize all of your documents
when you import them.
Note: In MAXQDA, it is not absolutely necessary that you create at least one document group.
MAXQDA works with document groups similar to the way Windows Explorer or Mac Finder work
with folders. You can create document groups/folders to better organize your documents, but each
document doesn’t have to be put in one. Documents can be moved freely from one document
group to another without having it affect the document in any way.
Document variables generated automatically during import
Each document contains a data record of variables ("Document variables"). When you import a
document, a record is simultaneously generated - much like during your first visit to a new doctor. If
at the time of import a data record containing variables is generated, firstly only certain internal
MAXQDA variables will be saved.
To view these internal variables (“System Fields"), click Overview of Variables in the context menu
of the document. Here, you can see the date, time, and user name (author), among other infor-

External Files32
mation. In the Number of Coded Segments and Number of Memos columns, MAXQDA will
display the existing coded segments and memos for this document.
“Overview of variables” for a newly imported document
This information will appear as a tooltip if you hover the mouse over a document name in the Doc-
ument System and wait a moment.
4.4 External Files
In general, all documents will be imported into the MAXQDA project file, meaning the original file
remains in place. You can modify or delete the original file without affecting the imported docu-
ment in MAXQDA. This concept holds a great advantage over other QDA software, in which the
primary files are constantly at risk of being modified “from the outside.”
Since MAXQDA 10, it has been possible for you to connect audio or video files to their transcrip-
tions and import PDF and image files, which means that the “one project = one file” concept is not
always optimal. If you were working with many audio/video, image, or PDF files, for example, your
project file would quickly become very large, which would slow down processes in MAXQDA and
make it almost impossible to move the file, either online or on a DVD.
For this reason, versions from MAXQDA 10 onwards do not save imported PDF and image files that
are larger than a certain size (default 5 MB) in the project file. Instead they are saved in an external
folder. You won’t notice any difference in the way you work with the documents in MAXQDA; the
icons in the “Document Browser” look just like they would if the documents were saved in the pro-
ject file.
The default maximum size for PDFs and image files can be changed under Options in the Project
drop-down menu. You can also set the location where external files are to be saved. If you do not
change it, the default location for all external files will be as follows:
 for portable license installations: [installed folder]MAXQDA_Externals
 for Windows normal license installations: [My documents]MAXQDA_Externals
 for Mac normal license installations: [My documents]MAXQDAExternals
Note: All your external documents will be saved in a global external folder. If you wish to save ex-
ternals in a project-specific folder, you should create a folder for the designated project. However, it
can be useful to work with a global external folder from which external files can be accessed by

multiple MAXQDA project files. For this reason, when you delete a document, the associated media
file will not be deleted (without prompting), as the file could still be linked to other documents.
What actually happens when a PDF or image file larger than the set maximum size is im-
ported into the “Document System”?
1. The document is added to the list in the “Document System” just as it would be if it were a
smaller file.
2. The document is visualized with the PDF or image icon as is the case with smaller files.
3. The document is copied into the “MAXQDA_Externals” folder unless you have chosen to have
external files saved elsewhere. The original document remains in its original location.
It is import to remember that unless you change the default folder for external files, this folder will
hold externals for all projects. You will only have a separate folder for the externals of a certain pro-
ject if you change the external folder in the Preferences … window. It often makes sense to use
the same folder for all of your projects, so that several projects can access the same external file. It is
for this reason that audio/video files are not deleted from the external files folder automatically
when the linked document is deleted; this audio/video file could also be linked to other documents.
What happens to a document in the “Document System” when it is linked to a media (au-
dio/video) file?
1. The location of the original file is saved in the Properties menu of the document.
2. The original media file is never saved as part of MAXQDA project file, even if it is smaller than
the maximum file size.
3. The media file is copied into the “MAXQDA_Externals” folder or whatever folder you have cho-
sen for this purpose. The original document remains in its original location.
4. When importing a text file with timestamps, MAXQDA also looks through the file for
timestamps, creates a List of timestamps synchronizes the text with the audio/video file.
Which file is actually used – the original or the copy?
MAXQDA always looks for the original first – it looks for the file based on the path that is saved in
the properties menu of the document. If the original is not found, the copy of the file in the exter-
nal files folder is used. This file is then loaded. In other words, the original file can be moved or de-
leted without it affecting the proper functioning of MAXQDA.
Be careful when using the same file name for different files!
It is possible to import several documents with the same name into the “Document System” (e.g.
three files named “Interview 1”). This is only a problem if the file is larger than the set maximum
and must be saved in the external files folder. When the most recently imported file is saved, it au-
tomatically replaces the older file with the same exact name.

External Files34
What happens when you change the external files folder for a project that already has ex-
ternal files saved in the default external files folder?
In this case, MAXQDA will ask you if you would like to move the documents from the previous loca-
tion to the new external files folder. The documents are only moved once you confirm this. Since
this action changes the global setting for all projects, all files are moved from the former external
files folder to the new.
What happens if a project with external files is passed on to a different computer/MAXQDA
installation?
To share the project with team members and colleagues, including the external files, follow these
steps
1. Send the MAXQDA (MX12) project file.
3. Bundle all external files with the appropriate function in the Project drop-down menu.
MAXQDA then compresses all external files associated with the current project into a Zip ar-
chive, which is named after your project (e.g. “Projectname.mx12.zip”) and saved in the same
place as your project file.
4. Send this newly created Zip file.
Procedure on receiving end:
5. Open the MX12 project file.
6. Choose Unpack bundle files from the Project drop-down menu and select the Zip archive in
the Windows dialog box that appears. MAXQDA then unpacks the archive and moves the
linked files to your external files folder.
If a document is linked to an audio or video file, the original location of the audio/video file will be
listed in the document properties. If a document with this name isn’t found in the appropriate fold-
er, the copy in the external files folder will be used.
Careful! The location settings for your external files (Windows: Project > Preferences …; Mac:
MAXQDA 12 > Preferences …) are global, meaning for all of your projects. You can also select
project-specific locations, but this requires great discipline when working. In this case, select a spe-
cific external folder at the beginning, when you create the project. This location will consequently
be used for all projects, meaning when you open other projects you must first re-select the applica-
ble location.

Global options for MAXQDA
4.5 Objects Embedded in Text
MAXQDA for Windows supports Windows OLE (Object Linking and Embedding), which means that
audio file, PowerPoint slides, hyperlinks, and video files can be embedded in an RTF or DOC/X file.
The connection between the text document and these objects remains in effect even after import
into MAXQDA.
There are two ways to deal with these embedded objects, which will be explained with the example
of a PowerPoint slide.
The first variation works as follows:
Highlight a PowerPoint slide (e.g. from the sort view) and copy it into the Windows clipboard. You
can then paste it into a MAXQDA document by pressing Ctrl+V; the slide can then be viewed in the
document in the “Document Browser.” By double-clicking on the slide, you will open it in Power-
Point, where you have the option of editing the slide. You can also code the slide, but MAXQDA
handles it as a single object, so lines of text in the slide cannot be coded separately. Depending on
the type and size of the object, it may take up quite a bit of memory to code it, so only code such
objects if it is important for your analysis.

Hyperlinks Embedded in Texts36
Second variation:
Here there is only a link created for the embedded objection. These work like hyperlinks in a web
browser; you will be able to tell that a link exists, because the text will be blue and underlined. By
hovering the mouse over the link, you can see the name of file linked to that spot. Clicking on the
link opens the file in the appropriate program, assuming that program is installed on the program
you are working with (e.g. PPT files are opened in PowerPoint, audio files in a media player, etc.).
The program that will be opened depends on the computer’s settings.
With the second variation, it makes absolutely no difference how big the linked file is. With the first
variation, though, it is important to be aware of the object size, so the project file doesn’t become
too large. MAXQDA is first and foremost designed for analyzing text documents, so it is not rec-
ommended that you use it as a photo archive or as a multimedia program.
4.6 Hyperlinks Embedded in Texts
Thanks to the expansion of the Internet, everyone knows what a link and what happens when you
click on one. Documents imported into MAXQDA can also have hyperlinks in them. Clicking on the
link in MAXQDA brings up the webpage or HTML file in the default browser.
Hyperlinks are always made up of two parts: the visualization (whether it be a button, picture, or
text) and the URL, which is the information about the location of the file, which may be a WWW
address. By hovering over the link, you can see the location/URL in the tooltip that appears. Usually,
this is not otherwise visible.
Hyperlink in a text
Note: When you enter an Internet address in a text in MAXQDA, it will automatically transform into
a clickable hyperlink when you close Edit Mode.
If you want to work in MAXQDA with pictures or other objects that require a lot of memory, it is
recommended that you don’t import the pictures into the project file, but just link to them. The
links can still be coded and called up in the “Retrieved Segments” window, but they don’t affect
the size of the project file. Since MAXQDA 10, it has been possible to import pictures into the
“Document System” and save them either in the project file or externally as external files. Limits for
the file size of imported objects are set under Projects > Options.

4.7 Opening and Editing Documents
To view and edit a document, it must be open. MAXQDA will automatically open the most recently
imported document. To open a specific document in MAXQDA, you can:
 double-click on the document in the “Document System,” or
 right-click on the document in the “Document System” and choose Open document.
The document is then opened in the “Document Browser,” and the icon next to the name of the
document in the “Document System” changes from a sheet of paper to a sheet of paper with a
pencil on it.
Symbol in the “Document System” for a document open in the “Document Browser”
You can now begin to work with the document in the “Document Browser.” You can code docu-
ment or picture segments, attach memos, link segments, insert external links, edit text, or add new
text. There are two different modes for working on a document:
 ”Code Mode” – allows you to code segments of texts or images, create internal or external
links, and write memos.
 ”Edit Mode” – allows you to edit text in documents imported from RTF or DOC/X format as well
as table documents. You can type new content, fix typos, and delete text.
Code Mode is active by default when a document is opened in the “Document Browser.” Click the
Edit Mode button in the Document Browser toolbar to switch to Edit Mode. In Edit mode, the usual
formatting functions such as selection of font color and size are available.
Button for turning Edit Mode on and off
Note: Documents that are opened in Edit mode are automatically cached on demand. You can set
the time interval under Project > Preferences (Windows) or MAXQDA12 > Preferences (Mac) (by
default, the open document will be saved every 5 minutes). The edited text will be saved automati-
cally when you switch back to coding mode or close MAXQDA.

Opening two documents simultaneously38
Set interval at which project will be automatically saved in Edit Mode.
When working in Edit Mode, you have the option to undo actions. The Undo function operates in
the same manner as in Word. You can undo actions such as, for example, deleting a text passage or
adding a new one. To undo an action, either right-click on the context menu in the “Document
Browser” and select Undo text changes or click “Edit” in the MAXQDA main menu and select
Undo text changes.
Alternatively – so long as you are working in Edit Mode – you can click the symbol in the Edit
Mode toolbar.
You can reverse your actions one by one using the Undo function. Alternatively, you can select the
option Undo all text changes to reverse all changes since the last time Edit Mode was activated.
Important: The undo function is only available when you are working in Edit Mode. As soon as you
go back to Code Mode or open another document, all changes that you have made in the current
document are saved and can’t be undone. The deletion of a coding in Edit Mode cannot be re-
versed.
4.8 Opening two documents simultaneously
MAXQDA 12 offers the possibility of opening two documents simultaneously, each in in a separate
document browser. This is helpful notably for conducting literature reviews: Open a publication as a
PDF in one window and code thematically, directly from the document. You can simultaneously
open and code a text document in which you have made your notes in the second window.
To open a document in its own document browser, right-click on the document in the “Document
System” and select and select the option Open document in second Document Browser. The
second document browser will open and display the selected document. The second document
browser is particularly helpful if you work with a wide monitor or with two monitors.

Opening a document in the second Document Browser
What are the rules for working with the second document browser? The following functionalities
will make your work easier:
Document Links
 When you click on a Document Link within a document, it will open in a second document
browser, while the original document or section remains displayed. This allows you to view both
linked document sections at the same time.
Coding and Coding Stripes
 The drop-down “Code” toolbar is always displayed in the first document browser. The second
document browser will display its own Code toolbar.

Opening Documents in Tabs40
Code toolbar in the second document browser
 If the same document is displayed in both the document browsers, newly added codes are dis-
played immediately in both browsers after they are created; the display is thus synchronized.
 The filter settings for the displayed coding stripes are saved separately for each document
browser. In this way, you can display, for example, only red coding stripes in one document
browser, and only coding stripes by a specific author in the other document browser. Once you
close the second document browser, the selection of the coding stripes is reset: that is, the next
time you open the second document browser, all coding stripes will be turned on and visible (of
course, only if they were created while coding the document.)
Jump from segments to the “Retrieved Segments” and “Overview of Coded Segments”
 Clicking on the source data in the "Retrieved segments" window always brings up the selected
segment in the standard document browser, not in the new second document browser. The
same is true for browsing the segments in the "Overview of Coded Segments".
Editing documents
 In the second document browser, you can switch to edit mode at any time by clicking the
button, to make changes to the document. Please note that only one of the two open docu-
ments can be in Edit mode at a time.
Note: If the same document is open in both MAXQDA document browsers, it is not possible to edit
the document.
4.9 Opening Documents in Tabs
MAXQDA includes the option of opening more than one document in the “Document Browser” at
once, each opened in a separate tab. This allows you to switch quickly back and forth between
documents. Once you have opened documents in tabs, you can switch to any of them by clicking
on the appropriate tab at the top of the “Document Browser.” Documents can be opened in tabs
by holding the Shift key and double-clicking on the document or by right-clicking on the document
and selecting Open in a new tab.

Once a document has been opened in this way, tabs will appear at the top of the “Document
Browser” with the names of each of the documents open. You can switch between the documents
by clicking once on the appropriate tab. The tabs can be closed individually.
If tabs are already open, a document opened in the normal fashion from the “Document System”
will appear in the currently selected tab in the “Document Browser.”
Tip: To open all documents in a document group in Tabs, drag the document group into the Doc-
ument Browser with the left mouse button, then release.
4.10 Renaming and Deleting Documents
Document groups, document sets, and individual documents can be renamed at any point. Simply
right-click on any of these objects and select the appropriate entry from the context menu. It is not
recommended that you have more than one document with the same name. It is possible, but it
can be very confusing.
Right-clicking on documents opens the context menu, giving you the option Delete document,
which also deletes the coded segments, memos, and links associated with it. In the context menu
for a document group, you also have the Delete document group option, which deletes all the
documents in a group in one single action.
Note: An unintentional deletion cannot be undone. For this reason, you should always back up
your data on a regular basis.
4.11 Moving and Sorting Documents
You can change the order of the documents in the “Document System” as desired. To do so, click
and drag the document into the desired position. To change the order of multiple documents at the
same time, click on the selected documents while holding down the Ctrl key to activate them. Next,
right-click on the document group and select Move activated documents here.

Creating a New Document in MAXQDA42
Move all activated documents at once to a document group
To sort documents in a document group, right-click on the document group and select Sort docu-
ments. There are two options with the same text, but the icons next to them are different. The first
indicates that the sorting will be done alphabetically (A to Z), and the second indicates the sorting
will be done in reverse alphabetical order (Z to A).
To sort the document groups by name, simply right-click on the word Documents at the top of
your “Document System” and select the appropriate Sort document groups option.
Tip: Researchers often work with document names that include numbers (e.g. Interview 1, Inter-
view 2, etc.). If you are going to have more than 10 documents, it is recommended that you make
each single digit number into a two-digit number (Interview 01, Interview 02, etc.). When sorting
the documents, you will then have them in the correct order. Otherwise Interview 20 would come
before Interview 3. If you are working with more than 100 documents, all numbers should be writ-
ten with three digits (e.g. Interview 001, Interview 002, etc.).
4.12 Creating a New Document in MAXQDA
To create a new document without the help of a word processor, you should start by deciding
where you want the document to be placed. You can then right-click on the document group
where you want the document to be created and select Create document. Alternatively, you can
call up this function from the menu Documents > Create document.

Creating a new document via the context menu of a document group
The following dialog window will appear. Click OK to confirm. The option “Text document” is set
by default.
Creating a text document in MAXQDA
MAXQDA will automatically assign the document a name in the form of “Document nn,” where nn
is a consecutive number. Of course you can change the name later on. After creating a new docu-
ment, it is automatically opened in the “Document Browser” and put in Edit Mode, so you can start
to type or paste text from another program into it.
There is no need to save your new document. As is the case when editing an imported document,
everything is saved in the new document once you leave Edit Mode, view a different document in
the “Document Browser,” or close MAXQDA.
Tip: Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+T (Windows) or cmd+T (Mac) to create a new text, which will
be added to the currently selected level in the "Document System".

Assigning Colors to Documents44
4.13 Assigning Colors to Documents
You have the option of assigning a color to each of your documents. This color is then used in all
tables and visualizations, including in MAXMaps.
To assign a color, right-click on the document and select Color from the context menu that ap-
pears. A dialog window appears which lists the colors used in the project. Standard colors, (i.e. for
color coding) are indicated by name (here "GREEN").
Selecting a color
There is an almost endless number of colors that you can pick from for your documents, and you
can theoretically mix your own by entering values into the fields on the right side of the window,
although it makes sense to limit the number of colors you use in a single project.
The document colors are usually listed in the first column of tables in MAXQDA, which means you
can then use them as sort criteria. By clicking on the column header, you will sort that column,
grouping together those documents with the same assigned color.
4.14 Creating Document Sets
MAXQDA makes it possible for you to create and save a temporary grouping of documents. While
each document can only be in one document group, it can be in as many document sets as you
wish, because document sets are only made up of shortcuts to the documents. In other words, a
document set can be deleted without it having any effect on the document. If that same document
were deleted from a document group, however, it would be deleted from the project along with all
of its memos, coded segments, links, etc.

Document sets are created via activation. You can activate a document by right-clicking on it and
selecting Activate from the context menu. You can tell that a document has been activated, be-
cause it turns red and a red arrow appear just to the left of the document icon.
Tip: For quick, easy activation, hold the down Ctrl key (Windows) or cmd key (Mac) and left-click on
the selected documents. In this way, you can also activate an entire document set.
After activating all the documents that you want to create a set out of, you can create that set as
follows:
1. Right-click on the word Document sets at the bottom of the “Document System.”
2. Select New set.
MAXQDA then creates a new set with the name “Set 1” and adds all activated documents to this
set. You can click on the name with the right mouse button and choose another that is more ap-
propriate. Document sets are manipulated like document groups; you can activate all the docu-
ments in a document set at the same time and use all the options for working with document
groups (Codes, Memos, Variables, Links, etc.).
Modify Document Sets at a later time
Individual documents can be deleted from a document set or placed in another document set; the
easiest way is by using the drag-and-drop function.
Tip: You can drag a document into a set at any time. Drop the document into the desired set and
MAXQDA will insert it directly at the top of the set.
When you want to analyze a certain selection of documents, using a document set is a very practi-
cal method, allowing you to avoid a more complicated selection procedure. Forming a document
set is also an easy way to save the result of a complex variable activation process.
4.15 Inserting Line Numbers in a Text Document
In some cases, you may wish to analyze documents based on line number rather than paragraphs.
There is a MAXQDA function that allows you to set the number of characters that should make up
each line, which will then be treated as a paragraph. To do so, open the document in the “Docu-
ment Browser” and switch to Edit Mode. Then right-click in the document and select Convert into
line numbered text. You can then enter the number of characters that should make up each line
(normally a range of 50-70 characters is appropriate). This option is only available for text docu-
ments that do not contain photos, tables, or external links.
The result of the procedure is a line-numbered text with a fixed number of characters per line and
the insertion of a paragraph mark at the end of the line.
Careful: This action can only be undone while you are in Edit Mode. Once you have left Edit Mode,
opened a different document in the “Document Browser,” or closed MAXQDA, the changes are
automatically saved and irreversible.

The Document Properties Window46
4.16 The Document Properties Window
If you right-click on a document in the “Document System” and select Properties, the following
window will appear, which lets you view and change certain settings for that document:
Document properties window
Read-only – if this box is checked, the document will no longer be editable, even in Edit Mode. This
is the default setting for PDFs.
External Document – If this box is checked, it means that the document is not actually part of the
MAXQDA project file. Instead it has been copied into the folder for externally-linked files. In this
case, the file name is also indicated under Original Path.
Media file – If you want to link a document to an audio or video file, you can insert the path to
that document in this field. To do so, click on the line, then the button with the three dots at the
end of the line…
External link 1/2/3 – Click in this field to link to another document that can be accessed on your
computer and has pertinent information, for example, about the interviewee or the project in gen-
eral.
4.17 MAXQDA supports Unicode: Analyzing texts in different
languages
The fact that MAXQDA supports Unicode makes it possible not only to import and analyze docu-
ments in any script, from Japanese to Cyrillic to Arabic), but also to create codes and variables in
these languages. This Unicode functionality is available in every MAXQDA function

Different countries, different languages, different alphabets – this is no problem as long as one does
research in the Americas or the European Union. But what happens if you want to analyze Russian
or Mandarin?
Unicode is an international standard with the goal of standardizing all known languages and char-
acters. This makes it possible to work with various languages in the same document. One sentence
can be in English, the next in Mandarin, and the next in Arabic. This is possible because Unicode
(unlike more common computer character systems like ASCII or ISO Latin) can deal with more than
128 or 256 different characters. In MAXQDA, even codes and variable names can be created with
“foreign” characters, and searches and in-vivo coding are possible with any language.
4.18 Notes on PDF Documents
PDF documents, like normal text documents, can be imported into a MAXQDA project and coded.
However, there are some special considerations when working with PDF documents, as the PDF
format was not concieved for text editing but rather as a layout format for printing:
Saving PDF files outside the MAXQDA project file
By default, all PDF files smaller than 5 MB will be saved in the project file upon insertion. PDF files
larger than 5 MB are not saved in the MAXQDA project itself, but rather in the folder for externally
saved files, and generate only a reference to the the externally saved data. You can customize the
maximum file size as well as the location for externally saved files under Project > Preferences …
(Windows) or MAXQDA 12 > Preferences … (Mac).
Tip: If you are working with many large PDF files (e.g. with a total size of more than 1 GB), it makes
sense to store them externally so that the MAXQDA file remains small and can be easily secured. For
optimal performance it is recommended that externally saved files be located on the local hard disk
and if possible not on a network, although the acceleration of network speeds mean that this poses
less and less of a problem.
Text and image segments in PDF documents can be coded with the mouse. Select and create a
frame around the desired segments to subsequently code them. MAXQDA does not distinguish
between text and image encodings in regards to code frequency; however in the Coding Query
when searching for overlap, the query will search independently for overlap/intersection in text and
image documents. Overlap between text segments and image segments will be ignored. The
“Near” function for image segents always returns a result of 0, both in the Complex Coding Query
and the Code Relations Browser.
If a text is in the format of a scanned PDF file, Optical Character Recognition or OCR, a text recogni-
tion process, must carried out beforehand. This process makes it possible to mark and code the text,
otherwise it would be possible only to mark images.

Notes on Image Documents48
Multipage Coding
Beginning in MAXQDA 12, it is now possible to code text and image segments which fall over mul-
tiple pages, without dividing them. If the project is transferred to MAXQDA 11, the segments will
once again be divided and the number of coded segments may increase.
Absence of paragraphs in PDF files
PDF documents, unlike text documents, have no paragraph structure per se. MAXQDA functions
that rely on the paragraph structure can therefore not be used in PDF documents. These functions
include, among others, automatic coding with the parameters “Sentence” or “Paragraph”, as well
as the “Near” function for segments in the Complex Coding Query and Code Matrix Browser.
Navigating the Document Browser
As soon as a PDF document is displayed in the Document Browser, several clickable icons will ap-
pear in the toolbar. You can flip forward and backward, adjust the zoom and use the bookmarks
for navigation (many PDF files have several bookmarks, e.g. one per chapter).
4.19 Notes on Image Documents
Image documents can be imported and coded in a MAXQDA project, as with normal text docu-
ments. There are, however, certain special considerations when working with images:
Saving Image Documents outside of the MAXQDA project
Normally all image documents of less than 5 MB are saved directly in the MAXQDA project. Image
documents larger than 5 MB are not saved directly in the project, but rather in the folder for exter-
nal files, and only a reference referring to the externally saved file is generated. You can customize
the maximum file size as well as the location for externally saved files under Project > Preferences
… (Windows) or MAXQDA 12 > Preferences … (Mac).
Tip: If you are working with many large image files (e.g. with a total size of more than 1 GB), it
makes sense to store them externally so that the MAXQDA file remains small and can be easily se-
cured. For optimal performance it is recommended that externally saved files be located on the local
hard disk and if possible not on a network, although the acceleration of network speeds mean that
this poses less and less of a problem.
Coding Image Segments
In image documents, borders can be drawn around the selected area with the mouse which can be
subsequently coded like text segments, meaning they can be dragged and dropped into a code.
With the Complex Coding Query and Code Relations Browser, the “Near” function for image seg-
ments always returns a result of 0.
Rotating and Zooming Images
As soon as an image document is displayed in the „Document Browser“, several icons for viewing
the image will appear in the toolbar. You can zoom in or out of the image as well as rotate it clock-

wise (images imported from digital cameras and mobile phones should, as a rule, rotate to the
right, provided the correct information has been saved in the image.)
4.20 Notes on Table Documents
Importing Table Documents
MAXQDA makes it possible to insert and analyze files in XLS or XLSX format, to code the data and
attach memos. As with other file types (DOC, DOCX, PDF etc.), you can import table documents in
the following ways:
 Drag & Drop the file from Windows Explorer or Mac Finder into the “Document System,”
 with the menu function Documents > Import Document,
 with the Import Document(s) button in the “Document System.”
What happens when a table document is inserted into a MAXQDA project?
 The first worksheet in the Excel workbook will be imported.
 Hidden columns in Excel will also be imported.
 The columns are numbered according to their order, whereby the contents of the first row will
be used as the column header.
 The row order will remain the same when imported.
 The font will be conformed.
Imported table document in the “Document Browser"
Table documents are indicated in the “Document System” with a symbol.

Notes on Table Documents50
Creating Table Documents
From the menu function Documents > Create document, you can create a new table directly in
MAXQDA and select the number of columns and rows.
Select the number of columns and rows when creating a new table document
Note: Once a table is created, new columns cannot be added or deleted at a later time.
The Table View in the “Document Browser”
Table documents in MAXQDA will be automatically formatted. It is not possible to modify the text
format.
You can zoom in to the table using the zoom icon in the “Document Browser” toolbar. The font
will appear accordingly larger or smaller. The height of the rows will be automatically set to the
height of the largest cell.
Notes on the Columns
Columns will be numbered according to their order in the Excel table when imported. The column
number appears at the beginning of each column header and cannot be modified after the import.
The column numbers for coded segments, memos and references are assigned as page numbers, so
there is no risk of ambiguity.
When the table document is imported, the first row of the imported document will become the
column header. This column header can be modified by right-clicking on the column and selecting
Edit:
Modify column header
When you import a table each column will be assigned a type automatically:
 Text

 Numeric
 Date/Time
To change a column type, open the drop-down menu “Type.”
Note: It is not possible to modify the column type if the column contains coded segments.
The column widths and column positions can be modified using Drag & Drop. Like overview tables,
table documents in MAXQDA can be sorted by clicking the column header. The original order can
always be restored by right-clicking on the column header and selecting Reset sorting. Alternative-
ly, you can click on the empty column header just above the row number.
Modify table view
You can access the following options by right-clicking on the column header:
Context menu of a column header
Hide – hides the column.
Edit – allows the modification of column name and column type.
Select fields – opens a window in which the columns to be displayed can be selected.
Reset Sorting – restores original order after import.
Notes on Table Rows
The row numbers are fixed when the table is imported into MAXQDA, and cannot be modified.

Notes on Table Documents52
A row in the table corresponds to exactly one paragraph. Within a cell, there is no differentiation
between paragraphs.
Edit Table Documents
The contents of individual cells can be modified. In order to do so, click on the Edit mode on/off
button in the toolbar of the “Document Browser”.
Tip: To insert a paragraph within a cell, hold down the Alt key and press Return.
The Windows clipboard can also be used with table documents. To copy the contents of an activat-
ed cell onto the clipboard, right-click on the cell or press Ctrl+C. In Edit mode, you can paste the
contents from the clipboard into an activated cell by right-clicking the mouse or by pressing Ctrl+V.
Coding Table Documents
Any text segment of any cell can be coded. First, double-click on the cell in order to select the con-
tents. The cell will then be outlined in yellow, and you can mark a text segment. All of the usual
MAXQDA coding options, including color-coding and coding with emoticons, are now available. It
is not possible to code across multiple cells.
Coded text in a cell
Note: When you hide a column, the corresponding coding stripe in the “Document Browser” will
also be hidden.
Notes on Retrieval Functions in Table Documents
The retrieval options for coded segments in table documents are identical to those for text docu-
ments. For example, overlap will be handled in the same way as it is with normal text. The retrieval
functions also include hidden columns and are based on the current configuration of the table. Re-
trieval functions for a single row correspond to those for a single paragraph.
The Near function in the Code Relations Browser and Complex Coding Query applies to columns in
table documents. This means that only the vertical proximity of two codes, and not the horizontal or

diagonal proximity, will be taken into account, and that coded segments in different columns will
never be found, when using the Near function.
Click on the source data in the “Retrieved Segments” to indicate the coded text in the “Document
Browser” and display the corresponding column.
Memos in Table Documents
As with all documents in MAXQDA, you can assign memos to table documents. Memos can be
assigned to individual cells. There are two ways to assign a memo to a cell:
1. Double-click in the grey memo field next to the table, or
7. Right-click on a cell or marked text segment within a cell and select New Memo.
Inserting memos into a table document
When you click on a menu symbol, MAXQDA will indicate to which cell this memo is assigned.
Note: When a column is hidden, the memos assigned to the cells in this column will also be hidden.
Table Documents and Visual Tools
In principle, hidden columns in table documents will be taken into account when using Visual Tools.
Code Matrix Browser functions as with any other type of document, as only the number of coded
segments for a particular code will be analyzed.
Code Relations Browser functions as with overlapping in normal text. Overlap can only occur
within a particular cell. The “Near” function will search only for coded segments in the same col-
umn.
Codeline Each row represents a paragraph in the Codeline - the column structure is ignored in this
case. Hidden columns will be taken into account. Paragraphs will be sorted in their original order.

Converting a Text Document into a Table Document54
Document Comparison Chart As with the Codeline, each row in the table represents a paragraph
- the column structure is ignored. Hidden columns will be taken into account. Paragraphs will be
sorted in their original order.
Document Portrait This tool operates differently than with regular documents. Columns will be
more or less ignored; cells will be processed from left to right, then top to bottom. A one-
dimensional structure is then created, which is displayed as usual in the Document Portrait.
Exporting Table Documents
Table documents cannot be printed directly from MAXQDA; they can however be exported in Excel
format. Click the Export Displayed Document button in the Document Browser or select Pro-
ject > Print > Displayed Document from the main menu. Alternatively, you can right-click on the
document in the “Document System” and select Export.
4.21 Converting a Text Document into a Table Document
It is possible to automatically convert a text document into a table document. To do so, double-click
on the selected text document in the “Document System” to open it, then choose Documents >
Insert displayed text as a table document from the menu. A menu will appear in which you can
select the number of columns.
Select the number of columns for the table
Note: The original text remains after the conversion
A new table document will appear in the “Document System,” which can be recognized by the
symbol, and has the same name as the original document. Each paragraph of the original text is
placed in an individual row of the table. If the table contains more than one column, the text will be
placed only in the first column.

The original text is placed only in the first column.
As shown in this image, original text can be easily paraphrased or summarized using this function.
By switching into Edit Mode you can fill the empty columns of the new table with the correspond-
ing summaries.

What are Structured Documents?56
5 Importing Structured Documents
5.1 What are Structured Documents?
 Often you may wish to import documents that are structured and pre-coded. Examples for this
kind of document include:
 Forms – in this case, text passages should be pre-coded according to the heading field of the
form.
 Answers to open-ended questions in survey research – here you may wish to code the answers
with a question number or an abbreviation of the question.
 Results from database retrievals, such as a list of references, should be pre-coded with author,
title, abstract, etc.
It is often clear even before you start your analysis that certain sections of text are going to pertain
to a certain subject. So, to save the work of manually coding them, you can have them automatical-
ly coded during the import process.
As an example of this type of document, consider the answers to open-ended questions in ques-
tionnaires. Unlike narrative interviews, a document of this kind does not contain thirty or fifty pages
but rather only a few lines, perhaps 10 to 15. Often there will be a large number of documents,
maybe a few hundred or more. Another characteristic of such a document is that it is pre-
structured: certain answers correspond to certain questions. The normal method of transcription
and import into MAXQDA would make importing the documents a very time-consuming job. Every
questionnaire would have to be transcribed with a word processing program and saved as a sepa-
rate file. Attaching a question to its answer as a code to its corresponding text passage would not
be possible when importing the text.
Also when working with focus groups, it saves a lot of time to code the text passages with their
speakers before importing the text into MAXQDA. The MAXQDA Preprocessor offers a solution for
this type of data.
There are three options for coding during import: you can use the Preprocessor, the Excel table im-
port option or you can import bibliographical data in RIS format.
5.2 Importing Structured Documents with the Preprocessor
The Preprocessor allows you to enter a large number of documents into a single file and have them
separated out into different documents when imported into MAXQDA. The syntax rules are as fol-
lows:

Importing Structured Documents 57
#TEXTtextname
this is the content of the 1st text
...
#TEXTtextname
this is the content of the 2nd text
...
#TEXTtextname
...
Formatting documents for the Preprocessor
Every document must start with the “#TEXT” without a space between “#” and “TEXT,” and
“TEXT” must be written in capital letters.
The name that you want to give to the document should come immediately after the “#TEXT”
without a space in between. If you do not enter a name, MAXQDA will automatically assign one
when the document is imported. The first imported document will be called “Document nn,” and
the following documents will be named in sequential order in the “Document System.” This auto-
matic numbering is useful when, for example, you enter the answers to open questions in a partly
standardized survey. The answers must then simply be entered in the order of the standardized data
in the SPSS file. It is not necessary to enter a name for each text. Both texts will have the same
name.
Document names are handled by MAXQDA as follows. You can enter any kind of string (up to 63
characters) as a document name – spaces are also allowed. If you enter a document name with
more than 63 characters, MAXQDA will truncate it automatically. Once the document has been
imported into MAXQDA, you can change the name to include up to 64 characters.
An Example
In the example project, various interviewees were asked about their level of satisfaction with various
aspects of their life. Their answers were transcribed and imported as Word documents.
The resulting Word file appears as follows:
#TEXT 4(26,f,0k,sin)
I've gained too much weight over the last several years and I don't seem to be doing anything to get
rid of it. I have high cholesterol levels, but I don't attempt to change my eating habits. I'd like to jolt
myself into becoming more physically active, so I can lose the weight and feel more energetic. I keep
saying I'm going to do something about it, soon.
#TEXT 3(34,f,2k,mar)
Overall I am pretty happy with my mental, social and physical health. I would like to improve my dedi-
cation to working out. I am the type of person who will work out 5 times a week for a month straight
and then is slowly turns into less days a week until it is none. I get distracted by school work, my job or
just being tired.
…
Excerpt of the Word file

Importing Structured Documents with the Preprocessor58
After each #TEXT entry is the name being given to the document. For the purposes of this project, it
made sense to assign a number for each of the interviewees in addition to some basic information
about that person, including age, gender, number of kids, and marriage status.
The Word file was then saved with the name “HealthSatisfaction” in RTF or DOC/X format. It could
then be imported by using the menu option Documents > Import structured document (Pre-
processor). This option can also be accessed from the top level of the “Document System” win-
dow.
Tip: MAXQDA automatically creates a new document group in the „Document System“ during
import and inserts all texts into this document group.
All texts will appear in the “Document System” after being successfully imported. The documents
are named as previously specified followed by #TEXT as an identifying agent. In the above example,
the document name consists only of a text number and the personal data indicated in parentheses.
Documents after being imported with the Preprocessor
Pre-Coding text segments during import
The document is then imported, separating out each individual document and assigning the given
name for each in the “Document System” from the original RTF document.
In this way, it is possible to very quickly import and separate out many different documents formerly
contained in a single file. The Preprocessor is able to do significantly more than this simple action,
however. In many cases, you will already be able to code aspects of the document, and the Prepro-
cessor can do that automatically during the import. To do so, you simply need to use additional
syntax words.
For each section of the document that is to be coded, you simply need to type “#CODE” before
and “#ENDCODE” after. In the case of a standardized survey or questionnaire, you could, for ex-
ample, code each answer with the question number that it connects to. The answer to the first
question, then, could be coded with the code “Question1” as is shown below:

#TEXTinterviewee1
#CODEquestion1
answer to question 1
#ENDCODE
#CODEquestion2
#ENDCODE
#TEXTinterviewee 2
#CODEquestion1
#ENDCODE
#CODEquestion2
#ENDCODE
…
Using syntax rules to prepare for import with the Preprocessor
It is important to remember that there should be no space between “#” and “CODE” and that the
word is written in capital letters.
To avoid typos when entering “CODEquestion1,” it is possible to simply use a place holder, such as
“§1” for the first question, “§2” for the second, etc. You can then later do an automatic search
and replace, finding all instances of “§” and automatically replacing it with “CODEquestion.” This
can save you a lot of time in addition to helping you avoid typos.
It is also possible to define and code with a subcode in a document prepared for the Preprocessor.
To do so, use the following syntax:
#CODEcodenamesubcodename
You are giving the complete information about the subcode, including its name and the code it is a
subcode of. The code and subcode are separated by a “” symbol, but no spaces. As with any codes
used in a document imported with the Preprocessor, MAXQDA will first check whether the code
already exists, and if it does not, it will be created.
Important: it is not possible code the same text segment with multiple codes with the Preproces-
sor. As soon as “#CODE” appears in the text, the new code will be used, automatically ending the
coded segment of the previous code.
Text excerpts, as well as full paragraphs, can be pre-coded with the help of the preprocessor during
import, as shown by the following example:

Importing Text from a Table/Spreadsheet (e.g. Answers to Open Questions)60
#TEXTtextname
Here is a text. Encoding begins here with #CODECode 1Subcode#. In the next sentence it ends with
#ENDCODE# in the middle
#CODECode 2
Here is another text. The encoding ends here #ENDCODE# in the middle of the text.…
Using keywords to code various text excerpts
For a preliminary encoding of keywords from various text excerpts, the following rules apply:
 When the keywords #CODE or #ENDCODE appear alone in a row, it is not necessary to insert #
at the end. If these keywords appear within a text, or at the end of a line of text, they must be
enclosed with #.
 It is not possible to “layer” encodings. When a new #CODE# command comes before an
#ENDCODE# command, the previous code is automatically closed.
Note: Before importing a text with the Preprocessor, MAXQDA will ask whether the line containing
a #CODE command should be retained. In general you should answer in the negative, as this action
would interfere with the analysis.
5.3 Importing Text from a Table/Spreadsheet (e.g. Answers
to Open Questions)
With MAXQDA you can import structured documents from an Excel spreadsheet in XLS/S format
the format XLS/X, during which individual table cells will be automatically coded. In addition, varia-
ble values can be assigned to the individual texts. This is particularly useful when importing (online)
surveys with standardized and open answers.
How must the Excel table be structured?
When imported into MAXQDA, each row of the table becomes a new document, wherein the con-
tents of the cells form the document content and are coded with the respective column header. The
structure of the Excel table corresponds to the principle of a data matrix of a standardized survey.
This logic is illustrated in the table below:
Document Group Document Name Question 1 Question 2 $Variable
Document Group A Person 1 Answer to question 1 Answer to question 2 Variable value
Document Group A Person 2 Answer to question 1 Answer to question 2 Variable value
Document Group B Person 3 Answer to question 1 Answer to question 2 Variable value
Document Group B Person 4 Answer to question 1 Answer to question 2 Variable value
Each row of the table contains a case, and the columns "Question 1" and "Question 2" contain the
respondent’s responses to the respective questions. The column "$Variable” contains additional
variable values for each case. Of particular importance are the first two columns "Document group"
and "Document Name", which assign the individual rows of the table to documents in MAXQDA’s
“Document System”.

Note: It is not absolutely necessary to have a column for the “Document Group” as MAXQDA can
also create a new document group, into which all documents are imported, during the import pro-
cess. However, at least one column is required, which contains the document name.
Starting the Import
To import the Excel file, proceed as follows:
 Select the menu function Documents > Import documents from Excel spreadsheet
or
 select the same option from the context menu of the “Document System”.
Setting Import Options
After calling up the function, the desired Excel file must be selected from the file dialog box. This
opens a window where you can enter the settings for the import.

Importing Text from a Table/Spreadsheet (e.g. Answers to Open Questions)62
Settings for importing documents from an Excel spreadsheet
The two top settings determine which columns contain the Document Group and the Document
Name. If the names "Document group" and "Document Name" are used in your table as column
headings, MAXQDA will automatically select them, but this choice can be changed at any time.
If you select [Create new document group] for the entry "Document group", MAXQDA will auto-
matically import all documents into a new document group. MAXQDA automatically selects this
option, if your table doesn’t contain a column with the heading “Document Group”.
Tip: When importing answers to open questions, it is recommended that you select the ID’s of the
respondents as a column for the document names. In this way, you can avoid any ambiguity in the
association of responses to cases, even during the subsequent export of data into statistical soft-
ware.
In the middle section you can select the columns to be imported as coded text or as variables.

Tip: By default, columns whose heading begins with a "$" will be imported as variables and all
other columns except the Document Group and Document Name will be imported as coded text.
If both “Code” and “Variable” are selected, MAXQDA will import the contents of this column as
both as coded text and as a variable. This may be useful, for example, you do not wish to view the
variable information of a document each time as a tooltip over a document name or in the Data
Editor for document variables, but rather view, for example, how old a respondent is and whether
he has children, directly in the text.
If neither “Code” nor “Variable” are selected, MAXQDA will ignore the column during the import
process.
In the lower section, further options are available:
Code empty cells: When this option is selected, MAXQDA will import and code cells without con-
tent as empty paragraphs; these cells would otherwise not be coded.
You can also decide how MAXQDA should handle documents that were already included in the
project before the import. MAXQDA considers that a document already exists in the project if the
document name and document group are identical.
Import: When this option is selected, existing documents will be included in the import, and there-
fore may appear twice in the respective document group.
Ignore for import: Select this option if documents that already exist in the project should not be
taken into account during the import.
Add text to existing documents: It is also possible to add text to existing documents. For exam-
ple, data from different points in time in a longitudinal study can be added to the original docu-
ment. Existing variable entries in existing documents will be updated. Empty variable values in the
Excel table are ignored when importing.
Note: For documents whose name appears repeatedly in a document group, the text will be added
to the first document of the same name.
Setting other options for the import of variables
If you choose to import variables, a second window will open after you click OK.
Source: By selecting this option, you can again decide which variables will be imported.
Target: If there is already a document variable with the same name in the project, MAXQDA as-
signs the variable to it automatically and no other choice is available. If there is no variable with the
same name in the project, you can specify the type of variable. Options include: Boolean (true/false),
date/time, floating-point number, integer, and text.
Preview data type: This column displays a preview of how an entry will appear in the appropriate
column in the data editor.
A final report window confirms the import of documents from the table and lists how many texts,
codes, and variables were imported, as well as how many documents may have been ignored dur-
ing the import.

Importing Bibliographical Data from Endnote, etc.64
Imported Text in MAXQDA
After importing the table from the example into an empty MAXQDA project, it will appear as fol-
lows:
Imported texts in MAXQDA
When importing, MAXQDA proceeds as follows:
 Document groups that do not yet exist will be created.
 The headings of the code columns will run from left to right and will be inserted from top to
bottom in the code system as new code names, as long as they do not yet exist. All text seg-
ments from the code columns will be coded with the respective column headings.
 If a variable does not yet exist, it will be created. Each document will be assigned the variable
value from the variable column.
5.4 Importing Bibliographical Data from Endnote, etc.
MAXQDA allows you to import bibliographical data from reference management software such as
Endnote, Citavi and Zotero.These programs are used mainly in the scientific fields to manage refer-
ences and create bibliographies in the objective of supporting the creation of scientific texts. Refer-
ence management programs are similar to MAXQDA in that they work with projects and contain
collected bibliographical information. The units of the project include Title, Author, etc., and may
also include links to websites and related information.
MAXQDA is compatible with all reference management programs that can export their databases in
RIS format, which is the standard format for bibliographical data. RIS format biographical reference
entries will be subsequently listed one after the other as simple text data. RIS files contain two-letter
“tags” which are followed by the relevant information. The most important tags include:
TY – Type of reference, always marks the beginning of a new entry

ID – Unique identification number for each entry
AU – Author
TI – Title
PY – Publication date
ER – Closes entry, always located at end of entry
A detailed description of all RIS format tags can be found on Wikipedia under
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RIS_(file_format). An example of RIS source data is listed below:
TY - BOOK
AU - McLuhan, Marshall
AU - Fiore, Quentin
TI - The medium is the message
PY - 1967
CY - New York
PB - Bantam Books
ER -
Calling up the Function
To import RIS data, select Documents > Import bibliographical data. A dialog window will ap-
pear which lists only file types ending in RIS or TXT. Select the desired file and click OK.
Importing and Automatically Pre-Coding Data
Data is imported in the following steps:
 A new document group is created, which is named “RIS_” followed by the name of the import-
ed file.
 All bibliographic entries in RIS format are added to the new document group as single docu-
ments; entries remain in their original order. The imported documents are indicated with a book
icon in the Document System.
 The document name appears as follows: <First Author> - <Year> - <ID>. Blank fields will be
marked with a “?" If there are several authors, only the last and first name of the primary au-
thor will be included, followed by “et al.”
 The newly created documents contain the information listed to the right of the tags. The tags
themselves will not be imported.
 A new top-level “RIS” code will be created in the Code System. The top-level code contains all
RIS tags that were used in the import as subcodes (e.g. “TY - Type of Reference").
 When imported, all documents will be automatically pre-coded, during which each text seg-
ment will be coded with the corresponding tag code.
 A display will appear which indicates the progress of the import.

Importing Bibliographical Data from Endnote, etc.66
RIS data after being imported into MAXQDA
Adapting Selected Information as Variables
The following variables will be automatically adapted as follows upon import of bibliographical da-
ta, for each newly created document:
 TY (Type of Reference) – String
 AU (First Author) – String
 TI (Title) – String
 ID (Identification number) – Integer
 PY (Year of Publication) – Integer
These variables are created by the system and cannot be modified by the user.

Adapted variable values for each document
Working with Bibliographical Data in MAXQDA
After import and automatic pre-coding, a normal text view of the bibliographical data is available in
MAXQDA. This means that the data can be searched, coded, linked, and edited, and that memos
can be attached. All Visual Tools and other functions (e.g. Statistics and Graphics) can also be em-
ployed. Automatic pre-coding makes it is possible to isolate specific document types for analysis,
e.g. journal articles only or anthology entries only.
Export Bibliographical Data in RIS-Format
Bibliographical data in RIS format can be exported from MAXQDA, i.e. for import into a reference
management program. The export function is located under Project > Export > Bibliographical
data as RIS file.
After selecting an export location, all documents in the project that contain bibliographical data
(indicated with a book symbol) will be exported as RIS data (UTF-8 coding).

Links in MAXQDA68
6 Links: Document Links, External Links, Web Links,
and Geolinks
6.1 Links in MAXQDA
MAXQDA distinguishes between four types of links:
1. Document links represent a connection between two text or image segments (e.g. to show the
contrast between two interviewees’ responses to the same question, you could link them with
each other).
2. External links create a connection between a text or image segment and an external document
(e.g. a picture, document, audio/video file, etc.) that is not part of the MAXQDA project.
8. Web links are connections between a text or image segment and a webpage. By clicking on this
link, you can open the website in your standard browser.
9. Geolinks create a connection between a text or image segment and a place on the globe. This
place is based on GPS coordinates and is shown in Google Earth or other similar programs.
You can create or delete links in MAXQDA’s “Document Browser” or in MAXMaps, the modeling
add-on that allows you to create visualizations of your data and concepts and show connections
between them.
The four types of links are visualized with various symbols in the “Overview of links.”
6.2 Document Links
It is possible to link documents or positions in documents with the help of document links. Docu-
ment links are used in the same way as hyperlinks in the Internet; they link two document or posi-
tions in document together. Clicking a document link causes the corresponding document link to
be loaded.
In MAXQDA, document segments that are in the same document or in different document can be
linked. To link document, select at least a single character from a document in the “Document
Browser” – normally a word or more is suitable.
Document segments are linked as follows:
1. Select the first document segment (the anchor) and click the Set link start/target in the coding
toolbar, or choose the option Insert Document link from the context menu. You can also use
the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + L (Windows) or cmd + L (Mac). In text documents, the selected
segment will appear underlined and in blue, or in PDF or image files, in a blue frame.
Toolbar button for creating a document link

Links: Document Links, External Links, Web Links, and Geolinks 69
2. You can now choose the document or document segment that the anchor should be linked to.
This second segment can be in the same document or in a different one. Simply go to the docu-
ment or document segment and highlight a section of text.
3. To complete the link, simply click again on the Insert link symbol in the toolbar or right-click on
the highlighted text and choose Insert link.
If, after the first step, the user decides against creating the link or wants to change the text that had
been selected, clicking the Remove last link symbol removes it.
Toolbar button for removing a document link
Document links appear underlined and in blue in the “Document Browser.” Holding the mouse
cursor over the text causes a screen tip to appear with information about the linked document
segment: the name of the document and the actual text selected when the link was made.
Blue underlined document link with tooltip
For this reason, it is sometimes a good idea to select not only a word, but a whole sentence or par-
agraph as the link.
Simply clicking a document link allows one to jump from the link in the “Document Browser” to the
other linked segment. The document containing the link appears at the position of the linked seg-
ment.
To delete a document link, click the link with the right mouse button and choose Delete Link from
the context menu.
Tip: If the second document browser is open (>> LINK), MAXQDA automatically jumps to a link in
the other document browser window. In this way, you can view the two linked document sections
at the same time.
6.3 External Links
External links are links between a segment of a text or image in MAXQDA and a document outside
of the project (e.g. to link part of an interview transcript in MAXQDA with a picture of the person
saved elsewhere on your computer).
To insert an external link, simply highlight a section of text or image, right-click on it, and select
Insert external link. A window will then appear where you can select the appropriate external

Web Links70
document to be linked. This can be on your internal hard drive, an external medium like a flash
drive, or a network location.
External links, for text documents, are blue and underlined like the document links, or in a blue
frame for PDF and image documents. When you hover the mouse over the link, a tooltip appears
with the name and location of the linked document. Clicking on the link opens the document in the
appropriate program. For example, clicking on a link to an image file in JPG format will open the file
in an image viewer program.
6.4 Web Links
Web links in MAXQDA are links between a text or image segment and a website. A web link can be
created as follows:
1. Highlight the text or image segment to be linked with the web address.
2. Right-click on the highlighted segment and select Insert web link.
10. A window will appear and you will be able to enter a web address.
Window to insert Web link
Note: If a link was saved to the Windows clipboard, it will be automatically displayed in the input
field.
As is the case with the external links, you can hover over the web link and see the linked website in
the tooltip. Double-clicking on the link brings up the website in your standard Internet browser.
6.5 Geolinks
With the creation of programs like Google Earth and Google Maps, it has become possible to view
any point on the globe with the appropriate coordinates. Geolinks or Georeferences are links be-
tween elements in MAXQDA and a selected place on the globe. You could, for example, choose to
link each interview transcript in MAXQDA with the place the interviewee lives.
With the help of these geolinks you can also show geographic aspects of sociological research data.
The use of georeferencing tools, especially Google Earth™, in combination with software for quali-
tative data analysis is fairly new. Cesar Cisneros, professor of sociology at Universitaria Autonoma
Metropolitan Iztapalapa in Mexico, was one of the first to use this technique. In 2006, he used geo-
links in MAXQDA for a research project in South America. MAXQDA includes a column in the
“Document Browser” specifically for these geolinks. To create one, follow these steps:

1. Go to the location in Google Earth™ that you would like to link to. You can then save the loca-
tion by right-clicking on it and selecting Save Place As …
2. Highlight the text or image segment to be linked in MAXQDA, right-click on it, and select Insert
geolink. Simply select the saved KML file in the window that appears, and the geolink has been
created.
11. The KML file contains the coordinates to the saved place and everything else that Google
Earth™ needs to take you directly to that location. When you click on the geolink in MAXQDA,
Google Maps will open in your Internet browser and the location will be marked with a red dot.
12. By hovering your mouse over the geolink visualization, you will see the coordinates that are
saved for that location. The screenshot below shows you this below. It is a geolink in the inter-
view transcript “Teresa,” linking to the place that she lives in “New York, NY, USA” at the exact
coordinates.
13. Geolinks are visualized similar to other links (blue and underlined), but they also have their own
visualization column next to the opened document. If the column is not shown, right-click
somewhere in the document in the “Document Browser” and select Show geolink bar. This
bar makes it easy to differentiate between regular document links and the geolinks.
The green ball symbol to the left of the paragraph number visualizes a geolink
Note: When you add a geolink, the KML file is imported into the MAXQDA project itself. Storing it
in the project file makes it easier to pass on the entire project with all the associated KML files to
the other members of the research team.
Segments that contain geolinks can be coded just as any other segment can.
Geolinks can be easily viewed in the “Overview of links” table, available in the “Document System”
at multiple levels (project, document group or document). In the first column of the chart, geolinks
are marked with an orange locator symbol. If you click on the column header of this column, the
entire column will be sorted by the symbols, so it is possible to obtain a successive list of all geo-
links.

Geolinks72
“Overview of links” with geolinks indicated with the orange locator symbol
Inserting Geolinks as Stand-alone Objects in MAXMaps
Geolinks can also be inserted in MAXMaps by right-clicking in a map and selecting Insert geolink.
You will then be able to select the appropriate KML file from the window that appears.
The MAXMaps screen then looks as follows:
A geolink inserted in MAXMaps
The name of the location in Google Earth is automatically inserted as the label for the geolink in the
map. This label is usually long and can be easily changed.
The inserted geolink can then be set up, visualized, linked to other objects, and moved around just
like any other object in MAXMaps. You can, for example, insert a picture to replace the blue circle,
change its size, etc.

A geolink along with other elements in a MAXMaps map
Geolinking for Codes, Documents, Memos and Coded Segments in MAXMaps
All MAXQDA objects inserted in MAXMaps can be connected to a geolink. As with the free objects
mentioned above, a blue ball appears in the top right of object’s frame when it is clicked on. Dou-
ble-clicking on the ball opens Google Earth™ and takes you to the assigned location.
Using a Background Image with Geolinks in MAXMaps
Google Earth™ allows you to save any view as a JPG file, which can be inserted in MAXMaps as the
background.
Invisible hotspots as well as all aspects of your MAXQDA project can then be inserted and placed on
the newly-imported background.
6.6 The “Overview of links”
Document links, the most common form of link, are easily seen in the “Document Browser,” but if
you have created many links, it is difficult to get an overview of them. For this reason, MAXQDA
makes it possible to view all links in an overview table. This overview table is similar to the one used
for the “Overview of coded segments.”
To view the “Overview of links,” right-click on a document, document group or the “Documents”
icon (representing the entire project) in the “Document System” and select “Overview of links.”

The “Overview of links”74
When right-clicking on a document or document group, only those links from that document or
group will be shown.
The overview contains the following information:
Anchor point (Document 1), paragraph 1, preview 1, second location (Document 2), paragraph 2,
preview 2.
In other words, you see the document name, paragraph number, and a preview of each side of a
link. Document links are not hierarchical, meaning they don’t have a specific direction. A link from
Point A to Point B is also a link from Point B to Point A. If you view all links from the whole para-
graph, you will therefore see each link listed twice: once as Point A to Point B, and once as Point B
to Point A.
“Overview of links” for a project
In the “Overview of links,” each type of link can be distinguished by the symbol that appears in the
column on the far left:
Document links
External links and web links
Geolinks
The “Overview of links” table works like other MAXQDA tables. You can choose to sort it alphabet-
ically or reverse alphabetically by clicking on the column headers. Clicking once on a link opens the
linked document segment in the “Document Browser,” showing you where the link is located. You
can also access several functions in the table toolbar:
Excel table – a table with the selected links is created and saved in XLS/X format and opened in
the program (usually Excel) that handles this type of files.
HTML table – a table with the selected links is created and saved in HTML format and opened
in the standard web browser.
Export – allows you to export the table in XLS/X, HTML, RTF, or TXT (tab delimited) format.

Codes and How to Code 75
7 Codes and How to Code
7.1 Information on Codes and Coding in MAXQDA
One of the main functions of MAXQDA is the “coding” of document segments, that is, the assign-
ment of a code to particular document segments, e.g. enabling a systematic content analysis of a
text.
The codes themselves are simply text strings containing up to 63 characters, which are attached to
segments of a document (text or picture sections). Codes are like drawers containing index cards
with text and image sections and keywords. The name of the code is like the label attached to the
front of a drawer. What you will find in the drawer is indicated here. The label itself has no effect
on the contents, so you can attach another label without consequences. Codes can be ordered into
a hierarchical structure, a main code having several subcodes, for example. As you add codes, they
can be organized in this window. By right-clicking on either of the icons in the “Code System” win-
dow, you will see a variety of functions that are possible there.
7.2 The “Code System”
Codes have a hierarchical structure, meaning you can create multiple subcodes, followed by sub-
codes of subcodes. All of the codes are shown in the “Code System” window.
At the beginning of a project, this window is empty except for the “Code System” and “Sets” icons
and their associated icons. If you right-click on the top line on the term "Code System", a context
menu will open from which you can manage the “Code System” and access the various coding
options.
MAXQDA’s “Code System” has the following characteristics:
 A code is a string with a maximum of 63 characters consisting of one or more words. A code
can contain empty spaces and any character except a backslash “.”
 The number of codes in unlimited.
 The hierarchical structure can contain up to ten levels.
 Codes can be assigned a color.
 The so-called color codes play a special role. They are like text markers and change the back-
ground color of the marked text.
 emoticodes also play a specific role. An emoticon symbol appears in the “Code System” in the
place of the code symbol, with pre-defined names that can be changed.
 Beginning with MAXQDA 12, there are also special codes for the participants of a focus group.
These codes can be identified by this icon . These codes can perform special functions.

The “Code System”76
Working with coded segments (of text and images) and the “Code System” is a central aspect of
computer-supported text and content analysis. This work is usually not done automatically by the
software, but rather is controlled by the researcher, although this often requires a significant
amount of time. The “Code System” is shown as a tree structure on the screen. It looks like the
file/folder system in Windows Explorer or Mac Finder with which you are likely familiar. A plus or
minus sign before the code name indicates whether or not a code contains subcodes. You can ex-
pand or close the sub-categories by clicking this button.
Hide subcodes
You can click on the triangle symbol before the code to reveal or hide its subcodes.
Tip: With the function Collapse all subcodes, which is accessible from the context menu of the
top level of the “Code System”, you can conveniently collapse all codes so only the top level codes
will be visible.
Moving codes within the “Code System”
Note: In MAXQDA, the codes in the “Code System” can be moved or grouped together using Drag
& Drop (by holding down the left mouse button). To transform a code into a subcode of another
code, drag the selected code to the destination code by holding down the left mouse button, then
“drop” it into place. To move a code in between two other codes, “drop” it between the two
codes.
It is easy to rearrange the “Code System” in a way that is useful for your work. It is often the case
that you will find it helpful to arrange your codes in an order that follows your research process or
argumentation. The possibility to arrange codes in a specific sequence makes it easy to minimize the
need to move around within the category system during the coding process.

Tip: Using MAXMaps you can build a network structure of codes to be used during the coding pro-
cess, meaning you can code selected segments within a document and code them by dragging
them onto a code in the network map.
The “Code System” Toolbar
The toolbar at the top of the “Code System” window offers quick access to the most commonly-
used functions in this window. These functions are:
Reset activations – resets current code activations.
Activation by code variable – allows the activation of codes depending on their variable val-
ues.
Activation by color – allowing codes to be activated based on their assigned colors.
Display emotivodes only / Display codes and emoticodes – hides or shows regular codes
in the “Code System.”
Change to table view / Change to standard view – switches between tree view and table
view of the code system.
Create new code – adds new code into the code system.
Display search toolbar – allowing for searches for codes within the “Code System.”
Undock window
Maximize window
Hide window
In addition to using the toolbar to access functions in the “Code System,” you can also use the con-
text menus that appear when you right-click on various icons in the window (e.g. on a code or the
“Code System” icon, etc.).
7.3 Creating a New Code
The word “Code System” at the top of the list represents the root of the “Code System” that you
will build from this point. All codes can be created in this way.
In order to create a new code at the highest level, we can do one of three things:
1. The easiest option is to click on the New code symbol in the “Code System” toolbar.
Toolbar icon for inserting a new code

Creating a New Code78
2. Another option is to right-click on the Code System icon and select New code from the menu
that appears.
Creating a new code with the context menu
3. The third option is to create a new code by using the keyboard shortcut Alt+N (Windows) or
cmd+Alt+N (Mac). For this to work, however, the “Code System” window must be selected.
14. No matter which way you choose to create a new code, the following window will appear:
The window that appears when creating a new code

Type the name of the new code in the upper dialog field of the window. You can select a color
attribute for the new code below. There is an almost unlimited number of colors that you can pick
from or design on your own. The dialog field in the lower part of the window enables you to write
a code memo, for instance a definition of the characteristics of the new code.
Creating Subcodes
If you would like to define subcodes, just right-click the parent code and choose the option New
code. Again the same dialog window as mentioned above will pop up. If you want the subcode to
have the same color attribute as the main code, just click the checkbox “Inherit.”
Creating subcodes can also be completed using the Alt+N (Windows) or cmd+alt+N (Mac) key-
board shortcut or the New code icon from the toolbar. It should however be noted that the
code for which you wish to create a subcode should be highlighted in blue.
If you have entered text into the memo field of the dialog box, a memo icon is displayed beside the
new code in the “Code System” as soon as you close the dialog window.
Note: Newly-created codes are always added at the top of the “Code System” unless created as a
subcode, in which case it will appear as the top subcode.
7.4 How to code
Assigning codes to segments of texts or images in MAXQDA is known as “coding.”
A document or document segment can be coded with as many codes as you want. There is practi-
cally no limit to the number of codes that you can create and assign. Coded segments can also
overlap, intersect, or be completely contained within other coded segments.
Select the Segment to be Coded
The action of coding can be done in many different ways, but you must always start by highlighting
a section of a text or a picture to be coded in the Document Browser.” An example of highlighted
text within the “Document Browser” is shown below:

How to code80
A highlighted segment of text
Note: The smallest segment of text that can be coded is a single character. In most cases, you
would want to code at least an entire word. The “Code” toolbar is especially helpful when going
through the coding process. If it is not currently visible, you can activate it by clicking on it in the
View drop-down menu.
The “Code” toolbar
In PDF files, both text and image segments can be coded:

Highlighted text (above) and highlighted image segment (below) in a PDF
Different Ways to Code
MAXQDA offers several ways to code segments:
1. Classic coding using Drag & Drop: A selected text segment or image segment can be dragged
and dropped into a code (or vice versa) using the mouse.
2. Classic coding using context menu: A selected text segment or image segment can be coded by
using the context menu in the “Document Browser” window.
3. Coding with newly defined (free) codes: As in Grounded Theory, a segment can be assigned a
new (free) code.
4. In-Vivo coding: Select and highlight meaningful terms in the texts and automatically add them
as codes in your code system while coding the text segment with the code.
5. Coding with selected codes from the Quick List: Documents are targeted based on the occur-
rence of one or more pre-selected codes, and coded where applicable.
6. Simultaneous coding with multiple codes: A segment is coded with the activated codes.
7. Highlight coding: This works like highlighting a text passage in a book with a colored text mark-
er. In MAXQDA, five different colors can be used for color coding: red, green, yellow, blue or
magenta.
8. Coding with MAXMaps: Selected segments are dragged to codes on a map.

How to code82
9. Coding with code favorites: Selected codes are displayed in a separate window, from which
they can be easily applied to segments to be coded.
10. Coding with self-defined keyboard shortcuts: Up to nine codes can be assigned their own key-
board shortcut, which can be used to quickly code a marked segment.
11. Coding with symbols and emoticons: Selected segments are coded with emoticodes, i.e. an
emoticon or a symbol.
Note on coding: Regardless of the function selected, MAXQDA ensures that the same code is not
assigned more than once to the same passage. The overlapping of segments with the same code is
not possible. When segment size is modified – made larger or smaller – and coded with the same
code, MAXQDA will automatically correct the segment size to correspond to the new selection.
The following section describes in detail how these techniques are used. The different options can
be chosen from the context menu that pops up when you select a document segment and click the
right mouse button.
1. Classic Coding Using Drag & Drop
Left-click and hold on the selected text and move the mouse pointer to the name of the code in the
“Code System.” Release the mouse button to assign the segment to this code, as you can see in the
gray column next to the document in the “Document Browser” window. The reverse also works,
i.e. you can drag the code to the selected document segment.
Tip: The same segment can be assigned multiple codes in a row.
2. Classic Coding Using the Context Menu in the “Code System”
Right-click on the code in the “Code System” that you would like to use to code the highlighted
document segment in the “Document Browser.” Select Code highlighted segment from the con-
text menu.

Using the context menu in the “Code System”
3. Coding with newly defined codes
An easy way to create a new code, i.e. a code that is not yet listed in the “Code System,” is to use
the shortcut Ctrl+W (Windows) or cmd+Alt+W (Mac). A dialog window will open, and you can
type in the name of the new code. The code will be added to the “Code System” at the highest
level of the hierarchy. If necessary, you can later move the code to another level in the “Code Sys-
tem.”
4. Coding In-vivo
Another way of coding is with the so-called in-vivo coding. If you, for example, select the word
“global village” and then click on the in-vivo coding button in the toolbar, the word “global vil-

Highlight Coding / Color Coding84
lage” is added to the “Code System” as the code for this short text segment. The shortcut Ctrl+I
(Windows) or cmd+Alt+I (Mac) has the same effect.
Coding with the Quick List or the in-vivo button
When you want to code a whole segment of text with the in-vivo coding function, and not only one
or two words, code the one or two words with this function first. Next, select the entire text seg-
ment (including the word) and click Code highlighted segment (not the in-vivo coding button!).
MAXQDA expands the coded segment automatically.
Note: Other coding methods including color-coding, MAXMaps, code favorites and emoticodes are
explained in separate sections.
5. Focused Coding with the Quick List Coding Button
The “Code” toolbar provides quick access to frequently used coding functions. The “Quick List” is
located on the toolbar to the right of the Edit button. Whenever you click on a code in the Code
System, or when coding is in process, the corresponding code appears at the top of the Quick List.
Click on the Coding button immediately to the right of the Quick List button to assign the code
in the window to the selected segment. In this way, multiple areas of a document can be coded
without having to select the code each time.
You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+C (Windows) or cmd+Alt+C (Mac).
6. Coding with Multiple Codes Simultaneously
First, activate the codes in the “Code System” that you want to use to code the selected segment in
the “Document Browser.” Then right-click on the segment and choose the option Code with acti-
vated codes.
Note: The other coding options including highlight coding, MAXMaps, code favorites, keyboard
shortcuts and emoticodes are discussed in separate sections.
7.5 Highlight Coding / Color Coding
Color coding text is a technique that is especially useful at the beginning of the analysis process. It is
similar to the marking of text in a book with a highlighter. It allows you to mark the passages you
find particularly interesting when reading through the text for the first time. Before you decide
which codes to use and before you start analyzing your text in categories, this technique lets you
keep track of what simply seems important.

Before you begin color coding, you must ensure that the “Code” toolbar is visible. This toolbar can
be activated via the “View” menu. The Code toolbar contains five highlight coding colors.
“Code” toolbar with five highlight coding buttons
To highlight code a segment of text, you follow a similar process as with standard coding: highlight
the text segment with your mouse and click on one of the five colors in the toolbar. The text seg-
ment will now be highlighted in that color, and it will be coded accordingly. A new coding stripe
will be visible in the coding column next to the document.
A section of text coded with “GREEN”
In practice, then, the highlight coding does much more than just change the color of the text – it is
also a coding action. This means that you can later call up all of the green-highlighted segments
and work with those that are most important. This lets you code more specifically once the first
general coding run is complete. Retrieving all codes with a specific color coding can be done by
activating all documents in the “Document System” and activating the appropriate color code in
the “Code System.”
If at a later point, you delete the color code in the “Code System,” you are not only deleting the
code. All coded segments for that code will also be deleted. In other words, all highlights of that
color will be deleted from your documents.
Color codes are marked with a specific symbol in the Code System:
Symbol for a color code in the “Code System"

Coding with MAXMaps86
7.6 Coding with MAXMaps
The “Code System” is organized in a hierarchical tree structure, which does not allow for multiple
cross relationships between subcodes. In some cases, it may be necessary to create a non-
hierarchical structure to form network relationships and organize codes in a different structure.
This is possible with MAXMaps, the mapping tool that is part of MAXQDA. Open Visual Tools >
MAXMaps to start the tool and create a new map. Use Drag & Drop or Alt+double-click to copy
codes from your code system to the map. Codes can be freely arranged on the map, linked to each
other with arrows or lines, and free symbols or images can be added to the map.
Coding is simple: Drag a selected segment from the “Document Browser” to a code in the map.
Coding using Drag & Drop on a code in a map

7.7 Coding with the Code Favorites
If you are working with an extensive “Code System,” it can be difficult to work efficiently, since it is
hard to find each code quickly in the large list. The coding Quick List offers on way of working
around this, but there is another option that can be helpful in certain circumstances. It allows you to
also code with more than one code at once. The function is called the code favorites.
And how does it work? Simply right-click on a code and select Add code to code favorites. After
you have added the first code, the code favorites window will appear. You can then continue to
add more codes to the list in the same fashion: right-click on the code and select Add code to
code favorites.
Tip: You can also drag and drop codes from the “Code System” into the open “Code favorites”
window. Codes in the “Code favorites” window can be moved with the mouse.
The list of code favorites
You can now begin to code. Simply highlight the segment as usual and click on the code in your list
of Code favorites. You can now see in the coding column on the left side of the “Document Brows-
er” that the segments have been coded.
If you want to delete a code from the list, simply click on the checkbox in front of it and click on the
x marked Remove selected codes from code favorites at the top of the window.
When you are finished using the code favorite window, simply close it by clicking on the x in the
top-right corner. To re-open the window, you can either add another code (via the context menu)
or select Code favorites from the Codes drop-down menu.
7.8 Coding with Keyboard Shortcuts
For quick coding using your keyboard, you can assign keyboard shortcuts for up to nine
codes. To do so, select the menu option Codes > Keyboard shortcuts for codes:

Coding with Keyboard Shortcuts88
The “Keyboard shortcuts for codes” window
In the left column you will see the available keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + 1 to Ctrl + 9 (Windows) or
cmd + 1 to cmd + 9 ( Mac ). You can drag and drop a code from the list of codes into one of the
nine rows, thus assigning a keyboard shortcut to the code. If a shortcut already been assigned, it
will be overwritten by this action. For clarity, the name of the code appears in the right column,
along with the parent code if necessary – not the entire code hierarchy.
To cancel the assignment of a shortcut to a code, click on the appropriate row and click the Re-
move shortcut button.
For coding, it may be helpful to leave the keyboard shortcuts window open until you have memo-
rized the shortcuts. It does not matter if the window is open or not when coding: Simply highlight a
segment in the Document Browser and hit the selected shortcut keys. MAXQDA will then encode
the selected segment with the associated code.
Tip: When you right-click on a code and select Properties, a window will open in which you can
assign the code directly to one of the nine available keyboard shortcuts. If the shortcut is already in
use for a different code, MAXQDA will ask if you want to reassign the shortcut to this code.
Tastenkürzel über die Eigenschaften eines Codes zuordnen

7.9 Emoticode: Coding with Emoticons and Symbols
The “emoticode” function allows you to assign symbols and emoticons to text and image seg-
ments, as well as audio and video clips. It can generally be employed with the same functionality as
“normal coding:” All the functions of conventional coding are supported, meaning emoticons and
icons will be displayed in the overview tables of coded segments and in visualizations such as the
Document Portrait.
Emoticons and Symbols
MAXQDA includes over 300 emoticons and symbols, which are organized into different thematic
groups. Emoji icons are widely known due to smartphone use. They include different types of smi-
leys as well as many other symbols. Each emoticon symbol has a name, which serves as code name.
Calling up the Emoticode Window
In order to code using emoticodes, you must first open the emoticode window. You can do so by
clicking the corresponding button in the “Code” toolbar.
Activate emoticode function
After being called up, the window containing the collection of emoticons appears and can be
moved anywhere on the screen.
The emoticode window
Note: Each emoticon or symbol is assigned a name. This is visible when the mouse moves over an
emoticon or symbol in the emoticode selection window. After coding, it will be listed as a code
name in the code system.
If more symbols are included in a thematic section than can be displayed in the window, you can
scroll through all symbols in the section using the blue arrows at the bottom of the window.

Emoticode: Coding with Emoticons and Symbols90
When you click on the clock icon, MAXQDA displays the most recently used symbols and emoti-
cons. In addition, you can add frequently used symbols to favorites. To do so, right-click the symbol
and select Add to favorites. The symbol is then shown additionally in the 2nd tab from the left,
marked with a star. Symbols can be removed from the favorites list using the same method.
Add and remove symbols from favorites
Options for the emoticode Window
Window and symbol size can be customized. Click on the Properties button at the top of the
window.
emoticode properties window
Coding with Emoticons
Coding segments with emoticons is just like color coding or coding with the toolbar. The segment is
selected in the “Document Browser” or “Multimedia Browser,” then you can subsequently click on
the desired symbol or emoticon in the emoticode window. If the emoticon has already been used in
the existing “Code System,” the reverse is also possible – meaning the selected segment can be
dragged into the code, or the code into the segment.
Coding Display in the “Document Browser”
In the “Document Browser,” the selected emoticon appears in the middle of the coding stripe, in
the place of the code name. All segments coded with emoticons are displayed in the default coding
color (grey); it is not possible to assign a different color.

Coding stripe with emoticode in the “Document Browser”
In the selection window for the displayed coding stripe (which can be called up with a right-click on
the mouse in the visualization area), you can hide or show coding stripes with emoticodes in the
“Document Browser.”
Select “Display emoticodes” to emoticodes on the coding stripe

Emoticode: Coding with Emoticons and Symbols92
emoticodes in the “Code System”
When the “Code System” is displayed in the normal tree structure, the emoticodes appear in the
place of the usual code symbols. The display of codes in the code system can, if desired, be restrict-
ed to emoticodes by clicking on the corresponding button in the window's toolbar.
emoticode display in the “Code System”
The figure shows the emoticode symbols “laughing,” “eye” and “ambulance” in the code system.
The names, just like code names, can be replaced by another term.
Emoticons in the “Retrieved Segments” and “Overview of coded segments”
Emoticons, in most cases, replace code symbols, and are therefore found in the source list in the
“Retrieved Segments.” In the table view, as in the “Overview of coded segments,” emoticons are
displayed instead of the circle containing the code colors, allowing the entire table to be sorted by
emoticons.
Emoticons in the “Retrieved Segments” and in the “Overview of coded segments” table

Emoticons in MAXMaps and Visual Tools
In MAXMaps, the appropriate emoticon will appear in the place of the code symbol. In the Code
Matrix Browser, Code Relations Browser, and Codeline, the emoticon will also be displayed in the
place of the code symbol.
In the Document Comparison Chart each code that is present in the paragraph is represented by a
colored section of the bar. Code colors, not emoticons, are used, with the color green indicating
emoticodes.
The Document Portrait is displayed with emoticodes rather than code colors if the “Mix” feature is
turned off. When the “Mix” feature is turned on, it mixes the code colors where codes overlap. In
this case the color grey is used to indicate emoticons.
7.10 Displaying Code Frequency in the “Code System”
Information on if and how many coded segments are assigned to a specific code can be found in
the “Code System.” This information is displayed in the frequency column to the right of the code
name.
In the following figure, the number 15 appears after the code “Day-to-Day Issues/Interests.” This
indicates that up until this point, a total of 15 segments have been coded in this category.
Information on the number of coded segments
When you “collapse” a subcode into a code by clicking the „>“ symbol in front of the code, the
frequency of the subcode will be added to the frequency of the top-level code. Therefore, for a
collapsed code, MAXQDA displays the number of segments that were coded with this code includ-
ing all of its subcodes. To change this setting so that only the frequency of highest-level codes is
displayed, go to Project > Preferences (Windows) or MAXQDA 12 > Preferences (Mac) and
deselect Sum up subcodes in 'Code System' window.

Assigning Colors to a Code94
7.11 Assigning Colors to a Code
Every code and subcode can be assigned a color. This color attribute is used for the display of cod-
ing stripes in the “Document Browser” and for visualizations. The colored coding stripes make it
especially easy to find certain coded segments in documents in the “Document Browser.”
Coding stripes of various colors in the Document Browser
The color is also seen in the bottom right of the icon next to each code in the “Code System.”
Codes of various colors in the Code System
The color attribute is also displayed in all MAXQDA tables that contain codes, e.g. in the “Overview
of coded segments” table that is available for each document group and each document. There,
the color attribute may be used as a criterion for sorting the table. This is done by clicking on the
column header of the column containing the colored icons. Unless you have changed the order of
the table’s columns, this column will be the first one in the table.

Color attribute in the first column of the “Overview of coded segments”
The color attribute plays an important role in all visual tools of MAXQDA. For instance, the Docu-
ment Portrait is based completely on the colors of the codes that are assigned to a particular docu-
ment. Thus, the selection of colors is an important step: colors should be assigned according to the
kind of analysis that you plan to conduct. For instance, a psychologist could assign red colors to
aggressive statements and green colors to friendly statements. When analyzing documents in re-
gard to the topics mentioned a meaningful association of topics and codes is recommended. Thus,
you are able to identify topics and combinations of topics with one glance. When working with
focus groups, you should associate the speakers with the different colors, in order to quickly find
out when a person is speaking.
Visualizing Coded Segments in the “Document Browser”
As soon as you have coded a document segment, a coding stripe appears in the gray area next to
the document in the “Document Browser.” The standard color for this symbol is green, but you can
choose another color for any code, causing all the code symbols for this code to appear in this col-
or. The column for the coding stripes can be made bigger or smaller by clicking on the separator
between the column headers and dragging to the right or left. Double-clicking on the column sepa-
rator makes the column the optimal size. This optimal view can be impractical, though, if you have
too many coded segments. In such cases, the text will be made so small that you won’t be able to
read it easily.
Visualization of coding stripes on the left side of the “Document Browser"

Assigning Colors to a Code96
You can also choose whether code names should be shown in the coding stripe column. By right-
clicking in the gray area of the column, you will call up a window with various setting options. One
of those options is to Show code name.
You will always be able to see the code name in the tooltip that appears if you hover your mouse
over the coding stripe. The tooltip also shows you the assigned weight, the author of the coded
segment, and the date that the segment was coded.
Tooltip appearing from the coding stripe
This tooltip always displays the complete code name, even if it is a subcode. This is significant, be-
cause the coding stripes in the column only show the name of the codes, rather than including the
codes that they are subcodes of. In other words, the code “Interests” is a subcode of “Day-to-Day
Issues,” but that is only visible in the tooltip, not in the coding stripe column (see above). In the
tooltip, it is shown as “Day-to-Day IssuesInterests.”
If there are many coded segments, it can also be difficult to figure out exactly which codename
belongs to which coding stripe. This can be immediately identified when you move the mouse over
a coding stripe, at which moment the code name will appear brighter and the code assignment will
be displayed.
Often you will want to know which codes are assigned to a specific text or image segment. To do
so, select the segment and choose Display assigned codes from the context menu.

"List assigned Codes” for selected text in the context menu
This will display a menu in which all assigned codes are listed. Click on an entry in the list to high-
light the code in the “Code System.”
List of assigned codes for a segment
7.12 Coding Stripe Column Visualization Options
By right-clicking in the coding stripe column, you can call up a window with various settings for the
visualization of coded segments in the coding stripe column:

Coding Stripe Column Visualization Options98
Option menu for the visualization of coding stripes
Here you can adjust the following settings:
 You can choose to only visualize activated codes.
 You can choose to visualize coded segments created by certain users.
 You can choose to only visualize coded segments of a certain color.
 You can choose whether to change the text color of the text in the document to match the
color of the code it was coded with.
 As mentioned before, you can choose whether the code name should be shown or not.
 Finally, you can choose whether the tooltips should include the information about the author
and date of creation.
The option to switch off codes with selected colors is particularly useful when you are working in a
team with independent coders. In this case, the coders should be defined as codes on the highest
level of the code hierarchy and the different coders should use the same code tree organized as
subcodes of the coders. Now, while the training the coders, you can hide the visualization of other
coders’ work. Later on, they can compare their coding with the coding done by the others.

The option to color the text according to code colors only makes sense if you do not have many
overlapping codes. Overlapping codes cause the color of the text to be a mix of those overlapping
codes, which can make it very difficult to interpret.
7.13 The Properties Window for Codes
You can right click on the name of any code and choose Properties in the drop-down menu in order
to open the Properties window:
Properties window for a code
In this Properties window, you can…
 Change the name of the code (max. 63 characters available),
 Assign or adjust a Code Alias (max. 255 characters),
 Modify the code color,
 Assign a keyboard shortcut.
Since the number of characters for a code is limited to 63, longer code designations can be as-
signed as code aliases. For example, they may be exported instead of the code names when using
the SmartPublisher.
7.14 Creating a Code Alias
Code names in MAXQDA can be 63 characters in length. However, it is sometimes desirable to note
a shorter or longer description in addition to the code name. This allows you to employ an automat-
ically generated report with selected coded segments, for example in Smart Publisher.
To create a code alias for a code, right-click on the code in the Code System and select “Proper-
ties”. This will open a window where you can enter a code alias, among other options.

Deleting Coded Segments: The Undo Function100
Creating a Code Alias in the “Code Properties” Window
Alternatively, you can click Codes > Code Alias Table, which will generate a table in which you
can conveniently enter multiple code aliases, and view for which codes an alias has already been
assigned.
Code Alias Table
7.15 Deleting Coded Segments: The Undo Function
Clicking on the code symbol with the right mouse button causes a context menu to appear, with
which the coding of the text segment can be removed. Choose Delete and confirm the deletion by
clicking Yes in the confirmation window that appears.
If you need to first find the location of a coded segment in a document, deleting the code in this
way may not be very convenient. A better way is to use MAXQDA’s Undo function. In the “Code”
toolbar on top of the “Document Browser” window there is an Undo button. Clicking on it
opens a list containing the last codes assigned.

Undo function in the “Code” toolbar
Note: The most recent coded segments are shown at the top of the list.
Through certain functions, such as “Move coded segments” or autocoding, you may code dozens
or even hundreds of segments at one time. In such cases, the Undo function can be very helpful.
Codes can also be cleared through the “Retrieved Segments” window: Right-click on the infor-
mation box and select Delete in order to delete the selected code.
Note: If a code is deleted from the Code System, the code is removed from all segments that were
coded with that code.
7.16 Deleting a Coded Segment
MAXQDA offers the option of deleting single or multiple codes simultaneously, from several loca-
tions.
Deleting coded segments in the “Document Browser” window
1. Move the mouse over the coding stripe or over the code name.
2. Right-click and select Delete.
3. MAXQDA will require confirmation before deleting the coded segment.

Deleting a Coded Segment102
Deleting a coded segment in the “Document Browser” window
Deleting coded segments in the “Retrieved Segments” window
1. Right-click on the source data next to the coded segment.
2. Select Delete.
Caution: The segment is then removed from the “Retrieved Segments” window, and the deletion
can not be undone.
Deleting a coded segment in the “Retrieved Segments” window
Deleting coded segments in the “Overview of coded segments” or in the “Retrieved
Segments” window in table view
1. Right-click on a row or select multiple rows while holding down the Ctrl key (Windows) or cmd
key ( Mac) to simultaneously delete multiple coded segments.

12. Select Delete.
Deleting multiple coded segments in the “Overview of Codes“
7.17 Deleting Codes
Deleting a code from the “Code System” is somewhat like cutting of a branch of a tree. By deleting
that code, you are also deleting any subcodes, which are like smaller branches attached to the big-
ger one you cut off. At the same time, all coded segments that had been created with those codes
are deleted.
You can delete codes in the “Code System” either in the classic tree structure view or in the table
view:
 In the tree view, right-click on the code to be deleted and select Delete code(s) from the con-
text menu. Alternatively, you can left-click on a code and press the Del key (Windows) or
cmd+Backspace (Mac).

Modifying Coded Segments104
Deleting a code from the context menu
 Alternatively, you can switch to the table view of the “Code System” (by clicking on the
Change to table view icon on the toolbar), then delete the code via the context menu or by
pressing the Del key (Windows) or cmd+Del (Mac).
Attention: When deleting a code, you are also deleting all coded segments that were created with
this code.
If you want to delete more than one code at a time, it is necessary to switch to the table view of the
“Code System.” To do so, click on the Change to table view icon in the “Code System” toolbar.
You can now select as many codes as you wish by clicking on them while holding the Ctrl key
(Windows) or cmd key (Mac) and then right-clicking and selecting Delete code(s) from the context
menu.
Codes can also be deleted in this manner in the “Overview of Codes,” accessible via the Code
menu or the content menu in the “Document System”.
7.18 Modifying Coded Segments
There are various ways to modify coded segments:
1. By assigning a new code.
2. By assigning another code in the place of an existing code.
3. By modifying the segment boundaries, meaning enlarging or reducing the coded segment while
the code remains in place.
All three of these modifications can be easily carried out in MAXQDA.
Coding a Segment With More Than One Code
After having coded a segment, the segment remains selected (with the exception of highlight-
coded segments). It is possible to attach more codes to the same segment, for example using drag
& drop.

If you want to assign one or more codes later, the segment must be selected again. This is easiest if
you click on the coding stripe of this segment with the left mouse button. The segment will be
highlighted again as in the original text, and you can assign a code in the usual way, either with
Drag & Drop, by right-clicking on the desired new code in the "Code System" and selecting Code
highlighted segment, with the Code quick button, as well as other MAXQDA coding options.
Another option is to highlight the document segment, activate the codes you want to code it with,
and then right-clicking on one of the codes and choosing Code with selection. The segment will
then be coded with all activated codes at once.
Replacing a Coded Segment
When reviewing your text analysis, you may decide that the wrong code was assigned to a text
segment. Or you may decide that the “Code System” is not precise enough, so it is necessary to
expand the “Code System” and distinguish between different codes. In both cases, you will need to
replace one code assigned to a text with another.
This can be easily accomplished, as long as the coded segment is displayed in the “Retrieved seg-
ments” window:
1. Click on the source data next to the segment
2. Drag the segment to the desired code.
14. The new code will automatically be assigned to the coded segment. If the other code is not ac-
tivated, it may be that the coded segment was removed from the “Retrieved segments” win-
dow.
15. A coded segment can be moved from the table view or the “Overview of coded segments” in
the same manner.
Editing the Size of a Coded Segment
Sometimes a segment may be coded outside of its logical boundaries, meaning it is too short or too
long. The coded segment will therefore be difficult to understand because it is out of context. Seg-
ment boundaries can be adjusted in the following way:
1. Select the segment by clicking on the corresponding coding stripe or code name in the “Docu-
ment Browser”. The segment is now highlighted in the original text.
16. The segment boundaries can now be redefined as usual using the mouse. Alternatively, you can
right-click the coding stripe and select Recode with highlighted segment.
MAXQDA automatically adjusts to the newly defined segment boundaries.

Moving and Sorting Codes in the “Code System”106
Changing the size of the coded segment
7.19 Moving and Sorting Codes in the “Code System”
Moving Codes
Changing the structure of the category system is not difficult. All codes can be moved with the
mouse and the drag-and-drop function.
In the following example, the “Code System” contains four codes (C, B, A, and D).
Moving codes with the mouse
To move Code D to the top of the list, you would need to do the following:
Click on Code D and drag it in front of Code A while holding down the left mouse button, then,
when a line appears, drop the code.
It is also easy to make a code a subcode of another code. If you want Code B to become a subcode
of Code A, for example, you would carry out the following actions:
Click on Code B, drag it to Code A, and release as soon as Code A has a blue background. Code B
is now a subcode of Code A.
Sorting Subcodes
Subcode can be sorted in ascending and descending order by name and by frequency, by right-
clicking the parent code and selecting Sort subcodes from the context menu.

7.20 Creating Code Sets
With MAXQDA, temporary combinations of codes can be saved as code sets, permitting the user to
group the same code in different ways, or to group frequently used codes in a hierarchical tree
structure for increased accessibility. The code sets are linked only to existing codes, meaning that
the removal of a code from a set has no further consequences.
To create a new code set, right-click on the word “Set” in the Code System, then select New set.
Create a new code set in the “Code System”
After you enter a name for the set, you can drag and drop the desired codes into the new set with
the mouse. The codes can also be moved within the set or to another set using the mouse.
Tip: If you activate codes before you creating a new code set, MAXQDA places the activated codes
directly into the new code set.

Copying Subcodes108
7.21 Copying Subcodes
In some cases, you will be setting up the same subcodes for various codes. You might, for example,
have the codes “Childhood,” “Teenage Years,” and “Adult Life,” which should each have the sub-
codes “Education,” “Family,” “Friends,” and “Memorable Experiences.” So that you don’t have to
create these four subcodes three times, you have the option of setting them up for one of the main
codes, copying its subcodes, and pasting them into the other main codes. To do so, you would fol-
low these steps:
1. Create the three main codes: “Childhood,” “Teenage Years,” and “Adult Life.”
2. Create the four subcodes for the main code “Childhood.”
3. Right-click on the Childhood code and select Copy subcodes.
4. Right-click on each of the other main codes and select Paste subcodes.
MAXQDA then adds the copied sub-codes in the same order as the original code. The newly insert-
ed sub-codes do not have a color assigned to them.
7.22 Moving all Coded Segments of a Code
If you move a code from one position in the “Code System” to another, the code references move
automatically together with the code. This is like moving a drawer from one place to another in a
cabinet; the drawer’s contents move together.
To move a complete drawer is something other than to move only its contents. The same is true
with code references. If you only want to move the code references to another code, you cannot
use the procedure described above. There is another procedure that leaves the drawer in its place
and merely shifts its contents.
In MAXQDA, it is the Move coded segments option that does this job. This option is available in
the context menu of the particular code from which code references are to be moved.
The following figure shows the result of moving coded segments from Code B to Code A. Actually,
what takes place is the merging of Code A and Code B:
To move the coded references from Code B to Code A, follow these steps:
1. Right-click on Code B in the “Code System.”

2. Select Move coded segments. This transfers the code references to an internal clipboard.
(Up to this point, nothing has really changed in the “Code System.” The number of coded
segments displayed to the right of Code B is still the same.)
3. Right-click on Code A (the target code) and choose Move coded segments from ‘Code B.’
MAXQDA asks you to confirm the command before executing it.

Moving all Coded Segments of a Code110
Moving coded segments
Code B remains in the “Code System” until you delete it, but the number of its immediate code
references is now zero. The contents of the “drawer” have been moved to Code A.
The subcodes’ references, however, will not have been moved. Be careful when deleting Code B
now, since all subcodes – if there are any – will be deleted too, along with their code references.

It is of course possible that some segments that you move from "Code B" to the target code "Code
A" have already been coded with the target code. MAXQDA will handle these overlapping codes as
follows.
 The segment boundaries of the existing coded segments will be adapted to those of the moved
coded segments.
 If both coded segments have a comment, those of the target code will be retained. The com-
ments of the moved coded segments will be deleted.
 If only one of the coded segments has a comment, it will be retained.
Because of overlapping codes, the number of coded segments in the target code may be lesser after
they are moved. If you move 10 coded segments of "Code B" to "Code A" with 20 encodings and
multiple overlap, fewer than 30 encodings will be displayed in "Code A".
Tip: If you want to delete all code assignments but want to keep the code in the “Code System,” it
is best to create a code named “trash” and then copy the code references to the “trash.”
7.23 Copying all Coded Segments of a Code
The function “Copy coded segments” is similar to the “Moving all coded segments of a code”
function. The important difference is that the original code assignment will be retained; that is to
say, the coded segment will be duplicated and assigned to a new code in addition to the original
code.
This action is performed as follows:
1. Right-click on the selected code in the “Code System”.
17. Select Copy coded segments from the context menu that appears.
18. Move the cursor to the target code to which you want to copy the coding added and click on it
with the right mouse button.
19. Select Insert coded segments from xx from the context menu that appears
It is of course possible that some segments that you copy from "Code B" to the target code "Code
A" have already been coded with the target code. MAXQDA will handle these overlapping codes as
follows.
 The segment boundaries of the existing coded segments will be adapted to those of the moved
coded segments.
 If both coded segments have a comment, those of the target code will be retained. The com-
ments of the moved coded segments will be deleted.
 If only one of the coded segments has a comment, it will be retained.
Because of overlapping codes, the number of coded segments in the target code may be lesser after
they are moved. If you copy 10 coded segments of "Code B" to "Code A" with 20 encodings and
multiple overlap, fewer than 30 encodings will be displayed in "Code A".

Creating a New Top-Level Code112
7.24 Creating a New Top-Level Code
A common procedure when working with codes is to group previously defined codes under a new,
more abstract category, as shown in the next diagram:
MAXQDA’s hierarchical “Code System” makes it easy to group existing codes under new top-level
codes. Reorganizing the “Code System” can be done at any time during the analysis process:
1. Create a new code at the top level of the hierarchy (New Code in the example above).
2. Drag Code B to New Code and release it; it will be inserted as a subcode.
3. Do the same with Code D.
20.
Creating a new code to hold to former codes as subcodes
7.25 Splitting up a Code
Often when working with a “Code System,” it is desirable to differentiate between elements
grouped under one code. In MAXQDA this corresponds to dividing a code in two or more subcodes.
For example, imagine you have created a code named “Family” and have assigned document seg-
ments, in which an interviewee talks about his family, to this code. Then imagine that it becomes
necessary to differentiate between “Mother,” “Father,” and “Brothers&Sisters.”
The division of a code into subcodes can obviously not happen automatically, since you must decide
which references of the code are to be placed in which subcode. You must read each coded seg-

ment and decide which of the subcodes is appropriate. In this case the subcodes will not be exclu-
sive since a person could talk about his father and his mother in the same segment.
Codes can be divided as follows:
1. Activate all documents and the code “Family.”
2. Create three subcodes for “Family”: “Mother,” “Father,” and “Brothers&Sisters.”
Splitting up a code
A convenient way to separate the code references into the new subcodes is to bring all the coded
segments (in our example with “Family”) into the “Retrieved Segments” window. Then, beginning
with the first segment, click the information box left of the segment for each segment. After hav-
ing decided which subcode the segment belongs to, you can assign the segment to the appropriate
subcode as follows:
 The easiest option: Click on the information box and drag it to the chosen subcode.
Tip: During this process, the segment will be additionally coded with the subcode. However, if you
hold down the Alt key during this process, the code will be moved from the source code to the new
code, meaning the top-level code will be deleted.
 When you click on the info box, the coded segment will also be selected in the “Document
Browser.” It can now be coded as usual, for example using Drag & Drop.
 Alternative Method: Right-click on the selected subcode in the “Code System” window (i.e.
“Father,” “Mother” or “Brothers&Sisters” in the example above) then select Code in the con-
text menu.

Transferring the “Code System” to another Project114
When you reach the end of the list you will all have worked through all the coded segments and
these will have been assigned new subcodes. But all segments will still be coded with the original
code “Family” too, which is obviously not what you want. To finish the job, you have to delete
these code references, which may seem tricky, since now deleting the code “Family” would also
delete its subcodes – including the three subcodes that you just created.
In effect, you need to delete not the code itself but only its references. Since the command “Delete
Code References” does not exist in MAXQDA’s “Code System,” you have to do a work-around to
get the desired result:
1. Create a new code called “trash.”
2. Right-click on the code whose references are to be removed (in this example “family”).
3. Select Move coded segments from the context menu.
4. Move the mouse pointer to the code “trash,” click with the right mouse button, and select
Move coded segments from ‘Family’.
5. Delete the code “trash.”
7.26 Transferring the “Code System” to another Project
It is possible to export an entire Code System, and import it into another MAXQDA project file. This
function is especially useful as it allows you to build a “Code System” in one project, then apply it
to another. In this case, importing and exporting the “Code System” eliminates the need to enter
new codes.
 Right-click on the “Code System” root in the “Code System” window and select Export Code
System (MAXQDA format).
 or, select Codes > Export Code System (MAXQDA format) from the main menu.
The “Code System” will be converted into a specific file format with the extension MTR. You can
then import the “Code System” into a new MAXQDA project with the corresponding procedure
Import Code System.
7.27 Importing Codes and Code Memos from an Excel Table
MAXQDA can create a code system from the rows in an Excel spreadsheet. The reading of a code
system from a table is useful when you want to define multiple codes in advance.
The first row of the table must include the keywords "Code" and "Memo". Each additional row
corresponds to a new code and associated Memo. In the "Code" column, you can define subcodes
using a backslash "".
Tip: To insert a backslash on a Mac, press alt+⇧+7.

Example
Code Memo
Codename 1 Here is a text, e.g. with the code definition
Codename 1Subcode 1.1 Here is a text with the code definition
Codename 2Subcode 2.1Subcode 2.1.1 Here is a text with the code definition
When importing a table, MAXQDA proceeds as follows:
1. The defined codes are created (if they do not already exist), whereby "Subcode 1.1" is incorpo-
rated as a subcode of "Codename 1" and "Subcode 2.1" and "Subcode 2.1.1" are incorpo-
rated as subcodes of “Codename 2”.
21. For each code, the corresponding text is assigned as a code memo and appears in the second
column. Existing code memos are retained.
22. Code and subcode names will be shortened to 63 characters if necessary.
7.28 Weight Scores: Indicating Segment Relevance
When coding a document segment, you are attaching a segment of a text or image to a code in the
“Document System.” MAXQDA also allows you to assign a weight score to each of these coded
segments to indicate how important that particular coded segment is. It may be that certain coded
segments represent a typical argument or theoretical concept that you want to be sure and hold on
to. In this case, these segments are a sort of signpost.
MAXQDA allows you to indicate how important or appropriate a segment is for the code it is coded
with by giving it a weight score between 0 and 100. This weight score could be described as a
“fuzzy variable,” because it is not meant to give an exact numerical worth for the segment. Rather,
it is intended to be a guide, so you can later sort your retrievals based on the weight assigned.
Every newly coded segment automatically receives the default weight score, which is somewhere
between 0 and 100.
When you use MAXQDA for the first time, the default weight will be set to 0. This can be changed
in two places in the program:
 In the main menu under Project > Preferences (Windows) or MAXQDA > Preferences (Mac)
 In the status bar at the bottom of the screen, by clicking on the Default weight icon. A dialog
window will appear where you can set a new default weight value. The current value is always
visible in the status bar.

Weight Scores: Indicating Segment Relevance116
Changing the default weight in the status bar
The weight of a coded segment is shown in the top right of the info box that appears next to each
retrieved segment in the “Retrieved Segments” window.
Weight score
The “Overview of coded segments” also includes the weight scores for each coded segment. This
weight is saved automatically, so that you can use it later to limit the results of your segment re-
trievals.
Assigning Weight Scores in the “Document Browser” Window
1. Right-click on the coding stripe for the coded segment that you would like to alter the weight
score for.
23. Select Modify weight.
24. You can then enter a number between 0 and 100.
How the weight scores are used is completely up to you. You could choose to have a system where
a weight score of 1 is the highest or where 100 is the highest.
Changing the weight score in the “Document Browser”

Assigning Weight Scores in the “Retrieved Segments” Window
A weight score can also be assigned and modified in the “Retrieved Segments” window. Right-
clicking anywhere on the information box left of the coded segment opens the context menu,
where you can select Modify weight and enter a number between 0 and 100.
Changing the weight score in the “Retrieved Segments” window
You will be able to see the newly-entered weight score in the top right of the info box with the blue
header directly after you make the change.
Updated weight score
Changing Weight Score in the “Overview of coded segments”
In the “Overview of coded segments” table, you will find a column for the weight score of each
coded segment. By double-clicking on a cell in the column, you will be able to enter a new weight
between 0 and 100.
7.29 Creating Comments for Coded Segments
You have the option of creating a short comment (maximum of 127 characters) for each of your
coded segments. This might be an overview of the coded segment or a comment about its signifi-
cance for your analysis. These comments are then shown in the tooltip that appears when you hov-
er the mouse over a coding stripe.
To create a comment for a coded segment, follow these steps:
 In the “Document Browser”: Double-click on a coding stripe or on a code name.
 In the “Retrieved Segments” window: Double-click on the source data of a coded segment
 In the “Overview of coded segments” or the table view of “Retrieved Segments”: Double-click
in the “Comment” column to add a comment directly in the table.

Overview of Codes118
You can easily see if a comment has been written for a coded segment when you look at the code
symbol. Normally the inner part of the little circle is white in color, independent of the color of the
code symbol. When a comment is attached, the inner circle appears in the same color as the outer
line of the symbol.
A coded segment comment shown in the tooltip when hovering over the circle in the middle of a coding
stripe
Finding your Coded Segment Comments
As long as you haven’t changed the standard view, you can find all of your code comments in the
“Overview of coded segments” table in the second column. You can also insert new comments and
delete/change old ones from this view. By right-clicking on the column header, you will have the
option of clicking on the Search function. You can then start typing the first word in the comment
you are looking for. If you want to search for a word that appears somewhere in the comment, not
necessarily at the beginning, you can simply start the search string with the “*” symbol.
7.30 Overview of Codes
It might be of interest to take a look at how many times each code was assigned to individual, mul-
tiple, or all documents. This function is called the Overview of codes and can be found in several
places in the program:
 In the Codes drop-down menu,
 In the context menu at the root of the “Document System”,
 In the context menu of a Document Group or Document Set, or
 In the context menu of an individual document.
A table view of all of the codes that occur in the relevant documents will appear. The table may
contain more or fewer lines depending on the place in the program from which it was called up. In
the title of the overview you can see which documents the overview applies to and to how many
(different) codes in the document a segment is assigned.

Note: When the “Overview of Codes” is called up from the main menu “Codes”, it contains also
codes to which no coded segment is assigned. Otherwise, only codes to which at least one coded
segment is assigned will be displayed.
Overview of codes for all documents (see top left) with 33 codes (see top right)
The other columns consist of:
 Code – the name of the code that appears in the “Code System”
 Parent code – Here the parent code is displayed for the easier assignment of codes. If the
“Parent code” column is empty, the code in this row belongs to the top level of the code sys-
tem.
 Position – Reflects the current position in the code system, meaning the distance from the root
of the code system.
 All coded segments – The number of segments in the analyzed documents that have been
coded with a particular code or subcode.
 Activated coded segments – Takes only activated documents into account. If this column dis-
plays all zeros, then presumably because no documents are selected. Once you can activate
documents, you can directly observe how the values in this column change.
 All coded segments % – The share of segments that have been coded with the particular code
or subcode, in relation to the total number of coded segments in column "All coded seg-
ments". The sum of the column is 100%.
 Activated coded segments % – As in the “All coded segments %” column, but takes only
activated documents into account.
 Documents – Number of documents in which the code or subcode appears
Right-clicking a row opens a context menu with various options, you can open the Overview of
coded segments or Overview of linked memos, for example. You can also change the color at-
tribute of a code from this menu.

The „Overview of Documents“ for a Code120
A toolbar is displayed above the “Overview of codes” from which the following special functions
can be accessed:
Aggregate on 1st level – Only the codes at the top level of the code system will be displayed.
Here, the code frequencies of the subcodes are added, as well as the number of documents in
which the code occurs.
Statistic – Displays the values of the columns “All coded segments” and “Activated coded seg-
ments” as a frequency table or diagram.
7.31 The „Overview of Documents“ for a Code
To answer the question in which documents or document groups a certain code was used,
MAXQDA gives you the option to use the “Overview of documents.” To show this overview, right-
click on a code and choose Overview of documents from the context menu. It makes no differ-
ence whether the code has collapsed subcodes or not – the “Overview of documents” takes into
account only the code in question.
The “Overview of documents” in the context menu
A tabular list of all documents that have segments coded with the chosen code will open. In the
following example, the code “Day-to-Day IssuesEmotions” was used in ten documents and two

different document groups. The column “Number of coded segments” shows how many coded
segments were found in each document.
“Overview of documents” for a code
In addition to the usual symbols above the overview, which include the functions for filter-
ing rows and for export, the Aggregate to document groups function is available. This
function restricts the display to include only the document in which the selected code ap-
pears.
Taking the example above, after clicking the button, the table will consist of two rows with the
document groups “New York” and “Indiana.” The number of coded segments will be added up:
Aggregating to document groups

The Idea behind Creative Coding122
8 Creative Coding: Arranging Codes in MAXMaps
8.1 The Idea behind Creative Coding
During open coding, researchers may create many codes, which, in hindsight, vary greatly in their
scope and level of abstraction. Creative Coding effectively supports the creative process in which
these codes are generated, sorted, and organized, and in which a hierarchical code structure is cre-
ated based on the relationships between codes. The function provides a large working surface on
which you can move codes and form meaningful groups. You can place codes that belong together
next to one another, insert parent codes, rename codes and adjust their color, and create a logical
structure. As a rule, this results after a long period of open coding and working with the codes.
The functionality of Creative Coding is fully integrated in MAXMaps and is carried out in three
steps:
First, drag the codes you wish to work with from the Code System onto the work surface of MAX-
Maps.
Next, group and organize the codes, create parent and subcodes, create new codes if necessary,
and adjust the color of the codes as desired.
Finally, transfer the changed to the existing Code System.
8.2 Starting Creative Coding and Selecting Codes
To start Creative Coding, select Codes > Creative Coding from the main menu, upon which
MAXMaps will open in Creative Coding mode and the following display will appear:
Selecting Codes for Creative Coding

Creative Coding: Arranging Codes in MAXMaps 123
Tip: Before starting Creative Coding, ensure that all codes you wish you work with are placed in the
top level of the Code System. In Creative Coding only top-level codes without subcodes can be in-
serted.
Now, single codes can be dragged from the code tree into the white work surface on the right with
the mouse. You can also select multiple codes to insert at one time by holding down the Ctrl key
(Windows) or cmd key (Mac) while clicking the selected codes. You can then drag the full selection
onto the work surface.
Selected codes for Creative Coding
To remove a code from the work surface, right-click the code and select Remove from map .
After completing your selection, click the Start organizing codes button at the top left of the screen.
Note: While MAXQDA is in “Creative Coding” mode, the MAXQDA application is blocked and no
further changes can be made to the open project until Creative Coding is finished.
8.3 Organizing Codes
Once you click on the Start organizing codes button, the structuring and organization of the
codes begins. Here the display will change: The code tree on the left will close and a color panel will
appear on the right that displays all of the colors currently in use.

Organizing Codes124
Organizing Codes on the MAXMaps work surface
All codes can be freely arranged on the work surface with the mouse, as long as you are in Select
mode . You can move multiple codes at once by drawing a border around them with the mouse
and then positioning them as desired.
The following options are available in Creative Coding:
 Creating relationships between codes
 Creating new codes
 Merging Codes
 Modifying code colors
 Undoing changes
 Displaying coded segments and code frequency of a code
Creating Relationships between Codes
As displayed in the image above, relationships between codes are shown with an arrow: When an
arrow is pointing at a code, it means that this code is a subcode of the other.
To make Code A a subcode of Code B, proceed as follows:
25. Go into “Link” mode by clicking the Link symbol.
26. Click on the desired top-level code and draw an arrow to the desired subcode.
To avoid the occurrence of circular references, existing assignments of the subcode to other codes
are repealed.
To delete an arrow, right-click on it and select Remove from map.

Creating new codes
Users often wish to group multiple codes under an abstract concept. For this purpose, you can al-
ways create new codes by clicking Insert new code . MAXQDA will subsequently insert the new
code in the top left of the work surface.
As per usual, you can rename the code by double-clicking on its label.
Merging Codes
To merge two codes, proceed as follows:
1. First, go into Select mode by clicking on the Select symbol
2. Drag the first code onto the second code so that the “Merge codes” tooltip appears. When you
release the mouse button, the following confirmation message will appear:
Confirmation message for merging of codes
After clicking Yes, the moved code will disappear from the map and all its coded segments will be
assigned to the target code upon exiting Creative Coding.
If you choose Don’t ask again, the inquiry for the merging of codes will no longer appear in the
current Creative Coding session.
Changing Code Color and Appearance
The color and appearance of codes can be modified as follows:
1. First, go into Select mode by clicking on the Select symbol
27. Click the code whose color you wish to change. To select multiple codes at once, draw a border
around the codes with the mouse or click on each code while holding the Ctrl key (Windows) or
cmd key (Mac).
28. Click on a color in the color panel on the right to select a color already in use. Alternatively, you
can assign a new color from the color panel.
If you change the color of a parent code, the color of the subcodes will also be changed following
confirmation.
To modify the appearance of an individual code, double-click on the code. A dialog window will
appear in which you can define the font size, symbol size, etc.

Quitting Creative Coding and Transferring Changes to the Code System126
Undoing changes
Recent actions can be undone step-by-step by clicking the Undo changes symbol.
Displaying Code Frequency and Coded Segments of a Code
In order to organize codes, it can be helpful to visualize the number of each of the associated coded
segments. By clicking the Display code frequency symbol, the code frequency will be automat-
ically displayed in brackets after the code name.
When you right-click on a code, a context menu will appear from which you can access the follow-
ing options:
 Memo – Opens the associated code memo.
 Overview of coded segments – Opens the “Overview of coded segments” where you can
inspect the coded segments of the code.
 Overview of linked memos – Opens the “Overview of memos” where you can browse all
memos of the selected code.
Note: Any changes you have made in Creative Coding mode have not yet been transferred to the
MAXQDA Code System. The changes will be applied only once you quit Creative Coding.
8.4 Quitting Creative Coding and Transferring Changes to
the Code System
Changes made in Creative Coding mode will be applied only once you quit Creative Coding. After
completing the organization of your codes, you must quit Creative Coding in order for the changes
to be applied to the Code System. To do so, click the Quit Creative Coding button in the top left
of the window. The following message will appear:
Quit Creative Coding
The following options are available:
Yes – The code structure will be transferred to the existing Code System
 All codes from the Creative Coding work surface that do not have a parent code will be
sorted alphabetically and inserted at the top of the Code System. This applies also to newly
created codes.
 Subcodes will be inserted according to their hierarchical position.

 Any color changes to codes will be applied.
 Merged codes will be merged, i.e. the origin code will be deleted and its coded segments
will be moved to the target code. If the deleted code contained a memo it will be convert-
ed to a free memo, that can be accessed in the „Overview of memos“.
 The Creative Coding map will be converted into a normal MAXMap.
No – Creative Coding will be closed without transferring the changes to the Code System. This
means all changes will be lost!
Cancel – Returns to Creative Coding.

The Problem of Intercoder Agreement in Qualitative Research128
9 Intercoder Agreement
9.1 The Problem of Intercoder Agreement in Qualitative
Research
When assigning codes to qualitative data, it is recommended that certain criteria be set. You as-
sume, for example, that coding is not arbitrary or random, but rather that a certain level of reliability
will be reached. The MAXQDA “Intercoder agreement” function makes it possible to compare two
people coding the same document independently of each other. In qualitative research, the purpose
of comparing independent coders is to discuss the differences, figure out why they occurred, and
learn from the differences in order to improve coding agreement in the future. In other words, the
actual percentage of agreement is not the most important aspect of the tool. This percentage is,
however, provided by MAXQDA.
It is always the goal of qualitative analysts to achieve as high a level of agreement as possible be-
tween independent coders. It is not, however, focused on getting to a standard coefficient that is
statistically necessary as in quantitative research. Rather, the focus is on a practical improvement of
the coding quality. For this reason, one doesn’t focus on the coefficient or percentage of agree-
ment. Instead, qualitative researchers want to address and edit the coded segments that do not
agree, so that they can move on with more accurately coded material.
The Intercoder Agreement tool is set up to compare and contrast a single document coded by two
independent coders, highlighting the areas where the two researchers’ coded segments align and
do not align. It is then possible for these two coders (or a larger research team) to decide which
coding variation in each situation is most accurate.
9.2 The Agreement Testing Concept in MAXQDA
The Intercoder Agreement function in MAXQDA works as follows:
1. Two people code the identical document independently of each other with the agreed upon
codes and code definitions. This can be done on the same computer or on different computers.
The most important thing is that the two coders can not see how the other has coded. It makes
sense to name each document in a way that makes it clear, who has coded which (e.g. “Inter-
view1_Michael” and Interview1_Jessica.”
2. To test the two documents, they must both be in the same MAXQDA project. This can for exam-
ple be accomplished using the function Project > Merge projects, as long as both coders have
been working with the same documents in each project.
You can now start the Intercoder Agreement function by selecting it from the Analysis drop-
down menu. The Intercoder Agreement will show where the assignment of codes by the two cod-
ers match and do not match.

Intercoder Agreement 129
Starting the Intercoder Agreement function via the Analysis menu
Caution: If you only want to check the agreement of certain codes, activate those codes before
starting the test.
1. Select the first coder’s document from the “Document 1” list and the second coder’s document
from the “Document 2” list.
2. If you only want to test the activated codes, you can check the box at the bottom left of the
window next to Only for activated codes.
3. You can then choose between three different analysis criteria for the agreement test:
Variation 1 – Code existence in the document
The criterion in this variation is the presence of each code in the document, meaning whether or
not each code is found at least once in the document. This variation is most appropriate when
the document is short, and there are many codes in the “Code System.”
Variation 2 – Code frequency in the document
The criterion in this variation is the number of times a code appears in each coder’s version of
the document.
Variation 3 – Segment agreement in percent
In this variation, the agreement of each individual coded segment is measured. This is the most
precise criterion and is used most often in qualitative research. You can set the percentage of
agreement that is required in each segment for it to be considered in agreement (correlation).
The tool takes each segment and evaluates the level of agreement between the two documents.

The Agreement Testing Concept in MAXQDA130
Testing intercoder agreement based on segment agreement in percent
The screenshot above shows the Intercoder Agreement window, which shows that “Interview Mary
_ Elizabeth” will be compared with “Interview Mary _ Ian.” The third variation is selected, meaning
agreement will be tested at the segment level, and the required agreement percentage to be con-
sidered “in agreement” or “correlating” is 90.
Results for Variation 1
The Code Matrix Browser window will appear only for the two documents that are being com-
pared. The Code Matrix Browser is set to visualize whether or not each of the codes exists in the
two documents. If the code exists, a blue circle or square will be shown in that document’s column.
Testing the existence of codes in two documents
The screenshot shows the results. Codes such as “Day-to-Day Issues” and “Key Quotes” exist in
both of the documents, but the code “Interview Guide Topics” only exists in the document coded
by Ian.
Clicking on one of the blue squares selects the corresponding document in the “Document Brows-
er” and the corresponding code in the “Code System.” Double-clicking on the squares activates
the document and the code, and lists the segment in the “Retrieved segments” window.

At the top of the results window, you can see the percentage of agreement. In this case, there is a
correlation of 57.14%. When calculating the percentage of agreement, the non-existence of a code
in both documents is also considered a match.
Note: If you have selected the option Only for activated codes and have activated only the sub-
codes of certain codes, the parent codes will be included when calculating the percentage match
and in the display of information.
The results for the second variation are also shown in the Code Matrix Browser for the two docu-
ments to be compared. Results can be viewed either as symbols or as numbers. It is then fairly easy
to see where there is agreement between the documents. The correlation percentage is shown
again in at the top of the results window. For each code, the number of times it appears in each
document is compared. If the number is the same, there is agreement. If the number is not the
same, there is disagreement. It makes no difference in this case whether the difference between the
two numbers is 1 or 100.
Tip: MAXQDA calculates Intercoder Agreement in percent for the first two variations as follows:
Percentage of Agreement
= # of agreements / (# of agreements + # of non-agreements)
= # of agreements / # of rows
This is the most complicated variation, since intercoder agreement is tested on the segment level. If
the first document has 12 coded segments and the second document has 14, there will be 26 tests
carried out and presented in 26 rows of a table.
It is necessary to decide how similar the coded segments must be to be considered in agreement. As
a match criterion, the percentage of the overlapping portion of the coded segments is defined. The
percentage of agreement that results represents the relative share of the matching area in relation
to the total area of two coded segments, which is illustrated schematically in the following diagram:
The percentage threshold can be set in the dialog window. The default value is 90%.
Two results tables are created: the code-specific results table and the detailed agreement table.
Identical range
Total range
Coded segment 1
Coded segment 2

The Code-Specific Results Table
The Intercoder Reliability results for the individual codes
This table is made up of one row for each code that was included in the test. Codes that do not
appear in either of the documents will be ignored. It shows the level of correlation between the two
coders for each code. This can make clear, for example, if certain codes are in disagreement more
than others. Every code is shown in a row with the number of times its use in the first document
correlated with the use of the code in the second document, the number of times they did not cor-
relate, and the total percentage of correlation.
The Detailed Agreement Table
The second results table allows you to see exactly which coder coded which segment and whether
the coded segments correlate. A red icon in the first column shows that the coded segments do not
agree. Clicking on the column header sorts the rows, showing all the non-correlating segments first,
so the coders can analyze and discuss each of them step-by-step.
By double-clicking on the box in the “Document 1” column, you can open that document and call
up the exact document segment in question in the “Document Browser.” Double-clicking on the
square in the “Document 2” column brings up the segment in the Document Browser as well,
showing the place where the correlating (or non-correlating) coded segment is. You can now very
easily switch back and forth between the documents to analyze which of the coded segment varia-
tions is the most accurate.

Results table for all coded segments
Coefficient Kappa for exact segment matches
In qualitative analysis, the analysis of the Intercoder agreement serves primarily to improve coding
instructions and individual codes. Nevertheless, it is also often desirable to calculate the percentage
of agreement, particularly in view of the research report to be generated later. This percentage of
agreement can be viewed in the code-specific results table above, in which individual codes as well
as the ensemble of all codes are taken into account.
Researchers often express the desire to indicate not only percentage compliance rates in their re-
search reports, but also to include chance-corrected coefficients. The basic idea of such a coefficient
is to reduce the percentage of agreement to that which would be obtained in a random assignment
of codes to segments.
In MAXQDA, the commonly used coefficient “Kappa” can be used for this purpose: In the results
table, click on the Kappa symbol to begin the calculation for the analysis currently underway.
MAXQDA will display the following results table:

Intercoder coefficient Kappa
The number of codes that match is displayed in the upper left corner of the four-field table. In the
upper right corner and the lower left corner you will find the non-matches, meaning one code, but
not the other, has been assigned in a document. In MAXQDA the Intercoder agreement at the
segment level takes into account only the segments to which at least one code has been assigned;
therefore the cell on the lower right is, by definition, equal to zero (as document sections will be
included in the analysis only if they are coded by both coders).
P(observed) corresponds to the simple percentage of agreement, as it was displayed in the <Total >
line of the code-specific results table.
For the calculation of P(chance), or chance of agreement, MAXQDA employs a proposal made by
Brennan and Prediger (1981), who dealt extensively with optimal uses of Cohen's Kappa and its
problems with unequal edge sum distributions. In this calculation, the random match is determined
by the number of different categories that have been used by both coders. This corresponds to the
number of codes in the code-specific results table.
For the calculation of coefficients such as Kappa, segments must normally be defined in advance,
and are provided with predetermined codes. In qualitative research, however, a common approach
is that not to define segments a priori, but rather to assign the task to both coders of identifying all
document points that they view as relevant, and to assign one or more appropriate codes. In this
case, the probability that two coders code the same section with the same code would be lower,
and hence Kappa would be greater. One could also argue that the probability of randomly occur-
ring coding matches in a text with multiple pages and multiple codes is so insignificant that Kappa
corresponds to the simple percentage agreement. In any case, the calculation should be carefully
considered.

Memos: Managing Your Ideas 135
10 Memos: Managing Your Ideas
10.1 About Memos
MAXQDA makes it possible for you to create “Post-It”-like notes with your ideas, comments, etc.
and to attach them to document segments, documents, document groups, images, or codes. These
notes are called memos in MAXQDA. These memos can have various functions: they are commonly
used, for example, as an integral part of Glaser and Strauss’s Grounded Theory analysis method.
You can also differentiate between various types of memos within MAXQDA that then have differ-
ent roles in your analysis. It is important to recognize the difference between memos and the quali-
tative data: documents are analyzed and coded, but they are usually not changed radically once the
analysis has begun – most typographical errors have been eliminated.
Memos, on the other hand, are a dynamic form of text. They are created by the user and can be
modified and integrated at any time during the analysis process.
In MAXQDA memos can be attached to
 documents
 document groups
 audio and video files
 codes.
There is also the option of creating a “free memo,” which is not attached to anything other than
the project. These free memos also come out of Grounded Theory, which has memos without any
concrete connection to a part of the data.
10.2 Memos Attached to Document Segments
MAXQDA offers several different ways to create a new memo in the "Document Browser":
Creating a Memo by double-clicking in the Memo column
Move the cursor to the memo column, located to the left of the open document, then double-click
at the height you wish to attach the memo.

Memos Attached to Document Segments136
Creating a new memo by double clicking in the memo column
All memos in the document browser are associated with a position on the document. When you
create a memo by double-clicking in the memo column, it will automatically be attached to the
document body at the level of the click position in the left margin. In MAXQDA, memos can be
easily recognized by their yellow icon:
Yellow memo icon in the memo column
Creating Memos using the Context Menu or Quick Button
Other ways to add a new memo are to select the position in the document, right-click with the
mouse and select New memo from the context menu, or the Quick button from the coding
toolbar. MAXQDA will insert a memo in the memo column at the selected position in the docu-
ment.
Tip: In the “Document Browser,” memos can be moved using the mouse – of course, only within
the memo column. MAXQDA will display the original position of the memo while it is being moved.
The memo’s original position within the document will be cancelled when the move is complete.
The number of memos per document and per position within the document is not subject to practi-
cal limitations, which means you can create several memos at the same level in the Document
Browser. MAXQDA will automatically place the memos side-by-side.
Note: If you delete text to which a memo is attached while in Edit mode, the memo will be retained
and automatically assigned to the preceding text. This operation is intended to prevent valuable
personal notes from being deleted unintentionally.

Recording Information in a Memo
Immediately upon creating a new memo, the memo window will appear:
The memo window
You can now enter a title for the memo, so that you can easily find it later in the “Overview of
memos”. Select a meaningful title for simple identification.
Tip: The memo title also appears in the tooltip that appears when you hover the mouse over the
memo symbol in the “Document Browser.”
The memo text can be entered in the bottom field of the window.
10.3 Viewing and Editing Memos
Opening and editing memos
When you move the mouse over a memo symbol in MAXQDA, a tooltip will appear with the title,
author and creation date of the memo, as well as the label assigned to the memo type and the be-
ginning of the memo text.
To view and edit a memo, double-click with the left mouse button on the memo icon. The follow-
ing memo window will appear:.

Viewing and Editing Memos138
The Memo Window
The Memo Window
When creating a memo, you can simply move from one field to the next, entering all the infor-
mation that is required. MAXQDA automatically inserts the currently logged in user as the “Au-
thor,” so that you can later find all memos by author. You also have the option, though, of chang-
ing the name in this field. The memo’s “Creation date” is also inserted automatically.
Ever memo can be given the standard yellow “Post-It”-style symbol or one of the 10 other available
symbols. These options allow you to indicate what type of memo it is. The following visualizations
are available:
Memo visualization options
Choosing different visualizations for differing types of memos is up to each user. Those using
Grounded Theory, for example, might choose to use the visualization with a “T” to represent theo-
retical memos, the visualization with an “M” for method memos, etc.
Tip: Since the meanings of the memo visualizations are assigned individually, you can indicate the
function or significance of each memo visualization in the current research project in the Type La-
bel text box. Please note that it is possible to edit this field in any open memo; any memos of the
same type will be amended accordingly.
The memo itself is entered in the large text window. You can include the creation or modification
date in the body of the memo by clicking the symbol.
Using the Clipboard
When working with memos in MAXQDA, the Windows clipboard can be used in the same way as
with text documents. This makes it easy to exchange text between MAXQDA and word processing
programs.
The clipboard may be used in two ways:

 Text can be imported into the text field of a MAXQDA memo. For example, a Word text file can
be attached to a specific text passage as a memo and consequently managed by MAXQDA.
 Text can be exported from a MAXQDA memo. Select the memo text or a part of it, copy it to
the clipboard, and paste it into the word processing document.
Tip: If you want to insert a section of text from another document, you can simply copy it and paste
it into the memo field. You can also simply highlight the text and drag it in.
The Toolbar in the Memo Window
Wherever you see a memo, you can double-click on it to open it. In the toolbar at the top of the
memo window, you have the following functions:
Display search toolbar – Opens another toolbar that allows you to browse the open memo.
Delete Memo – Deletes the memo after confirmation.
Link to code – Assigns the memo a code from the Quick list of codes.
Remove link to code – Removes selected codes from the “Linked Codes” window.
Print – Prints the selected memo.
Export – Exports the displayed memo as a text document in RTF format, which can be opened
in, for example, Word.
Save Memo Content
MAXQDA saves all the information that was entered in the Memo window when you close it. In
addition, the open memo window is saved automatically at regular intervals. You can adjust the
default value of 5 minutes under Project > Preferences (Windows) or MAXQDA12 > Preferences
(Mac).
Open Multiple Memos as Tabs
Tip: You can pull individual tabs out of the Memo window with the mouse, so you can view multi-
ple memos at the same time, each in their own Memo window. Alternatively, you can click Dock
window symbol, which will also bring up a new Memo window.

Viewing and Editing Memos140
Multiple open Memos in Tab display
Copying Memos
You can duplicate a memo by right-clicking on it and selecting Copy Memo. Then, right- click
again in a space where a memo can be inserted – such as in the memo column or in the Document
or Code System – and select Paste Memo.
Deleting Memos
You can delete an entire memo by clicking the corresponding Delete button. MAXQDA will prompt
you for confirmation before the memo is deleted.
Tip: You can delete a memo directly by right-clicking on the memo symbol and selecting Delete
memo.

Delete a memo via the context menu
10.4 Creating Document Memos in the “Document System”
Memos can also be attached to all items in the “Document System”, including individual docu-
ments, document groups, document sets, or the entire project. However, only a single memo can
be attached to an item, with the exception of within a document.
There are several options for creating a new memo in the “Document System:”
 Right-click on a level of the Document system and select the Memo option from the context
menu.
 Alternatively, you can create a memo for the currently selected document or level using the
keyboard shortcut Alt+Shift+M.
 The fastest way is to create a new memo is to double-click in the memo column to the left of
the code frequencies.

Creating Code Memos in the “Code System”142
Creating a memo for a document from the context menu
The memo text field is exactly the same as that of a memo for a text passage, and the author and
date will be entered automatically. The memo will automatically assume the document name as its
title; this can be changed at any time.
Once created, the memo icon will appear next to the entry in the “Document System” and can be
opened and modified by double-clicking on it.
Visualization of a memo in the “Document System”
A memo attached to the top level of the project can be used to retain a description of the entire
project. The memos of individual texts can be used to store immediately accessible summaries of
these texts. You can see the first few lines of a memo by hovering your mouse over it until a tooltip
appears. It is, therefore, a good idea to include the most important aspects of a memo in the first
few lines so that they will be displayed immediately when you hover the mouse.
10.5 Creating Code Memos in the “Code System”
MAXQDA also allows you to attach memos to codes. These memos often contain category defini-
tions and anchor examples.
There are several options for creating a new memo in the Code System:

 Right-click on a code and select Memo from the context menu.
 Alternatively, you can create a memo for the currently selected code using the keyboard
shortcut Alt+Shift+M.
 The fastest way to create a new memo is to double-click in the memo column to the left of the
code frequencies.
Example
Let’s say that you wanted to create a memo with a code definition – and later for an anchor exam-
ple – for the code “Insurance.” You would just need to right-click on the code in the “Code Sys-
tem” and select Code memo. The memo window then appears, where you can customize the
memo as per usual.
Creating a code memo
After closing the memo, you will see a yellow memo symbol next to the code in the “Code Sys-
tem”, making it easy to recognize that this code has a memo attached to it.
Tip: For code memos, you will often want to insert an anchor example or explanation of when the
code should be used. To insert parts of an open text in a memo, simply highlight the desired text,
then drag and drop it into the memo with the left mouse button.
As with other memo types, you can choose another one of the visualization options in the place of
the default yellow memo icon. The selected icon will appear next to the code in the “Code Sys-
tem”.
10.6 Printing and Exporting Individual Memos
Individual memos can be printed or exported. In the memo window, there are icons for both: Print
and Export .
Clicking the Print icon will open the print preview window, where you can define the header, mar-
gins, etc. The memo title is set as the heading, and the author and creation date/time are listed un-
derneath it.

Managing Memos in the “Overview of memos”144
It is also possible to export the entire memo as in RTF format for a word processing program. Click
on the Export icon to export the memo. In this case, you must select a file name under which
the memo will be saved.
NY Interview Notes
Document group New York
Author Marissa
Creation date 11.02.2011 09:52:38
There were very few interruptions during our interviews in NY. All of them took between 60 and 90 minutes,
and none of the interviewees seemed overly nervous to be talking to us.
An exported memo
10.7 Managing Memos in the “Overview of memos”
Memos aren’t only accessible from their location next to documents, codes, document segments,
etc. They are also available as an “Overview of memos”. You can access these overviews in various
ways. An overview of all memos in the entire project can be called up by selecting Analysis >
Overview of memos or by clicking on the symbol in the “MAXQDA standard” toolbar.
In addition, contextual listings of memos in the "Document System" and “Code System” are avail-
able. If you select Overview of memos from the context menu of a document group, MAXQDA
lists all of the memos assigned to the documents themselves. In the context menu for a code, there
is an Overview of linked memos option, which provides a list of all of the memos assigned to the
selected code.
However you open the “Overview of memos,” a table will appear with a list of the requested mem-
os. Each row represents one memo.
Tip: If you click on the row of a text memo, the text to which the memo is attached will be dis-
played in the “Document Browser”, and will be positioned at exactly the point where the memo is
located. Double-clicking on the row will open the memo for editing.

The “Overview of memos"
The columns in the table contain all important information about the memo, including:
 The name of the document and document group in which the memo is found (or the name of
the code in the case of a code memo).
 For memos attached to document segments, the paragraph number of that segment is listed.
 The author of the memo.
 The creation date.
 A preview of the memo text made up of the first 63 characters
 The origin of the memo (e.g. the document, document group, document segment, or code the
memo is attached to).
The upper section of the window displays the memo text, so that various memos can be scrolled
though without opening individual memo windows for each. Memos cannot be modified or deleted
in the “Overview of memos”. Instead, right-click on the line where the memo is listed and select
Delete Memo.
Note: To modify a memo, double-click on the line where it is located. The usual memo window will
open, and from here you can modify or add to the memo text.
Sort Overview of Memos and Customize View
As with all tables in MAXQDA, the table columns can be moved into a different order. Simply click
the column header and hold the mouse button as you move the column into the desired position.
Table columns can be hidden by right-clicking the column header and selecting Hide. You can also
choose which columns should be included in the table. By right-clicking on any of the column
headers, you will have the option to choose Select fields. You can then check the box next to the
columns that you wish to view and uncheck the boxes of any columns you want to hide.

Managing Memos in the “Overview of memos”146
The table can be sorted in ascending or descending order, using any column as the sort criterion. To
access this function, click the column header. For example, if you click on the “Document Group”
column header, the table will be sorted in ascending order of document groups, beginning with A.
If you click the column header again, the table will be sorted in descending order of document
groups beginning with Z.
The same applies to all data fields: If you click on the “Creation date” column header, the memos
will be sorted according to the dates they were created. If you click on the “Author” column head-
er, all memos written by an author will appear in succession.
Filtering the “Overview of Memos”
As with all overviews in MAXQDA, the tabular Overview of Memos can be sorted according to di-
verse criteria. This is especially handy if you want to compile only the code memos of a project or
user, or only the memos that were created after a certain date.
For example, to compile all of the code memos for a project, proceed as follows:
1. Open the “Overview of memos” with all memos. The fastest way to do so is to click on the
symbol in the standard toolbar.
2. Right-click on the “Origin” column heading and select Filter.
3. In the dialog box that appears, select “Contains” and enter “Code”:
Filtering the “Overview of Memos”
4. When you click OK, MAXQDA will list the code memos of the project only.

Listing of all code memos in a project
Browsing the “Overview of memos”
It is also possible to search in the various columns. To search in a specific column, right-click on the
column header and select Search. The instances where the search term appears are immediately
highlighted, and the up and down arrows allow you to navigate between memos. To search multi-
ple columns simultaneously, select the Choose search columns option. When you use the magnify-
ing glass symbol in the “Overview of Memos” toolbar, the search will automatically be carried
out in all columns.
Note: When you search the “Preview” column, only the only the first 63 characters of the memo
will be included in the search. If you want to search the entire memo text, select the option Analy-
sis > Lexical search.
Creating a New Free Memo
In the "Overview of memos" toolbar you will find the New free memo icon . You can create a
new free memo, which is not assigned to any particular document, code, or text by clicking on this
icon. Alternatively, you can create a new free memo by selecting Analysis > New free memo from
the main menu.
Free Memos are visible in the "Overview of memos" only when all memos from the project are in-
cluded.
Jumping from the “Overview of memos” to a Memo
From each memo displayed in MAXQDA’s “Overview of Memos”, you can jump to the position in
the document that the memo is attached to. You need only click on the desired memo with the left
mouse button. The source document immediately appears in the “Document Browser” positioned
exactly at the place where the memo is found.

Searching for Text in Memos148
This option only works with memos attached to document segments, of course. If you click on a
code memo, the “Document Browser” remains unchanged, but the code is highlighted in the
“Code System.” The same happens with memos that are attached to objects in the “Document
System.”
Jumping from a memo to its position in a document
10.8 Searching for Text in Memos
While a targeted search for a specific memo based on attributes such as “Document name”, “Au-
thor”, “Creation date”, or “Memo title” is realized within the “Overview of memos”, the search for
actual words or strings in the memos themselves is realized using the Lexical Search function -
unless a standard search in the “Preview” column, which includes the first 63 characters of the
memo, is sufficient.
To search in the memo text, select Analysis > Lexical Search and enter the search word or words.
If you want to search in the memos, you must specify In memos as the search criterion in the Lexi-
cal Search window; otherwise the search will take place in the documents themselves.

Searching for “health” in the project memos
The results are shown as a list of all memos that contain the search string in the memo text. This
table can be worked with as described above. You can sort, jump to the document, edit the mem-
os, etc.
10.9 Exporting a Selection of Memos
The result of a search for specific words in memos is a table listing all the memos containing the
words. The same type of result, memos in a table, is obtained through a search for linked memos or
when viewing the memos attached to a document or document group, as described above.
These tables of memos can be exported, that is saved as a file to be opened with another program.
You can save the table in XLS/X, RTF, or HTML format. Click on one of the Export buttons located in
the upper left corner of the dialog box, and choose appropriate the format.
The exported RTF file appears as follows:

Exporting a Selection of Memos150
Title Life strategy and mental health
Document New YorkVincent
Paragraph 9
Author Marissa
Creation date 12.02.2011
Again, this touches on Vincent's life strategy. He is able to maintain “strong mental health” and have a positive
attitude even though he realizes he's “an accident waiting for a place.” Again, it seems like his previous life
strategy enabled him to successfully deal with the situation.
Is it just Vincent's PMA that enabled him to cope, or is there something more? Other people use religion or a
support network (friends, family, etc.) to get through tough situations - is that the same sort of thing going
on???
Part of an exported memo table in RTF format
Here you see all the information contained in the memo, such as memo title, creation date, and
linked codes as well as the memo text itself. The exported RTF file can be opened in your word pro-
cessing program to add layout features like headers and footers.
If you choose HTML or XLS/X as the export format, MAXQDA creates a table that is immediately
opened in your default web browser such as Internet Explorer or Excel. It is also easy to print out the
list in these formats.
Results of a memo export in HTML format
Note: The entire table with all of your memos will be exported unless you have selected some of
the memos, which are then marked green. You can select a single menu by clicking on it with your
mouse. If you want to select more than one, hold the Ctrl (Windows) or cmd (Mac) button as you
click on them. If you want to select a number of memos that are right next to each other in the list,
click on the first one, hold Shift, and then click on the last one. All of the memos in between the
first and the last will also be included in the selection.

Selected memos are green in the memo table
10.10 Linking Codes to Memos
Similar to document segments, memos can also be linked to a code. You can do this via the Code
Quick List, which is symbolized by the blue arrow in the memo toolbar. Clicking on this symbol
opens the most recently-used codes, so you can choose which ones to assign to the memo. If the
code you are looking for is not in the Quick List, simply click on the code in the “Code System” and
try again. The code should now be listed at the top of the list.

Viewing Memos Linked to a Code152
Linking a memo to a code
The linked code is then displayed with its complete path (codesubcodesubcode) in the Codes area
in the top right of the memo window.
If you later decide to remove a linked code, simply click on the code in the memo window and click
on the toolbar symbol of the blue arrow with a red x on it.
10.11 Viewing Memos Linked to a Code
Codes can be linked to memos in order to indicate what the memo is about. Of course, you can
choose a descriptive title for a memo, based on the content of the memo, but to attach codes is a
more systematic way to attach more thematic topics than could be formulated in a memo’s title.
To find all memos that are linked to the same code, right-click on the code in the “Code System”
and select Overview of linked memos from the context menu that appears.
The result is a table of memos. The table contains all the memos to which the code is attached. As
usual, double-clicking on a row opens the memo and a single click brings the source document into
the “Document Browser” window.
The table can be sorted according to its columns and it can be exported to other programs.

10.12 Compiling Memos of a Specific Document or Document
Group
The memos belonging to a particular document group, document set, or document can be viewed
in a table. Right-click on the selection and choose Overview of memos from the menu that ap-
pears.
MAXQDA will then open a “Overview of memos” table containing all the memos attached to these
document(s). As with the “Overview of memos”, it is possible to sort the table, search in the differ-
ent columns of the table, jump to the source document, and export the table or parts of it to an
external file or to the clipboard.
10.13 Converting a Memo into a Document
Since memos are used to assist in the development of ideas and hypotheses, it could happen that
they quickly become very important to your analysis. In some cases, these memos may be important
enough that you wish to convert them into documents, so they can be analyzed and coded. It is
only possible to associate an entire memo with codes, while every single character of a document
can theoretically be coded as many times as needed.
To convert a memo into a document, follow these steps:
1. Open the “Overview of memos” by selecting Analysis > Overview of memos
2. Right-click on the memo to be transformed
3. Select Convert to a document
The newly-created document will now be listed as the first document in the “Document System.”
The first lines of the document are the former memo’s title, author, and creation date.
Tip: The function is also available in the context menu of any memo symbol. Right-click on a memo
icon in MAXQDA and choose Convert to a docment to transform the memo into a document in
the „Document System“.

Document and Code Variables in MAXQDA154
11 Variables
11.1 Document and Code Variables in MAXQDA
MAXQDA differentiates between “document variables” and “code variables”:
Document Variables
Document variables are associated with an entire document, (e.g. the person interviewed in an in-
terview transcript). In these cases, you can assign socio-demographic information like gender, age,
education level, etc. that can then be analyzed in conjunction with the actual text.
In the following example, the age and gender of all five respondents was noted, in addition to
whether they were members of an NGO:
Example of application of Document Variables
Code Variables
The development of code variables in MAXQDA makes it possible for you to define variables within
a document and to use their values as selection criteria during the evaluation process. In this way,
you can, for example, activate codes by defined criteria.
11.2 The “List of document variables” and the “List of code
variables”
MAXQDA allows you to add variables to each document and code.
Two views are available from which to manage variables: The “List of variables” and the “Data edi-
tor.“ In the “List of variables,” all variables defined within the project are listed in a table. The “Data
editor“ presents the data table as a square matrix showing “Rows x Columns,” similar to a statistics
program. The documents or codes are displayed in the rows of the table, with the variables being
displayed in the columns.

Variables 155
The “List of document variables”
The “List of document variables” can be called up from the menu Variables > List of document
variables.
When you open the “List of document variables” in a newly created project, the system variables
displayed in the image are already defined:
 Document group – contains the name of the document group that a particular document is a
part of
 Document name – contains the name of the document
 Creation date – contains the date the document was imported/created
 Number of coded segments – contains the number of coded segments in the document
 Number of memos – contains the number of memos in the document
 Author – the user that was logged in when the document was imported or created
System Variables in the “List of document variables”
The system variables are indicated with a red symbol in the first column of the list of variables. Sys-
tem-defined variables cannot be modified or deleted. User-defined variables are indicated with a
blue symbol in the first column - these variables can be modified or deleted as desired.
The “List of code variables”
The “List of code variables” can be called up from the menu Variables > List of code variables.
When you open the “List of code variables” in a newly created project, the system variables dis-
played in the image are already defined:
 Position – Position of the code in the Code System
 Parent code – Names of the codes at the following (higher) level (if applicable)
 Code – Code name
 All coded segments – Number of segments coded with this code
 Activated coded segments – Number of segments coded with this code in current activated
documents (code needs to be activated)
 Author – User who created the code

The “List of document variables” and the “List of code variables”156
 Creation date – Date and time at which the code was created
 All coded segments % – Relative frequency of “All coded segments”
 Activated coded segments % – Relative frequency of “Activated coded segments”
 Documents – Number of documents in which the code appears
System variables in the “List of code variables”
Sorting the “List of variables”
The list of variables can be sorted in alphabetical or reverse alphabetical order just like any other
table in MAXQDA. Simply click once or twice on the column header you would like to sort by.
The Toolbar
Both the “List of document variables” and “List of code variables” can be managed from the
toolbar, which contains identical symbols for both lists.
Import data – allows import of spreadsheets in XLS/X format.
Data editor – switches from the Variable view to the Data view.
Liste of variables – switches from the Data view to the Variable view.
New variable – creates a new variable.
Delete variable – deletes selected variable.
Transform into binary variable – converts selected variables into dichotomous variables.
Transform into string variable – converts selected variables into string variables.
Statistic of document-/code variables – generates a frequency table or chart for the indicated
variable.

Variables 157
11.3 Adding new variables
You can add new variables to both the “List of document variables” and “List of code variables”:
1. Select List of document variables or code variables from the Variables drop-down menu
2. Click on the New variable icon in the toolbar.
Creating a new variable with the icon in the toolbar
The following window will appear:
Defining a new variable
You can now insert a name for the variable and choose its type. There are five different types of
variables to be chosen from:
 Text
 Integer
 Floating point (number)
 Date/time

Changing Variable Types158
 Boolean (true/false)
When creating an integer variable, you also have the option of defining whether it is a metric or a
categorical variable. The variable for age, for example, can be handled in various ways: if you want
to enter the age in years, you are dealing with a metric variable, for which you may want to estab-
lish a mean. If you have defined ages into categories (e.g. 1 = under 18, 2 = 18-30, 3 = 31-50, 4 =
51+), then you are dealing with a categorical variable, for which you would not want to find a
mean value.
You can also select what value should be inserted automatically for those cases where there is a
missing value. This is especially important if you are planning to later export the data to a statistics
program.
Tip: To avoid confusion, it is recommended that you do not create two variables with the same
name. Statistics programs do not allow for this, which could cause problems later if you attempt to
export data from MAXQDA to that program.
If you are planning to later export the data to such a program, it is recommended that you choose
integer as your variable type if you aren’t sure which to use. SPSS can now automatically transform
a string into a numerical variable, though, which allows you to create a more user-friendly string
variable. For example, it is easier to avoid confusion, when you see “Gender = Male” rather than
“Gender = 0.”
Note: Document variables are created for the entire project, which means you cannot create differ-
ent variables for each document group.
The number of variables is not limited; you may add new variables or remove them whenever you’d
like. However, MAXQDA is not designed to be a statistical program, but rather a program for quali-
tative data analysis and mixed methods approaches, where working with more than 100 attributes
is rather unusual.
When creating a name for your variable, it is important that you think ahead. MAXQDA lets you
create a name with up to 63 characters, and there aren’t any syntax rules, meaning you can use
several words with spaces and special symbols.
Tip: If you are planning on exporting your variables later to another program, though, you should
check on this other program’s requirements. Many statistics programs are more restrictive; SYS-
TAT/MYStat, for example, only allows for variable names with eight or fewer characters, as was the
case with earlier versions of SPSS. The variable names are also often used in MAXQDA’s visual tools
(usually as column headers), so long variable names can also take up more space than you would
want them to.
11.4 Changing Variable Types
MAXQDA allows for changes in variable types for existing variables:
 Document variables, which display how often a code exists (their source is acknowledged as
“code”) can be transformed into a binary variable by clicking on the button. After it is trans-

Variables 159
formed the variable only contains the values 1 and 0, stating if a code has been assigned in this
document or not. (see Transforming a Code into a Document Variable).
 User defined variables “Integer,” “Floating Point,” “Date/Time” and “Boolean” can be trans-
formed into text variables by clicking the .
Transforming a variable to binary or string cannot be reversed.
11.5 Renaming and Deleting Variables
Variables can be given a new name at any time. Double-click on the variable, and enter the new
name.
Renaming a variable in “List of document variables”
Renaming a variable is possible at any time and does not affect the variable’s stored values.
Deleting a variable is done in the same way as renaming it. Select the variable you want to delete
with the mouse. Now the focused variable is highlighted in green. Then click the Delete variable
button in the toolbar. When you delete a variable, the whole column including all its values will
be removed from the table.
11.6 The “Data editor”
When working with variables, two views are available in MAXQDA: the variables view in the “List of
document variables” or “List of code variables,” and the data view in the “Data editor (document
variables)” or “Data editor (code variables).” The “Data editor” is similar to statistics programs in
that the data is displayed as a rectangular matrix with a “rows x columns” structure. The variables
are displayed in the columns; while the rows display the document variables for documents or the
code variables for codes. For document variables the table will contain as many rows as there are

The “Data editor”160
documents in the “Document System”; for example, in an interview study, the number of rows will
correspond to the number of interviewees. For code variables, the number of rows corresponds to
the number of codes, and their subcodes for which code variables were queried.
Calling up the “Data editor (document variables)”
The “Data editor (document variables)” can be called up in 3 ways:
1. from the menu Variables > Data editor (document variables),
29. from the “List of document variables” by clicking on the Variable view button,
30. in the “Document System” window, by selecting Overview of variables in the context menu.
When called up at the top level, the table contains all the documents; at the document group
level, the data table contains only corresponding documents, and at the document level, only
data.
Alternatively, you can click on the quick button in the “MAXQDA standard” toolbar:
Quick button for accessing the “Data editor (document variables)”
A table will appear, in which the selected documents and their corresponding variable values are
listed. System variables can be recognized by the black column heading; this cannot be modified in
the table. User-defined variables are indicated with a blue heading; their values can be adjusted by
double-clicking the appropriate cell.
Data editor (document variables)
In the “Data editor (document variables)” it is possible to access a document by right-clicking the
appropriate row. A context menu will appear which lists options for opening the document.

Variables 161
Context menu in “Data editor (document variables)”
Calling up the “Data editor (code variables)”
The “Data editor (code variables)” can be called up in 3 ways:
1. from the menu Variables > Data editor (code variables),
2. from the “List of code variables” by clicking on the Data editor button, or,
3. in the “Code System” window, by selecting Overview of variables in the context menu of a code.
If you click on a code, which does not contain subcodes, only the variable values for this code
will be listed in the table. If the code contains subcodes, the variables of the subcodes will also
be listed.
Alternatively, you can click on the quick button in the “MAXQDA standard” toolbar:

The “Data editor”162
Quick button for accessing the “Data editor (code variables)”
A table will appear which lists the selected codes and their corresponding variable values.
An extensive context menu, the same as in the “Code System”, is also available for individual codes.
The “Data editor” Toolbar
At the top of the “Data editor” there is a toolbar, which provides easy access to multiple functions
including the following:
Import data – allows you to import a table for code variables
Data editor – switches from the Variable view to the Data view.
List of document variables – switches from the Data view to Variable view.
Open as Excel table – generates a table in XLS/X format and opens the program associated
with this file format. If specific rows are selected (highlighted in green), only these rows will be dis-
played, otherwise the entire table will be displayed.
Open as HTML table – generates a table in HTML format and opens it in the selected default
browser. If specific rows are selected (highlighted in green), only these rows will be displayed, oth-
erwise the entire table will be displayed.
Export – a table will be saved in XLS/X, HTML, RTF or TXT (tab-delimited) format, then opened
in Excel or in the default browser. If specific rows are selected (highlighted in green), only these
rows will be displayed, otherwise the entire table will be exported.
Managing Tables
If you have created a large number of variables, it quickly becomes difficult to see then entire table
at one time. You can view more columns at one time by making the columns thinner (click and drag
the separator between column headers), but eventually even this does not suffice.
You do, of course, have the option of scrolling to the right, but you can also change the order of
the columns by clicking on a column header and dragging it to the location where you would like to
have it. It’s easier, though, to simply hide those columns that you aren’t working with. To do so,
simply right-click on any column header and choose Select fields. You can then check the boxes
next to the columns you would like to view and uncheck the boxes next to the columns you want to
be hidden.

Variables 163
Variable selection of columns to be viewed
Besides (un)checking the boxes one by one, you also have the following options:
 select all fields
 deselect all fields
 only system fields (those automatically created by MAXQDA)
 hide or show variables by checking or un-checking the box in front of the variable name
11.7 Entering Variable Values in “Data editor”
To insert variable values into the “Data editor:”
Double-click on the cell of the table where you would like to insert a value. The values that have
already been given to any of the cases in the column are in the drop-down list, sorted alphabetical-
ly. You can view this list and select a value from it by clicking on the triangle to the right of the cell
you double-clicked on.
If the value isn’t available in the drop-down list, you can simply type in the value after double-
clicking in the cell.
Tip: Drop-down lists are less useful when a variable has many different values (e.g. the exact in-
come of every interviewee). Even if the value was in the drop-down list, it would be faster to type it
in than to search for it. You can stop the program from displaying a column’s drop-down list by
right-clicking on the column header and selecting (to uncheck) List of values.

Exporting Document and Code Variables164
Options for the variable value in the quick list
11.8 Exporting Document and Code Variables
MAXQDA provides basic functions for the statistical analysis of variables, and makes it possible to
create frequency tables and diagrams for individual variable values. For further analysis, such as clus-
ter or factor analysis, it is necessary to export the data table of document or code variables in order
to perform the statistical analysis in the appropriate program.
To export the variables:
1. Click on the Export button in the toolbar of the “Data editor” or choose Variables > Export
data (document variables) or (code variables) in the drop-down menu.
2. Give the exported file a name. You can also select exactly where you want to save the file.
3. For the file format, you can choose between XLS/X, HTML, and TXT (tab delimited). Most statis-
tics programs work just fine with XLS/X files.
4. Select OK.
The exported file will then be opened in Excel and can be immediately analyzed.
Note: In many statistical programs, the variable names are limited in length. As the length of the
variable name in MAXQDA can be up to 63 characters, it is recommended that you shorten the file
name for export in order to avoid potential problems during subsequent work with the statistics
program. Choose file names in which the first 8 characters of the variables differ in each case to
avoid duplicates in the statistical software when you import the file.

Variables 165
Exported variable matrix in Excel
Tip: The variable matrix can also be transferred via the clipboard. You can either select the entire
matrix using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+A (Windows) or cmd+A (Mac), or select individual rows by
clicking on them while holding down the Ctrl (Windows) or cmd (Mac) button. Use the keyboard
shortcut Ctrl+C (Windows) or cmd+C (Mac) to copy the selected data onto the clipboard.
11.9 Importing a Data Matrix for Document Variables
There are several situations in which you might want to import document variables into MAXQDA,
such as:
 If you want to analyze answers to open-ended questions in combination with the quantitative
socio-demographic information that you acquired for each of those who filled out the survey.
Usually, you will already have this quantitative data in a matrix of some sort, and re-entering
that information into MAXQDA would just cause you unnecessary work.
 If you and others in a research team each entered variable values for various documents and
now want to bring them all together.
 If you did statistical analysis on material that you exported from MAXQDA and now want to
reimport the results of your statistical analysis into MAXQDA. You could, for example, have
done a cluster analysis, and now want to import the information about which cluster each doc-
ument belongs to as a variable into MAXQDA. If you want to avoid entering each one of these
new values by hand, you can simply use the variable import option.
MAXQDA can import data from XLS/X files. The data must be organized as follows:

Importing a Data Matrix for Document Variables166
Document group Document name Variable 1 ... Variable N
Group 1 Text 1 Variable value for Text 1 Variable value for Text 1
Group 1 Picture 1 Variable value for Picture 1 Variable value for Picture 1
The first two column headers serve as markers for assigning variable values to the documents and
are required for successful import. Every row must have an entry for the document group and doc-
ument name columns. Only if these exact group and document names are found in the “Document
System” of the MAXQDA project, will the variables and variable values be imported. You can then
include as many different variable columns as you wish.
Note: The variable values for documents that do not belong to a document group can also be im-
ported. In order to do so, the appropriate cell in the “Document Group” column must be left emp-
ty.
After preparing and saving the document, you can start the import procedure by selecting Varia-
bles > Import data (document variables) from the drop-down menu. Alternatively, you can click
on the Import data (document variables) symbol in the “List of document variables.”
"Import data” button in the “List of document variables”
A dialog field appears in which you can specify the source and target variables along with the type
of variables to be imported.
MAXQDA does the following during the import:
1. All variables in the import file that did not yet exist in the MAXQDA project are created
2. Variables that already existed will be updated with the new values in the import file.
Attention: If you don’t see the new variables in the variable list after import, it may be that they
need to be toggled on. To do this, right-click on one of the column headers and choose Select
fields.
Tip: An easy way to set up an Excel file for importing new values is to first export the variable data
matrix as an Excel file by clicking on the Excel icon in the toolbar of the variable list. An Excel file
with all of the current variables will open up, and you can then add new columns for new variables
and update variable values that you want changed. All you have to do after that is save the Excel
file and import it into MAXQDA.

Variables 167
11.10 Importing a Data Matrix for Code Variables
MAXQDA can import data from XLS/X files. The data must be organized as follows:
Code Variable 1 ... Variable N
Parent code 1Code 1 Variable value for code 1 Variable value for code 1
Parent code 1Code 2 Variable value for code 2 Variable value for subcode 2
The first column heading is the unambiguous assignment of variable values to a code, so this col-
umn and its heading are mandatory. Each line must designate a code in the corresponding column.
For subcodes, the entire path must be specified in the code system, in which the codes are separat-
ed by a backslash.
Tip: To insert a backslash “” on a Mac, use the keyboard command alt+⇧+7.
Only when a code, which matches this information exactly, is found in the “Code System” will the
variable be imported. You can add as many variables as required in the subsequent columns.
After preparing and saving the import data, you can then start the import procedure by choosing
Variables > Data import (code variables) from the drop-down menu. Alternatively, you can click
on the Import data (code variables) button in the “List of code variables.”
A dialog field appears in which you can specify the source and target variables along with the type
of variables to be imported.
MAXQDA does the following during the import:
1. All variables in the import file that did not yet exist in the MAXQDA project are created.
2. Variables that already existed will be updated with the new values in the import file.
Attention: If you don’t see the newly-imported code variables in the code variable list, it may be
because they were toggled off. Simply right-click on a column header and choose “Select fields” to
change which variables are viewed.
Tip: An easy way to set up an Excel file for importing new values is to first export the variable data
matrix as an Excel file by clicking on the Excel icon in the toolbar of the variable list. An Excel file
with all of the current variables will open up, and you can then add new columns for new variables
and update variable values that you want changed. All you have to do after that is save the Excel
file and import it into MAXQDA.
11.11 Importing the Data Matrix into SPSS
Importing the variable matrix from MAXQDA into SPSS is easiest when you use the Excel format:
 Choose Export data (document variables) from the Variables drop-down menu.
 Choose the Excel format (XLS/X), give the file a name, and choose where you want to save it.

Importing the Data Matrix into SPSS168
 The file will then be opened automatically in Excel, so you can check that everything is format-
ted correctly. Close the document, so SPSS will be able to open it.
 Open SPSS and choose the option to open data. Change the data type to Excel.
Choosing the file type in SPSS
 Navigate to the file you just saved and double-click on it.
 Make sure the box Read variable names from the first row of data is checked and click OK.
Setting the import settings in SPSS
The results will look as follows:

Variables 169
Variable matrix of the document variables imported into SPSS
11.12 Displaying Document Variables as Tooltips
It is often necessary to call up background information on a document in the “Document
System” (for example, the age or gender of a participant, or whether this participant works
for an NGO). To this end, you can choose as many document variables in the “List of doc-
ument variables” as you wish; their respective values will then be displayed as tooltips in
the “Document System.”
Check the box in the Display as Tooltip column in order to select the document variable to dis-
play`.
Select tooltip display for document variable

Displaying Document Variables as Tooltips170
When you click on a document in the “Document System,” a tooltip showing the value of the se-
lected variable will appear. In the following image, the display shows that the respondent “Teresa”
is female, over 25 years old and lives in New York.
Tooltip display of variable value in a document
The variable value will also be displayed in the source information in the “Retrieved Segments.”
Variable value display in the source information of a coded segment
When the “Retrieved Segments” is exported, the source information of each segment will also be
displayed upon demand.

Searching for Text: The Lexical Search 171
12 Searching for Text: The Lexical Search
12.1 Lexical Search Options
MAXQDA offers three main ways to search in the texts or within each main window.
 Each of the four main windows has a toolbar at the top of it that contains a magnifying glass
icon. Clicking on this opens a field where you can enter text to search for within that window.
 With the lexical search tool (the magnifying glass in the “MAXQDA standard” toolbar), you can
search within all documents, memos, or coded segments. You also have the option of limiting
this search to certain activated documents or document groups.
 The third option is to do an extended lexical search using Boolean operators.
12.2 Search in the Four Main Windows
All four main windows in MAXQDA have a magnifying glass icon in their toolbars. Clicking on this
icon opens a search field. Below you can see the search field in the “Document Browser.”
Search in the “Document Browser”
MAXQDA begins searching as soon as you type the first character in the field. It carries out a classic
search, meaning that it looks anywhere for that character combination, even if it’s not found at the
beginning of a word. Searching for “sic” will bring up words like “musical” and “sick.”
MAXQDA also shows you how often that particular search string has been found.

The Lexical Search: Options in the Dialog Window172
12.3 The Lexical Search: Options in the Dialog Window
The lexical search function allows you to research your documents without first coding them. You
can do searches of either
 documents,
 memos, or
 coded segments, which are currently shown in the “Retrieved Segments” window.
 The search can also be limited to activated documents. You can choose to search in a single
document, a document group, or all documents that have certain variable values. The lexical
search function can be started by selecting Lexical search from the Analysis drop-down menu
or by clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the “MAXQDA standard” toolbar.
Lexical search icon in the “MAXQDA standard” toolbar
After selecting to do a lexical search, the following window will appear:
The dialog window for the lexical search
When the dialog box first comes up, the left pane is empty. Click New to enter the word or string
(called the “search string”) that you want to find.
Search strings may consist of one word, multiple words, or only of a part of a word. For instance,
you can search for “Tom Hanks,” “Hanks,” or only “anks.” Quotation marks are not necessary if a
search string consists of more than one word.
Tip: If you highlight text in the „Document Browser“ then right-click on it and select the option
Search for highlighted text, the highlighted text will be displayed directly in the Lexical Search
window.
Search strings may contain so-called “wild card” characters. The characters * or ? function as fol-
lows:

 If the character “?” appears in a search string, MAXQDA finds, for instance, “Hanks” if the
search string is “H?nks,” but “Hunks” or “Hinks” would also be found.
 The character “*” stands for multiple characters, e.g. “H*ks” would find “Hanks” and also
“Hawks.”
 The beginning of a word can be delimited by the character “<.” The search string “<(inter)”
would find “Interest,” “interesting,” but not “winter.”
 The end of a word can be delimited by the character “>.” Thus, the string “(ks)>” would find
“Hanks,” “Banks,” and “thanks,” but not “Bankside.”
Click the Delete button to remove search strings from the list. By holding down the Ctrl key (Win-
dows) or cmd key (Mac), you can delete multiple search strings at once. You can also modify your
search strings at any time.
You will find the options for the search procedure in the right pane of the Lexical Search window.
First, you must specify where you wish to search:
 If you select In documents, additional selection fields that were previously displayed in light
grey will become available. These additional fields include “Only in activated documents” and
“Only in retrieved segments”. If no texts are activated, these options will not be available.
Other options:
 Find whole words – Search only for strings that are exactly the same as the search string. For
example, if you search for “teach,” the string “teacher” will not be included in the search re-
sults. If you turn this function off, “teach” would also give you the strings “teacher” or “teach-
ing” as results.
 Case sensitive – Search only for strings in which the same letters are capitalized as in the search
string.
 OR/AND combinations – For searches with more than one search string. With OR checked:
search for segments containing only one of the search strings. With AND checked: search for
segments containing all of the search terms (their required position with respect to one another
can be defined).
 Within x paragraphs – If this option is NOT selected (check box left blank), the search extends
through the entire document. For example, if the search strings “Public” and “Citizens” are en-
tered, the entire document will be searched to see if each of the search strings occurs at least
once. If so, all occurrences of both search strings will be displayed in the results list.
If the box is checked and the number of paragraphs is specified, the search will proceed as fol-
lows:
Within 1 Paragraph: The search strings must occur within the same paragraph. For the example
above, the results list would contain two rows, one containing the search string “Public” and the
second containing the search string “Citizens”.
Within 2 Paragraphs: The search strings must occur within two paragraphs of one another. For
the example above, if the search string “Public” occurs in paragraph 12, the search string “Citi-
zens” must occur in paragraphs 11, 12, or 13 in order to register as a hit.

Search Results174
Note: The interval between paragraphs can be as large as desired.
As soon as you click the Search button, the search will begin.
In order to spare you the effort of typing in a long list of search strings again and again, MAXQDA
can save the search settings. To do this, click on Save, enter a name, and click on Save again. This
creates a search file with the file extension ”.sea,” which you can open and continue to use at a
later time.
Depending on how many documents you search and how complex the search is, it could take some
time to find all of the results.
12.4 Search Results
Your search results will be shown in a table that appears as follows:
Example search results
Along with the usual filter functions, the toolbar at the top of the results window provides access to
the following functions:
Autocode search results – codes search results with an existing code. All search results that
have not been excluded from the selection (and which display a Stop symbol in the first column)
will be autocoded.
Code search results with a new code – codes search results with a new code. All search re-
sults that have not been excluded from the selection (and which display a Stop symbol in the
first column) will be autocoded.
Autocode/Export: ignore hit – exclude selected rows from autocoding and exportation by
clicking on this icon.
Open as Excel table – the search table will be opened in XLS/X format in the appropriate pro-
gram (usually Excel). If you have selected a section of the results table (marked green), only these
will be included in the new table.

Open as HTML table – the search table will be opened as an HTML table in your standard in-
ternet browser. If you have selected a section of the results table (marked green), only these will be
included in the new table.
Export – The table will be saved in XLS/X, HTML, RTF or TXT (Tab delimited) format, then
opened in Excel or in the default browser. All rows that do not display a stop symbol will be export-
ed.
The table of search results can be handled in the same way as other tables in MAXQDA: clicking on
any column header will sort the table according to this criterion. For instance, clicking on Docu-
ment will arrange the document names included in the table in alphabetical order. Clicking here
again changes the sequence to descending order. A little triangle indicates the sort attribute and
order (ascending or descending).
The entire table or parts of it can be copied to the Windows clipboard (by selecting all or part of it
and pressing Ctrl+C (Windows) or cmd+C (Mac).
Below the title bar, you can see how many documents contain the search string and how many
times the search string appears in those documents.
Note: Once you click on a hit, the corresponding document is opened and positioned exactly where
the reference is located. The search term found is highlighted.
12.5 The Extended Lexical Search
The “Extended Lexical Search” function, as with the simple search option, allows you to analyze
your documents to a certain extent without having to have already done any coding. The searches
can be carried out in:
 documents,
 memos, or
 the coded segments currently called up in the “Retrieved Segments” window.
The search can also be limited to those documents that are currently activated in the Document
Browser.

Exporting Search Results176
Extended Lexical Search window
The Boolean operator “OR” always has the highest priority. If you do a search, for example, for
“climate change” AND “atom” AND NOT “war” OR “climate destruction,” MAXQDA will focus
first on the OR, creating in practice the following formula: (”climate change” AND “atom” AND
NOT “war”) OR “climate destruction”. The results will be those text segments that meet the first
criteria or the second criteria.
12.6 Exporting Search Results
The results table of the lexical search tool offers the possibility to export search results by clicking on
the Export icon in the toolbar of the results window. The following options window will appear,
where the range of the data to be exported in relation to the search term can be defined:
Options for search results output
The export window is divided into two parts. Options for the export of search results from a PDF
document can be selected in the upper section, with the corresponding options for search results

from text and table documents in the lower section. Exports of pure search results as a simple list is
generally not useful; therefore you can define the range for the export of search results.
For PDF documents, you can define how many words before and after the actual search term are
exported. This option is also available for text and spreadsheet documents, in addition to Sentence
and Paragraph options. When you select one of these two options, the name of the context op-
tions will change and you can choose how many sentences or paragraphs before and after the
search term you want to include:
Setting the data range for export
Setting Paragraph with 0 Paragraphs before and 0 Paragraphs after means that only para-
graphs in which the search term is found will be exported. If the term appears several times in the
same paragraph, the paragraph is still listed only once, whereas the search term or terms will be
listed more than once.
Setting 1 Paragraphs after means that the paragraph containing the search term, as well as the
following paragraph, will be exported.
When you click OK, a window will pop up in which you can select the file name, format, and loca-
tion to be saved. The following options are available:
 Excel (XLS/X),
 Website (HTML),
 Maintext in Rich Text Format (RTF)
 Table in Rich Text Format (RTF)
 Tab Delimited Text (TXT)
The result as Maintext in Rich Text Format will appear as follows:
Document: New YorkTeresa (28 - 28)
Search string: family
to go to college straight from high school in 1964 and become a teacher. I was a good student in high
school graduating 19th in a class of 403. I really wanted to go to college, but my family couldn't afford
it. Unfortunately, my mother had the attitude college was a waste for girls, because they got married
and didn't put their college education to use. So, I never pursued the issue. I know, I shouldn't blame
my mother for my not going to college. I could have been more enterprising and tried to find a way to
pay for it on my own. I think never having been a teacher will always haunt me. Now it's too late. I'd
have to take a large salary cut if I were to change professions at this stage in life.
Section of an exported results table with the option +/- 0 Paragraphs

Autocoding Search Results178
Each search result consists of the source data, including the name of the document group and doc-
ument, and the position in which the search string was found (in brackets), followed by the search
string itself.
12.7 Autocoding Search Results
Like the segments in the “Retrieved Segments” windows, lexical search results are automatically
coded, meaning all text passages found in the search are coded with a specific user code. This au-
tomatic coding has the advantage of being easy and reliable. The disadvantage, however, in com-
parison to human coding, is that there is no examination of the relevance of the text passage. The
occurrence of a specified string in the text triggers the coding. For example, if the word "Mother" is
automatically coded with the code "Family", references to "Mother Earth” would also be included.
To code the search results automatically, follow these steps:
1. The best way to code search results automatically is to click on the Autocode search results
with a new code symbol.
2. In the dialog box that appears, enter the new code and click OK. The new code will be inserted
at the top of code system.
Autocode search results: Define a new code
3. In the ensuing options window you can set the range before and after the search term as well
as the weight, which is established during the coding process.

Setting options for automatic coding of search results
In the "Code" field, you establish with which code MAXQDA should encode the search results.
The “Quick list of codes” – which lists the most recently used codes – is displayed in this win-
dow. The code that you created earlier is automatically selected here. Furthermore, a weight val-
ue can be set for all coded elements, that is to say, all segments will be coded with the same
weight.
In the “PDF documents” field, you can set whether only the respective search result should be
encoded, or whether additional words before and after the search results should be encoded as
well. These criteria applied only to PDF files.
In the “Text and table documents” field, you can determine whether sentences or paragraphs
before or after the search result should be encoded.
Setting the parameters for Autocoding
Setting Paragraph with 0 Paragraphs before and 0 Paragraphs after means that only the
paragraph in which the search term is found will be coded. If the term appears several times in
one paragraph, it will nevertheless be coded only once
The setting 1 Paragraph after means that the paragraph in which the search term is found as
well as the following paragraph will be coded. Again, if the term appears several times in one
paragraph, it will nevertheless be coded only once.
Note: If you do not want to code with a new code, but with an existing code from the "Code Sys-
tem”, you can use the Autocode search results option. Before you start the process, click on
the desired code in the Code System, which will cause the code to appear in the list of recently used
codes in the Autocode options window.

Keyword in Context (KWIC)180
Exclude Search Results from Autocoding
Fundamentally, all search terms that appear in the results list will be autocoded. However, before
executing the autocode function, you can review the list of search terms in order to decide whether
each term should be included or not. Once one or more lines in the results table have been select-
ed, click on the red icon Autocode/Export: ignore hit in order to exclude the entry.
The fastest way to exclude a term is to double-click in the first column.
Exclude search terms from autocoding
Note: The selected codes are incorporated into the undo coding list which can be accessed from
the Code toolbar with the icon. This action can be reversed with a single command if necessary.
12.8 Keyword in Context (KWIC)
Often, you wish to determine the context in which a given term is used. In this case, you can create
and print a so-called KWIC (KeyWord In Context) listing. The procedure is as follows:
1. Perform a lexical search by keyword.
2. In the results window, click the Autocode search results with new code symbol and set the
range, for example 10 words before and 10 words after.
3. After the autocoding is complete, double-click the newly created code in the “Code System”.
In the next step, you have several options:
 Either you can generate and print the output data in XLS/X, HTML or RTF format by clicking the
Export icon in the toolbar, or
 Create a new code in the “Code System,” transfer it to the quick list, and autocode the search
results with this code.
The second method is more flexible, since you can then load the KWIC list into the “Retrieved Seg-
ments” window, check the list, and remove any undesired segments (by right-clicking on the infor-
mation box on the left of the segment and selecting Delete from the context menu).
The final result, the corrected KWIC list, can be printed by selecting the menu option Print > Re-
trieved Segments from the Project drop-down menu. It is also possible to export or copy the

KWIC list to the clipboard. A table view is also available. To view the results as a table, double-click
on the newly inserted code, whereupon MAXQDA will open the overview of coded segments. This
can be exported as an Excel or HTML table or in RTF format.
The KWIC list has the following structure: each hit starts with the source data (document group,
document name, and the paragraph number containing the hit). The next line indicates the search
word or search string that has been found in that paragraph. Finally the text segment itself is listed.
New YorkMilly (23-23)
family
family
Family, 09 : My family my parents, my children, are very close. We share dreams and holidays and have much
warmth with each other.
New YorkMary (7-7)
family
I am pretty happy with my health situation. I get sick very rarely and when I do, it is only for a short amount of
time. I think this can be attributed to the fact that I eat right and exercise semi-regularly. However, my family
has a history of breast cancer and diabetes and I worry very much about contracting them.
Printout of search results from a file

Activation: The Principle of Segment Retrieval182
13 Coding Query: Finding Coded Segments
13.1 Activation: The Principle of Segment Retrieval
In MAXQDA, you can search for information in your documents in a variety of ways. One method is
to search for particular words or character strings with the lexical search function. You may be fa-
miliar with this search method from text-processing programs. The principle is basically the same in
MAXQDA, with the advantage that you can search many documents simultaneously for the words.
A lexical text search finds only those terms that actually appear in the text. Searching with theoreti-
cal concepts and subject categories, such as “Helper Syndrome” in a study of volunteers in social
work, will naturally not provide any results.
By assigning codes to appropriate document segments, you be able to find segments that relate to
a certain theme. This finding of coded segments, also known as retrieval, requires only that you
have created codes and assigned them to those document segments. After you have assigned codes
to the document segments, you will be able to call up all segments that were coded with the same
code. MAXQDA offers various ways to do this retrieval, but it is all based on activation of docu-
ments and codes.
The following explanation applies not only to texts, but also to coded segments in images, PDF files,
table documents, audio and video files.
The retrieval principle in MAXQDA is very simple:
All document segments from activated documents that were coded with any of the activated codes
will be called up and shown in the “Retrieved Segments” window.
Activating Documents
First the documents: All documents and document groups are listed in the “Document System.”
The starting point, then, is an inactivated document. The status of the document – whether activat-
ed or not – can be seen by its color. Inactivated documents are grey, and activated documents are
red.
An inactivated (left) and an activated (right) document
And how do you activate a document? There are several ways to activate documents:
1. Activation via the Context Menu
The first way to activate a document is with the context menu. Simply right-click on the document
and select Activate.
You will know that the document is activated, because it will turn red.
In the same way, you can activate entire document groups or document sets. Right-click on the
document group and select Activate all documents.

Coding Query: Finding Coded Segments 183
You can even activate all documents in your entire project at one time by right-clicking on the Doc-
uments icon at the top level of your “Document System” and selecting Activate all documents.
2. Activation with the Ctrl or cmd Key
A simple way to activate documents, similar to selecting files in Windows Explorer or Mac Finder, is
to hold down the Ctrl key (Windows) or cmd key (Mac) and to click on the required documents with
the left mouse key. An entire document group or all project documents can also be activated in this
way.
3. Activation with the Mouse
Alternatively, you can activate a document simply by clicking on they grey circle to the left of the
document symbol, or on the number of coded segments, which is displayed at the end of the line.
Activating Codes
Activating codes works in the same way as for documents. Either right-click on a code and click to
activate or hold the Ctrl key (Windows) or cmd key (Mac) and click on the code you would like to
activate. You can also simply click on the grey symbol to the left of the code, or on the code fre-
quency, which is displayed at the end of the line.
Activating a code via the context menu
Non-activated codes are displayed in grey, activated codes in red.
Tip: If you hold down the Shift key while clicking on a parent code, only the parent code, and not
its subcodes, will be activated.
The status bar at the bottom of the MAXQDA window gives you information about the number of
activated documents, activated codes, and the number of document segments that are being called
up based on those activations.

Activation: The Principle of Segment Retrieval184
Activation information in the status bar
When you activate a parent code, your settings will determine whether the subcodes are automati-
cally activated with it. You can change this setting by right-clicking on a code and clicking on Acti-
vate codes together with subcodes. If a checkmark was showing next to that line, selecting it will
remove this checkmark, and subcodes will not automatically be activated with the parent code.
Your settings for that code will be saved until you change them again.
All of the document segments that were found based on your activations are called retrieved seg-
ments or coded segments and are shown in the “Retrieved Segments” window.
Called up document segments (coded segments) based on activated documents and codes
Example
Let’s say that you wanted to know what certain interviewees (e.g. Joanna, Kim, and Vincent) said
about other people in their lives. You would start by activating the appropriate documents in the
“Document System:”
 Hold the Ctrl key
 Left-click on the document “Joanna”
 Left-click on the document “Kim”
 Left-click on the document “Vincent”
 Next, you will need to activate the appropriate code. In this case, the code is called “People.” If
there are subcodes for this parent code, those subcodes will be activated as well (assuming you
have not changed the default settings).
 You can now see some basic information about your activations in the status bar. It shows that
you have activated three documents and five codes (this includes the four subcodes of “Peo-
ple”). You can also see that 27 document segments were retrieved based on those activations:

Activation information found in the status bar
13.2 Activation by Color
Documents and codes can be activated manually (by clicking on them), automatically (via activa-
tion by variable), and also by color. There are symbols in the toolbars in the “Document System”
and the “Code System” that lets you select the colors to be activated.
After clicking on this button, a dialog field appears with all the colors that have been used for doc-
uments/codes so far. You can then check the box next to the colors to be activated. The two radio
buttons at the top also let you check or uncheck all of the colors with a single click.
The colors representing codes or documents to be activated
13.3 Removing Activations (Deactivation)
Cancelling the activation of documents or codes operates on the same principle as activation: either
via the context menu or with the mouse (eventually using the Ctrl or cmd key.) When you want to
start a new Coding Query, but already have documents and codes activated from a previous retriev-
al, the easiest way to proceed is to automatically deactivate all of those documents and codes.
In the “MAXQDA standard” toolbar, you will find a Reset activations button, which fulfills this
function.

The “Retrieved Segments” Window186
Button to “Reset activations”
If you want to reset activations for only the documents or only the codes, you can do so with the
button available in the “Document System” or “Code System” toolbars.
Button to “Reset activations” for all documents in the “Document System”
Button to “Reset activations” for all codes in the “Code System”
It is also possible to deactivate all codes or documents by right-clicking on the Documents icon in
the “Document System” or the Codes icon in the “Code System” and selecting Deactivate all
documents or Deactivate all codes.
13.4 The “Retrieved Segments” Window
The “Retrieved Segments” window is a results window – it shows you all of the coded segments
that were coded with any of the activated codes in any of the activated documents.
The “Retrieved Segments” window
Next to each retrieved segment (default is on the left side), you will find an info box about each
retrieved segment and a memo column, showing any memos that were attached to the retrieved
section of the document.
Tip: If you want, you can also move the info boxes to the right side of the “Retrieved Segments”
window, but the memo column always remains on the left.

Info box for a retrieved segment
The info box above can be read as follows: the segment came from paragraphs 20-24 in the docu-
ment “Joanna,” which is in the Document Group “New York.” The segment was coded with the
code “Friends,” which is a subcode of the code “People” and the weight score for the coded seg-
ment is “100.”
Tip: If you click on any part of the info box, the associated document will automatically be opened
in the “Document Browser” window at that part of the document where the associated coded
segment can be seen (paragraphs 20-24). This segment is also highlighted. The associated code is
also highlighted blue automatically in the “Code System” window.
If you right-click on the info box, you will see the following context menu:
Context menu for the info box in the “Retrieved Segments” window
It is possible here to delete the particular coded segment, but that does not delete the actual code
from the “Code System” or the document segment from the document. You will have to confirm
your deletion. You can also change the weight score for the coded segment. If you select Modify
weight, the following window will appear:

The “Retrieved Segments” Window188
Modifying the weight score of a coded segment
Sorting of “Retrieved Segments”
You can also carry out other functions by right-clicking on a gray area of the “Retrieved Seg-
ments” window in which the info boxes appear.
Context menu that appears when you right-click in a gray section of the column
The next few functions in the context menu affect the sorting of the retrieved segments. There are
three possible variations:
 Ordered by Document System – this means that the segments are listed in the same se-
quence as in the “Document System.” The list starts with the segments of the first activated
document in the “Document System,” then those of the second activated document are given,
and so on. Search results in this order would let you compare what one respondent said to dif-
ferent selected topics. For example, given that the first respondent’s answers were contained in
one document or interview, followed by a second respondent’s answers in a separate second in-
terview, all of the retrieved segments from the first interview would be listed before those from
the second interview.
 Ordered by Code System – this means that the segments are listed in the same sequence as
the codes in the “Code System.” All of the segments assigned the same code are listed one af-
ter the other.
 Ordered by weight – This sorts the segments according to the weight that has been assigned
to them.

Tip: In the status bar at the bottom of the screen, the currently selected sort sequence is represent-
ed by an icon. This symbol, for example, symbolizes sort by documents . To customize the sort
sequence, simply click the icon.
13.5 Include Subcodes in Retrieval
A hierarchical system of codes can be constructed with MAXQDA. The program offers an easy way
to make use of the hierarchical structure.
Example
Imagine you want to check if there are co-occurrences of Code A and Code B, and Code B has two
subcodes, B1 and B2. If you activate these codes, in total four codes would be activated: A, B, B1,
and B2. Now, when selecting the Intersection or Overlapping options, MAXQDA will search for
text passages where all of the four codes are present. Obviously this is not what you want, since it is
very unlikely that there are segments to which all four codes are attached. (Code B1 and Code B2
are likely exclusive: either B1 or B2 is attached but not both of them.) To get the desired result, you
would have to split the analysis in three parts:
1. Search for co-occurrences of Code A and B1.
2. Search for co-occurrences of Code A and B2.
3. Search for co-occurrences of Code A and B.
This is obviously a very inconvenient way of getting results, particularly if a code has many subcodes
or even different levels of subcodes. MAXQDA does, however, offer an easier way. Simply click to
Include subcodes in the context menu.
The “Include subcodes” option in the context menu of the “List of coded segments”
It is also shown in the status bar, whether or not the subcodes (or “code children”) are included. If
there is a checkmark on the symbol, the subcodes are included. You can also change this setting by
clicking on this icon.

Finding Important Coded Segments Using Weight Scores190
Subcode inclusion shown in the status bar
Going back to the example above: if both Code A and Code B are active, and include subcodes is
selected, MAXQDA will find all co-occurrences of Code A (or any subcode of Code A) and Code B
(or subcodes of Code B)
13.6 Finding Important Coded Segments Using Weight Scores
All segments that appear in the “Retrieved Segments” window have their weight listed next to the
source data.
Weight score in the info box next to each retrieved segment
These weight scores can be used for the retrieval process. The user can define a range for the
weight scores in order to retrieve only those document segments with scores inside of that range.
If you choose to activate the weight filter, the following window will appear. You can enter any
numbers between 0 and 100.
Setting the range for the Weight filter
This will cause only those segments to be displayed in the “Retrieved Segments” window that have
a weight score within the defined range. The weight filter affects all retrieval functions, including
“Intersection” and all functions of the Complex Coding Query.

Display of weight filter in the status bar
The status bar at the bottom of your screen contains information about the document and codes
that are currently active as well as the weight option, symbolized by the paperweight. This icon tells
you if the weight filter is active or not, as well as its range. By clicking on this icon, you can change
the default value that is assigned when coding segments.
13.7 The Simple Coding Query
The Coding Query tool facilitates the retrieval process and the compilation of coded segments. This
tool allows you to control all essential settings from within a dialog window. Before calling up the
Coding Query tool, you should activate the selected documents and codes. You can call up the
Coding Query tool:
 From the menu Analysis > Coding Query or
 By clicking on the Coding Query button in the “MAXQDA standard” toolbar.
The following window will then appear:
Coding Query window
You can determine various settings for the query from the dialog window:

Jumping from Retrieved Segment to the Original Document192
Only activated documents – Select whether all documents, or only activated documents, should
be considered in the query. The number in brackets indicates how many documents are currently
activated.
Only activated codes – Same options as for Documents.
Include subcodes – If selected, subcodes of codes will be included in the query.
Use weight filter – The output of coded segments can here be limited to segments of a specific
weight range.
Only segments of user – The output of coded segments can here be limited to segments that
were created by a specific user.
13.8 Jumping from Retrieved Segment to the Original
Document
It is possible at any time to jump from a coded document segment in the “Retrieved Segments”
windows to the original source document.
To the left of each segment, you can see from which document and paragraph the segment was
taken, and which code was assigned to it.
If you click anywhere in this box, the original document from which this segment was taken will be
opened in the “Document Browser” window at the position of the segment in the document.
When examining the results of a retrieval, you should arrange your desktop as shown below. The
source document is in the upper window, and the “Retrieved Segments” window is below it. Then,
whenever you click on a segment’s information box, the source document will appear in the “Doc-
ument Browser” window directly above it.

Optimal view for jumping between retrieved segments and the source documents
13.9 “Overview of retrieved segments”
An easy way to get an overview of the retrieved segments is by calling up the Overview of re-
trieved segments by clicking on the appropriate icon in the toolbar at the top of the “Retrieved
Segments” window.
Opening the “Overview of retrieved segments” in the toolbar
This display combines a list view and a detailed view of the retrieved segments. The upper half of
the window shows the segment that is currently selected in the lower part of the window. The low-
er part works in the same way as the other overview tables in MAXQDA. Clicking on the column’s
header will result in sorting the table corresponding to the values of the selected column. You may
also switch the different columns on and off. Just right-click on a column header and select Choose
fields. You can then specify which columns should be shown (box checked) and which should not
(box unchecked). This kind of display makes it easy to browse through retrieval results. Just click
on a line in the table and then view the segment in the upper part of the window.

“Overview of retrieved segments”194
The two-section window in the “Overview of retrieved segments”
The option to display the retrieved segments in a table in XLS/X or HTML format is particularly help-
ful. This gives a very good overview: not only the segment in plain text but all the information
around it is listed, for instance the date when the segment was coded and the name of the person
who did the coding.
Tip: The overview table is also the best place to write comments on your coded segments. You read
the segment in the upper window and write your comment below. Just double-click the field for
comments in the matrix and type in your annotation.
The toolbar in the “Overview of Retrieved Segments”
The following functions, among others, can be accessed from the toolbar:
Code retrieved segments – the selected coded segments (marked in green) from the list will
be assigned to an existing code. It is possible to select multiple rows by holding down the Ctrl key. If
no rows are selected, the entire table will be coded.
Code retrieved segments with a new code – the selected coded segments (marked in green)
from the list will be assigned to a new code. It is possible to select multiple rows by holding down
the Ctrl key. If no rows are selected, the entire table will be coded.
Show as Excel table – opens a table in XLS/X format with the retrieved segments and associat-
ed information.
Show as HTML table – A table in HTML format is created and displayed with the default
browser. If nothing is selected, the entire table will be displayed. If individual rows are selected and
highlighted in green, only these rows will be exported.
Export retrieved segments – allows for export of the retrieved segments in RTF or XLS/X for-
mat, including preceding source data.

Calling up the “Overview of retrieved segments”
Which retrieved segments are included in the overview depends on the context of the overview:
All coded segments from the project:
 Menu Code > Overview of coded segments, or
 Right-click on the stem of the “Document System” or “Code System” and select Overview of
coded segments
Coded segments that currently appear in the “Retrieved Segments” window:
 Click on the Overview of retrieved segments button in the “Retrieved Segments” toolbar
All coded segments of a code:
 Double-click on the expanded code, or
 Right-click on the expanded code and select Overview of coded segments
All retrieved segments of a code and its subcodes:
 Double-click on the collapsed code, or
 Right-click on the collapsed code and select Overview of coded segments
What information can be found in the columns of the overview?
Regardless of the document type, the following columns of the coding overview have the same
signification:
 Document group – document group from which the coded segment originates
 Document – document from which the coded segment originates
 Weight – weight of the coded segment (can be modified directly in the overview!)
 Comment – comment on the coded segment (can be modified directly in the overview!)
 Code – the code with which the segment is coded
 Created – the date on which the coded segment was initially created
 Author – user who initially created the coded segment
Depending on the document type, the following columns have different significations:
Text Documents
 Start – paragraph in which the coded segment begins
 End – paragraph in which the coded segment ends
 Preview – the first 63 characters of the encoded text (when exporting the output contains the
entire coded segment)
 Area – number of characters in the coded segment (minimal variation may occur between Win-
dows and Mac)

“Overview of retrieved segments”196
 Coverage – number of characters in the coded segment in relation to the number of characters
of the text as a whole (minimal variation may occur between Windows and Mac)
PDF Documents
 Start – for text coding, the position of the character at which the coded segment begins. For
image coding, the lower left corner of the segment.
 End – for text coding, the position of the character at which the coded segment ends. For im-
age coding, the upper right corner of the segment.
 Preview – the first 64 characters of the coded text. For images, <IMAGE> will be displayed (up-
on exportation the entire coded text and image segment will be displayed)
 Area – for coded text segment, the number of codes; for a coded image segment, the encoded
area as measured in PDF units
 Coverage – for text, the number of coded characters in relation to the total number of charac-
ters in the text; for images, the area of the encoded image in relation to the total area of the
PDF
Image Documents
 Start – the upper left corner, at which the coded segment begins
 End – the lower right corner, at which the coded segment ends
 Preview – always displayed as <IMAGE> (coded image segment will be displayed upon exporta-
tion)
 Area – coded area, in pixel x pixel
 Coverage – coded area in relation to the total area of the image
Table Documents
 Start – cell in which the coded segment is found
 End – identical to “Start,” as coded segments are always in the same cell
 Preview – displays the first 63 characters of coded text (when exported, will include the entire
coded segment)
 Area – Number of characters in the coded segment
 Coverage – for text coding, the position of the character at which the coded segment begins.
For image coding, the lower left corner of the segment.
Audio and Video Files
 Start – the time at which the coded segment begins
 End – the time at which the coded segment ends
 Preview – always displayed as <AUDIO> or <VIDEO> (image of beginning of clip will be dis-
played upon exportation)

 Area – length of coded media clips
 Coverage – length of coded media clips in relation to total length of the file
Sort, Hide and Reveal Columns
As with all tables, you can also organize the “Overview of retrieved segments” as you wish:
 Drag & Drop columns to change their order.
 Sort a column by clicking on the column heading.
 Hide or reveal columns by right-clicking on the column heading.
13.10 Table view of the “Retrieved Segments"
The “Retrieved Segments” can be displayed in a table view. Click the Change to table view
icon at the top of the window. MAXQDA will then display the coded segments in the same manner
as the “Overview of retrieved segments” in the preview window. This display is interactive: Click on
a row to show the corresponding segment in the “Document Browser."
The “Retrieved Segments” in table view
13.11 Printing and Exporting “Retrieved Segments”
You may wish to continue to work with the retrieved segments that you have called up. MAXQDA
makes it possible for you to print out these segments, copy them to the clipboard, or to export
them as a file.
To print out the retrieved segments, you have two options:
 Select Print > Retrieved Segments from the Project drop-down menu.
 Click on the Print retrieved segments icon in the “Retrieved Segments” window toolbar.
You will then see the standard option for selecting your printer. In this window, you can also select
the print layout and choose to print out only certain pages.

Printing and Exporting “Retrieved Segments”198
Printout of the “Retrieved Segments” window
If you want to be able to edit aspects of the formatting, it is recommended that you first export the
retrieved segments, open them for edit in a word processor, and then print them out.
To export the retrieved segments, choose Project > Export > Retrieved Segments from the main
menu. You can then give the file a name and choose the format that you want the document to be
saved in. Alternatively, you can click on the Export retrieved segments icon in the “Retrieved
Segments” window toolbar. The results are the same. The following options menu will appear:
Options for the export of retrieved segments

The following options are available:
Include memos – When this option is selected, all memos that appear in the “Retrieved Segments“
window will be exported. For export in XLS/X or HTML format, memos will be attached to a coded
segment in a cell.
Include tooltip variables – When this option is selected, all tooltip variables that are selected in
the „List of document variables“ will be exported. For export in XLS/X or HTML format, each varia-
ble will be assigned to its own column.
Include list of other codes assigned to each segment – The export file will include any addition-
al codes that were assigned to each coded segment being exported. Overlap with any other code,
including its weight, will be listed. If you select the additional option Only activated codes, the
action will apply to activated codes only.
Select one of the three export formats (Excel, HTML or RTF) as well as the saving location. When
you click OK, the export process will being and the exported data will open in the appropriate pro-
gram for the file type.
13.12 Coding “Retrieved Segments”
MAXQDA makes it possible for you to code some or all of your retrieved segments in the “Retrieved
Segments” window. In this way, you can search and code quickly within specific segments that
have been called up.
Let’s say you did a retrieval of the intersections between the codes “Health” and “Home life” for all
the women in your interview sample. You can then choose to code all of these segments with a
code called “Health + Home life + women.”
To do this, you can …
 select Code retrieved segments from the Analysis drop-down menu,
 click on the icon in the “Retrieved Segments” window toolbar to Code retrieved segments, or
 click on the icon in the “Retrieved Segments” window toolbar to Code retrieved segments
with a new code, if the code you wish to code with hasn’t been created yet.
You will then see the following window:
Autocoding the retrieved segments with a new code

Copying “Retrieved Segments” with Source Information into the Clipboard200
In the dialog window, you can choose a code from the quick list. The most recently-used code is
listed at the top of the list. To open the quick list, simply click on the small triangle on the right. If
the code you are looking for is not in the quick list, you will need to close the dialog window and
click on that code in the “Code System” in order to add it to the quick list. Now you can once again
click the Code retrieved segments symbol, whereby the selected code will be assigned to all seg-
ments in the “Retrieved segments” window.
Note: If you encode retrieved segments with an existing code, existing encodings will not be
changed. When you encode retrieved segments with a new code, in the case of overlapping coded
segments, the outermost segment boundaries will be used.
This action will be added to the list of coding actions in the Undo coding menu in the “Code”
toolbar. When you open this list, you will see the most recent coding actions at the top with the
number of segments coded in each action in parentheses after the code name. If you have coded
many segments at one time with the autocoding function, they can all be removed at the same
time by clicking once on the appropriate line in this list.
Undoing coding actions
13.13 Copying “Retrieved Segments” with Source Information
into the Clipboard
In a research project, citations (e.g. interview passages) are often integrated into the final report. It
is important to note the source information of these citations - the document and paragraph from
which they were taken. MAXQDA simplifies this process with the function Copy segment with
source information to Clipboard. You can access this function by right-clicking on the source
information in the “Retrieved segments” window.

Calling up source information from a context menu
When you call up the function from the context menu, MAXQDA copies the selected segment into
the clipboard. Now you can paste the citation into your word processing program by pressing
Ctrl+V (Windows) or cmd+V (Mac). At the end of the citation, the document name from the
“Document System,” as well as the paragraph, will automatically be inserted.
Citation with source information in word processing program

Logical Combinations of Codes202
14 Complex Retrievals
14.1 Logical Combinations of Codes
Different than with classic quantitative content analysis, the categorization of data in qualitative
analysis is not the end of the document analysis; instead it is simply a step toward further interpre-
tative analysis. The categories create a structure within the documents, but they don’t replace them.
MAXQDA’s analysis functions are tools to help you navigate and further develop this structure.
MAXQDA allows you to analyze the combination of activated codes in different ways, by taking into
account the different groupings and positions of coded segments. In this section, we will discuss the
complex combinations modes, of which MAXQDA has many to offer.
To perform a complex retrieval you can call up the Complex Coding Query:
 Select Complex Coding Query from the Analysis drop-down menu,
 Click on the icon in the status bar at the bottom of the MAXQDA screen, or
 Right-click on the gray area in the “Retrieved Segments” window where the info boxes appear
and choose Complex Coding Query from the context menu.
Access to the Complex Coding Query in the context menu of the “Retrieved Segments” window
The following dialog window will open:

Complex Retrievals 203
Complex Coding query window
The dialog window has the following aspects:
 The Function field allows you to choose the analysis function.
 Below that, there are three windows, labeled A, B, and C.
 Window A is important for almost every retrieval option and holds the selection of codes to be
included in the selection function. To add codes, activate them in the “Code System” and then
click the button to add All activated codes.
Tip: You can add codes directly from the “Code System” by using Drag & Drop to move codes to
window A.
 Window B is also for selecting codes, but you can do so from the quick list. Simply click on the
symbol to view the list.
Tip: To make a code appear in the quick list, just click on it in the “Code System”.
 Window C allows you to set certain parameters (e.g. the maximum distance between two cod-
ed segments).

Logical Combinations of Codes204
The “Result” window at the bottom shows how many segments would be pulled up if the retrieval
were carried out with the current settings in Windows A, B, and C. Under this window is a descrip-
tion of the retrieval function that is currently selected, and on the right side, there is a visualization
of what that function does.
The retrieval begins when you click on the Start button.
The following table gives you an overview of the various functions:
Name Description
Intersection
(”small picture”)
Retrieve only the part segments that have all of the codes listed in "A"
assigned to them.
Intersection (Set) Retrieve only the part segments that have at least X of the codes listed
in "A" assigned to them (the number X is specified in "C").
Overlapping
(”big picture”)
Retrieve the full segments where at least one part has all the codes
listed in "A" assigned to it.
Only one code Search for segments where only one of the codes listed in "A" is as-
signed (and none of the other codes listed in "A").
Only this code Search for segments where the code selected in "B" is assigned, but
none of the codes listed in "A" are assigned.
If inside Search for segments assigned to any one of the codes listed in "A"
that are also completely surrounded by a segment assigned to the code
selected in "B".
If outside Search for segments assigned to any one of the codes listed in "A"
that has no overlap or intersection with a segment assigned to the
code selected in "B".
Followed by Search for segments assigned to any one of the codes listed in "A"
that is followed by a segment assigned to the code selected in "B"
within no more than X paragraphs. The number X is specified in "C".
(Does not work in image or PDF documents.)
Near Search for segments assigned to any one of the codes listed in "A"
that is preceded or followed by a segment assigned to the code select-
ed in "B" within no more than X paragraphs. The number X is speci-
fied in "C". (Does not work in image or PDF documents.)
You can see which retrieval function is currently active in the status bar at the bottom of MAXQDA,
in this case it is the “Near” function:
Retrieval function in the status bar
Note: If there are no segments shown in the “Retrieved Segments” window, it could be because a
retrieval function was accidentally activated. You can quickly check for this in the status bar.

14.2 Detailed Information about Complex Retrieval Functions
14.2.1 Intersection (“small picture”)
Definition: Retrieve only the part segments that have all of the codes listed in "A" assigned to
them.
How it works:
Activate documents and/or document groups that you want to include.
Activate the codes in the “Code System” that you want and then click
on All activated codes in the text retrieval dialog window to insert
them in Window A.
Tip: All codes in Window A must be attached to a segment for it to be
called up!
Changing the activations in the “Document System” immediately
changes your results.
It is often helpful for this function to include the subcodes, so that all
combinations of intersections between each code (and its subcodes) are
automatically included. The easiest way to include the subcodes is to
click on the symbol at the bottom of the screen.
Example:

Detailed Information about Complex Retrieval Functions206
14.2.2 Intersection (Set)
Definition: Retrieve only the part segments that have at least X of the codes listed in "A" assigned
to them (the number X is specified in "C").
How it works:
Activate documents or docu-
ment groups you want included
in the retrieval. Activate the
codes to be included in the
“Code System.” Click on the
button All activated codes to
have the activated codes insert-
ed in Window A.
Set the minimum number of
codes that must intersect in
Window C.
You can see in the “Results”
window how many retrieved
segments would be found
based on intersections.
Result:
The intersecting segments are
listed in the “Retrieved Seg-
ments” window.
Example:
If Codes 1, 2, 3, and 4 are entered in
Window A, and you have entered in
Window C that at least three intersec-
tions are required, the first two ex-
amples to the right would not be
called up. The first doesn’t have any
intersections, and the second only has
two intersecting codes. The third has
the required three intersection codes,
though, so it would be listed in the
“Retrieved Segments” window.
Only the section of the coded seg-
ments that is coded with all three
codes is displayed.

14.2.3 Overlapping (“big picture”)
Definition: Retrieve the full segments where at least one part has all the codes listed in "A" as-
signed to it.
How it works:
Activate documents or document groups you want included in the re-
trieval. Activate the codes to be included in the “Code System.” Click on
the button All activated codes to have the activated codes inserted in
Window A.
Attention: Segments will only be listed if they are coded with all codes
listed in Window A.
The “Overlapping” function works just like the “Intersection” function,
except that the results are displayed differently. The results of “Overlap-
ping” include the entirety of each coded segment that overlaps, rather
than just showing the section that is coded with both codes.
As with the “Intersection” function, it is often helpful to include sub-
codes in the retrievals. Then all combinations of subcodes are tested for
overlap.
Example:

14.2.4 Only One Code
Definition: Search for segments where only one of the codes listed in "A" is assigned (and none of
the other codes listed in "A").
Note: Think carefully before using this function as it could pull up a very large number of segments.
How it works:
Activate documents or docu-
ment groups you want in-
cluded in the retrieval. Acti-
vate the codes to be included
in the “Code System.” Click
on the button All activated
codes to have the activated
codes inserted in Window A.
Example:
If codes 1 and 2 are in Window A, the
first two examples on the right would
be included in the retrieval, because
they don’t overlap each other. The fact
that codes 2 and 3 overlap makes no
difference, because code 3 is not in
Window A. The third example would
not be included in the retrieval be-
cause codes 1 and 2 intersect.

14.2.5 Only This Code
Definition: Search for segments where the code selected in "B" is assigned, but none of the codes
listed in "A" are assigned.
This function is very similar to the “Only One Code” function, but it targets only one selected code.
The target code is selected in Window B. The other codes are selected as usual in Window A.
How it works:
1. Activate documents or docu-
in the retrieval.
2. Choose the code from the quick
list in Window B that you want
to call up. If the code is not
there that you want to select,
left-click on it in the “Code Sys-
tem” and try again.
3. Now activate the codes for
Window A in the “Code Sys-
tem” and click on the button
All activated codes to have
the activated codes inserted in
Window A.
Example:
Code 1 is the selected code (Win-
dow B). Code 2 and 3 are the
codes in Window A. When either
Code 2 or Code 3 intersects with
Code 1, Code 1 is not listed. This is
the case in the second and third
examples on the right. Only the
first example shows an instance of
Code 1 that isn’t intersected by
Code 2 or Code 3. It would be
listed in the “Retrieved Segments”
window.

14.2.6 If Outside
Definition: Search for segments assigned to any one of the codes listed in "A" that has no overlap
or intersection with a segment assigned to the code selected in "B".
How it works:
in the retrieval.
2. Activate the codes to be insert-
ed in Window A in the “Code
System.” Click on the button
All activated codes to have
Window A.
3. Pick the codes for Window B
from the quick list. If they are
not there, left-click on them in
the “Code System” and try
again.
Example:
This function would be helpful if
you were looking for text segments
in which people talk about what
they consider possible, but don’t
want to include those instances
that are in the context of these
peoples’ wishes.
Code 1 is in Window A, and Code
2 is in Window B. This means you
are looking for instances of Code 1
that are completely outside of
Code 2. In the example on the
right, only the third example would
be called up. In the first example,
Code 1 isn’t even there, and in the
second, Code 1 is not completely
outside of Code 2.

14.2.7 If Inside
Definition: Lists segments where the code in Window A is completely surrounded by the code in
Window B. Results can be the segments of the inner code (Window A) or the outer code (Window
B).
How it works:
codes to be inserted in Window
A in the “Code System.” Click
again.
3. You can then set what you
want to view as the result of
this function; you can choose to
call up the segments coded
with the code in Window A,
those coded with the code in
Window B, or both.
Example:
Let’s say you are interested in the
things people said about criteria
for success, but only in the context
of what they consider feasible. You
could use this function, putting the
“criteria for success” code in Win-
dow A and the “considered feasi-
ble” code in Window B.
In the examples on the right, only
the first shows a case where Code
1 (Window A) is found completely
inside Code 2 (Window B). That is
not the case in the second or the
third examples.

14.2.8 Followed By
Definition: Search for segments assigned to any one of the codes listed in "A" that is followed by
a segment assigned to the code selected in "B" within no more than X paragraphs. The number X
is specified in "C". (Does not work in image or PDF documents.)
How it works:
codes to be inserted in Window
A in the “Code System.” Click
These are the codes that will be
looked for.
again. These are the codes that
must follow the Window A
code(s) within a certain number
of paragraphs.
3. In Window C, you can insert
the maximum number of para-
graphs to look for the Window
B code(s) after finding a Win-
dow A code.
4. Finally, you can choose what
you want to view as the results
in the “Retrieved Segments”
window.
Example:
In the example on the right, we are
looking for Code 1 (Window B)
following Code 2 (Window A)
within two paragraphs.
Code 1 appears four times in the
example, but only the third in-
stance would be included in the
results, because it follows an in-
stance of Code 2 within two para-
graphs.

14.2.9 Near
Definition: Search for segments assigned to any one of the codes listed in "A" that is preceded or
followed by a segment assigned to the code selected in "B" within no more than X paragraphs. The
number X is specified in "C". (Does not work in image or PDF documents.)
How it works:
1. Activate documents or document
groups you want included in the
retrieval. Activate the codes to be
inserted in Window A in the
“Code System.” Click on the but-
ton All activated codes to have
Window A. These are the codes
that will be looked for.
from the quick list. If they are not
there, left-click on them in the
“Code System” and try again.
These are the codes that must be
near the Window A code(s) with-
in a certain number of para-
graphs.
3. In Window C, you can insert the
maximum number of paragraphs
away the Window A code can be
from the Window B code.
4. Finally, you can choose what you
want to view as the results in the
“Retrieved Segments” window.
Example:
We are looking for places where
Code 2 (Window A) and Code 1
(Window B) are found within two
paragraphs of each other (Win-
dow C).
Code 1 is found four times in the
screenshot, but only the second
and third instances are within
two paragraphs of Code 2.
We chose to view the Window B
code in the Retrieved Segments,
but we could have theoretically
chosen to list the Window A code
or even both of them.

Code Matrix Browser: Visualizing Codes per Document214
15 Visual Tools
15.1 Code Matrix Browser: Visualizing Codes per Document
The Code Matrix Browser (CMB) offers you a new way of visualizing which codes have been as-
signed to which documents. The matrix provides an overview of how many document segments
from each document have been assigned a specific code, and this for each existing code.
The Code Matrix Browser is constructed as follows: Documents are listed in the columns while
codes are listed in the rows. The symbols at the conjunction points represent the number of coded
segments that are coded with a particular code. The larger the symbol, the more coded segments
are assigned to the code in question.
The Code Matrix Browser
The Code Matrix Browser can be opened in the following ways:
 Selecting Code Matrix Browser from the Visual tools drop-down menu,
 using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+M (Windows) or cmd+Alt+M (Mac)
 clicking on the CMB symbol in the “Visual tools” toolbar.
CMB symbol in the “Visual tools” toolbar
Code Matrix Browser options
After opening the Code Matrix Browser an options window will appear, which allows you
to change display options. Often, only the activated documents might be of interest, for
example.

Visual Tools 215
Code Matrix Browser options dialog window
First you have to decide whether the results should be grouped or not:
Documents – No grouping, every document has a column.
Document groups – The columns are made up of document groups. The coded segments of the
documents in each group will be summed up.
Document sets – The columns are made up of document sets. The coded segments of the docu-
ments in each document set will be summed up.
Focus Group Participants – Focus group participants are displayed in the columns.
Further options allow you to restrict and adjust the display:
Only for activated documents – Only the activated documents will be displayed. (If there are no
activated documents in a document group or document set, the CMB will be empty.)
Only for activated focus group participants – Only activated focus group participants will be
displayed in the columns. This option is visible only when the corresponding option above is select-
ed.
Only for activated codes – Only the activated codes will be displayed as rows.
Use weight filter – Only coded segments with a weight within the limits of the weight filter will be
used.
Count hits per document only once – This option will be displayed only if a code occurs infre-
quently within a document. The unit of analysis is therefore not the individual segment, but rather
the full document.
Code Matrix Browser Toolbar
The first thing you will see at the top of the Code Matrix Browser window is the toolbar, which
gives you access to the following functions:
Quote Matrix – Displays coded segments as an Excel file
Names, columns: none/short/full – Determines display of document names in column
headers.
Calculation of symbol size refers to all coded segments.

Code Matrix Browser: Visualizing Codes per Document216
Calculation of symbol size refers to the column.
Calculation of symbol size refers to the row.
Display nodes as squares.
Display nodes as circles.
Display nodes as values.
Count hits per document only once – The Code Matrix Browser display will be based not on
the number of coded segments but rather on the full document, meaning it will display only
whether the code occurs in the document or not. For collapsed subcodes, the code frequency of the
subcodes will be aggregated.
Binarize view – Regardless of how many coded segments are present in a cell, this function
displays only whether a coded segment is present or not; the symbol size is therefore unified. Even
when a collapsed subcode with multiple encodings is present, only one will be counted.
Sum – displays the sum of rows and columns.
Refresh – updates display via the Refresh function.
Open as Excel table – Displays the matrix with the code frequencies of the Code Matrix
Browser in Excel. The columns and rows are reversed to allow an easier import into SPSS.
Export – Exports the displayed matrix as values, meaning the number of coded segments per
code and per document, in Excel or HTML format. The columns and rows are reversed to allow an
easier import into SPSS. Export as a graphic file (Vector or Bitmap) is also possible.
What is actually shown in the Code Matrix Browser?
The size and color of the clusters in the matrix show how many document segments in each docu-
ment have been assigned each particular code and subcode. The larger the cluster, the greater the
number of segments that were assigned this code or category in this document.
Tip: The sequence in which the documents are displayed is determined by their sequence in the
Document System. If you wish to change the order of the documents, you must do so in the Docu-
ment System.
When you move the mouse cursor over a cluster, a screen tip appears:
Tooltip in the Code Matrix Browser
The name of the document, the code or subcode, and the number of coded segments assigned to
the code are shown in the box.
The document names in the column headers can be displayed in three ways:
1. without document names,

Visual Tools 217
2. with short document names, or
3. with full document names.
The number of documents that can be displayed as columns in the matrix depends on this setting.
In most cases, it is sufficient to use short document names, showing only the first few letters, which
nevertheless is enough for you to recognize it. If in doubt about a document, you can take a look at
the screen tip, where the full document name is displayed. If necessary, the width of the columns
can be adjusted by clicking on a dragging the lines between column headers. For focus group par-
ticipants, the names of the participants will be displayed in the columns in the place of the docu-
ment names.
Tip: The columns can be easily moved with the mouse. In this way, you can easily compare the cod-
ed segments of two different documents or focus group participants.
The codes are displayed in the CMB in the same way as in the “Code System,” in a tree structure
similar to that of Windows Explorer or Mac Finder. Subcodes can be collapsed in the usual way, by
clicking the – symbol.
Tip: When the subcodes are collapsed, the number of coded segments is aggregated on the parent
code level. If a parent code (that hasn’t been used in the document) has three subcodes with 10
coded segments each, when you collapse the subcodes, the parent code will show 30 coded seg-
ments.
How is the Symbol Size Determined?
MAXQDA determines the minimum and maximum code frequency of all nodes shown and
then divides the difference between these two values in seven equal value ranges. The
smallest value range is assigned the smallest symbol and the largest value range, the larg-
est. By collapsing or revealing codes, you may change the smallest or largest value, and the
overall display therefore may change as well. When all the numerical values are identical, a
mid-size square will be displayed.
If the Calculation of symbol size refers to the column/row option is selected, this mechanism is
applied individually to the column or row.
Jumping from the Symbol to the Coded Segment
The document segments that have been assigned a particular code can be called up immediately by
double-clicking on the symbol. The relevant document and code are then activated and the coded
segments appear in the “Retrieved Segments” window. It is possible to keep the CMB open, allow-
ing one to easily view the contents of different symbols.
Exporting the CMB as an Image File
The Export symbol in the toolbar allows you to export the Code Matrix Browser as currently dis-
played. This file can later be inserted into a word processing program or Powerpoint slide.

Code Relations Browser: Visualizing Overlapping Codes218
15.2 Code Relations Browser: Visualizing Overlapping Codes
A tool similar to the CMB is the Code Relations Browser (CRB). The CRB is a visualization of the rela-
tionships between codes. A table shows how many document segments any two codes are at-
tached to. The representation is similar to the Code Matrix Browser, but in this case, the little
squares/circles stand for the number of co-occurrences of codes.
You can open the CRB in different ways:
 By selecting Code Relations Browser from the Visual tools drop-down menu,
 with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+R (Windows) or cmd+Alt+R (Mac)
 by clicking on the CRB symbol in the “Visual tools” toolbar.
Symbol in the “Visual tools” toolbar for opening the CRB
The Code Relations Browser looks like this:
An example of the Code Relations Browser visualization
Code Relations Browser options
After opening the Code Relations Browser an options window will appear, which allows you to
change display options. Often, only the activated documents might be of interest, for example.

Visual Tools 219
Code Relations Browser options dialog
First you have to decide which codes will be shown as rows:
All codes – All codes will be shown, the order being the same as it is in the “Code System”
Activated codes – Only the activated codes will be shown as rows.
A similar decision has to be made for the columns in the Code Relations Browser, with the added
option of Choose top level code. Selecting this option will open another dialog window after
pressing OK, allowing you to select as many top level codes as you want. The selected top level
codes and their subcodes will be shown as columns in the Code Relations Browser.
Under Type of analysis you can decide which relations MAXQDA will show, as well as how often a
code was used in a document:
Co-occurrence of codes – Only “real” overlaps of codes will be used, which means that a segment
has to be coded with both codes and the codes need to overlap.
Near (codes) – Alternatively the Code Relations Browser can analyze how many encodings exist in
which two codes are present at a defined distance from one another. After clicking OK, you can
define the desired distance.
Note: If you search with function „Near (codes)“ and chose distance „0“ you may find more hits
than searching for Co-occurence of codes. The function „Near (codes)“ only evaluates if two codes
are assigned somewhere in the same paragraph – not at the same segment.

Code Relations Browser: Visualizing Overlapping Codes220
The option Only for activated documents will make the Code Relations Browser only look for
relations in the activated documents.
Count hits per document only once – The Code Relations Browser counts the number of docu-
ments in which an overlap or proximity (near) of codes exists. It does not matter how many times
the overlap or proximity occurs within a document.
Code Relations Browser toolbar
At the top of the screen, you will find the toolbar with the following functions:
Quote Matrix – Displays coded segments as an Excel file
Names, columns: none/short/full – Determines display of document names in column
headers.
Display nodes as squares.
Display nodes as circles.
Display nodes as values.
Co-occurrence of codes – Switches to an “overlap” type analysis.
Near (codes) – Switches to a “near” type analysis and displays a dialog window in which the
maximum distance can be defined.
Count hits per document only once – The Code Relations Browser display will be based not
on the number of coded segments but rather on the full document, meaning it will display only
whether the code occurs in the document or not. For collapsed subcodes, the code frequency of the
subcodes will be aggregated.
Binarize view – Regardless of how many coded segments are present in a cell, this function
displays only whether a coded segment is present or not; the symbol size is therefore unified. Even
when a collapsed subcode with multiple encodings is present, only one will be counted.
Sum – displays the sum of rows and columns.
Refresh – updates display via the Refresh function.
Open as Excel table – Displays the matrix with the code frequencies of the CRB in Excel. The
columns and rows are reversed to allow an easier import into SPSS.
Export – Exports the displayed matrix as values, meaning the number of coded segments per
code and per document, in Excel or HTML format. The columns and rows are reversed to allow an
easier import into SPSS. Export as a graphic file (Vector or Bitmap) is also possible.
What is actually shown in the Code Relations Browser?
Each symbol in the matrix represents the number of intersections of the two codes. The larger the
symbol, the larger the number of intersections. If you choose to switch to the Near function, the
symbols represent the number of times two codes exist near to each other (within a certain number
of paragraphs, defined in your settings).

Visual Tools 221
If you click on the Count hits per document only once icon in the toolbar, the symbols represent
the number of documents that have at least one instance of an intersection or proximity between
the two codes. It no longer matters how many times these intersections occur in each document.
Tip: The order of codes in the Code Relations Browser will be identical to the order in the “Code
System.” If you want to change the order in the graphic, you have to change the order in the
“Code System” first.
Jumping from the Symbol to the Coded Segment
You can call up the document segments with overlapping codes by double-clicking on the symbol
representing them. The “Overlapping” retrieval function will automatically be activated, bringing up
the segments in the “Retrieved Segments” window. The CRB can remain open, so you can quickly
go from one set of overlapping codes to another.
Exporting the CRB as an Image File
The Export symbol allows you to save the current CRB display as a file, which you can then insert
easily into a word processing file or Powerpoint slide.
15.3 Document Comparison Chart: A Visual Comparison of
Coded Text
This visualization works for a number of documents at one time and offers a sort of mix between
the Document Portrait and the Codeline. Simply choose the documents and codes that you wish to
include in the visualization by activating them before calling up the function.
The Document Comparison Chart shows the documents on the y-axis and the paragraph numbers
on the x-axis, making it possible to compare the flow of codes in each document. The cells show
the codes that exist in each paragraph of each document with a bar assigned the same color as the
code it represents. Each code that is present in the paragraph is represented by a colored section of
the bar. If a code is used more than once in a paragraph, it is still only visualized once. To give you
an idea how this works, see the screenshot below. In this example, you can see 10 paragraphs for
three different documents. You can see that there were no coded segments in any of the docu-
ments in the first paragraph. In “Doc 1,” the first coded segments are in paragraph two, where two
blue and one red code are visualized.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Doc 1      
Doc 2     
Doc 3    
The principle behind the Document Comparison Chart
If several codes with different colors appear in the same paragraph, the space available will be
shared between the codes. Generally, the space is fixed to 50 pixels. These pixels will be allocated

Document Portrait: Visualizing a Document222
according to the size of the coded segments. If exactly the same segment is coded with a green and
a red code, then 25 pixels will be colored red and 25 green.
Like in Document Portrait, codes and colors must correspond in a meaningful way. Otherwise the
diagram will have no meaning for you.
You can call up the Document Comparison Chart:
 by selecting Document Comparison Chart from the Visual tools drop-down menu, or
 by clicking on the symbol in the “Visual tools” toolbar.
The visualization looks like this:
Example of a Document Comparison Chart
The Document Comparison Chart is particularly useful for the analysis of structured documents. In
this case, all the documents have the same number of paragraphs and allow for a direct compari-
son. You are more or less looking at a Document Portrait for each selected document at the same
time.
Active Symbols
As in all visualizations, the symbols representing the coded segments are active, meaning you can
jump directly to the coded segments in the original document in the “Document Browser” by dou-
ble-clicking on the symbol.
Exporting the Document Comparison Chart as an Image File
The Export symbol allows you to export the current display of the Document Comparison Chart
so you can later insert it into a word processing file or Powerpoint slide.
15.4 Document Portrait: Visualizing a Document
This visualization is for a specific document, making it a case-oriented function. The document is
shown as a picture of all the coded segments based on the order and colors of the codes.
You can access the Document Portrait …
 by selecting Document Portrait from the Visual tools drop-down menu,

Visual Tools 223
 by right-clicking on a document and selecting Document Portrait in the context menu that
appears, or
 by clicking on the appropriate symbol in the Visual tools toolbar.
Symbol in the “Visual tools” toolbar for calling up the Document Portrait
The results of this function are only meaningful if you have made use of the opportunity to assign
colors to codes. The visualization of a document can only be fruitful if this association of colors
makes sense to you. Here are a few examples:
 Imagine a psychologist has coded an in-depth interview in a way that categories related to ag-
gression have red colors and categories for quiet and friendly behavior have green colors. Now a
Document Portrait would show with you in a single glance how often the interview shows ag-
gressive behavior and when during the interview this happened.
 In biographical research, the particular representations can be chosen for critical life events, thus
making it easy to get an idea of the life course of a person and the concentration of critical
events.
 For thematic analysis, it may be useful to associate different colors to different topics. Now, you
can easily see which topics dominate the discussion and which topics are closely related.
What Does a Document Portrait Display?
A Document Portrait shows the sequence of codes for a selected document. To better understand
what happens, it is useful to take a look at the “Overview of coded segments” for a selected doc-
ument. All coded segments are listed in this overview. The first column displays the color associated
with the code. This is the material that is used to “paint” document portrait. Only those colors dis-
played in the first column of the overview table will appear in the visualization. In the overview ta-
ble, all segments are equal regardless of their size. The Document Portrait, however, takes the size
of the segments into account and “weights” the color according to the segment’s size.
The color attributes of the codes associated with the document are displayed in a matrix with 1,200
little squares (arranged in 30 rows, each one with 40 squares). The representation starts with the
first square on the left in the first line, and ends with the last square on the right of the last line. The
picture is set up in the same way as a television screen, where an electronic stripe goes along the
screen from left to right. All 1,200 squares are divided up according to the share of the coded seg-
ments. If a document only had segment coded with a blue code, then the Document Portrait would
be totally blue. If this segment were coded with two codes, red and blue, the Document Portrait
would consist of 600 blue and 600 red squares. If two segments were coded (again with red and
blue codes) and the first segment were twice as extensive as the second, the picture would start
with 800 hundred red squares followed by 400 blue squares.
Thus, Document Portrait displays the structure of documents in terms of codes as a colorful picture.
This helps to immediately identify the basic tone of a document, for instance, if emotions have been
coded with meaningful colors (aggressive= red, tolerant= green, and so on).

Document Portrait: Visualizing a Document224
Try out the Document Portrait – right-click on a document of your choice in the “Document Sys-
tem” and choose Document Portrait. Of course, meaningful results can only be obtained if you
have assigned colors that make sense for your codes.
Example of a Document Portrait
Document Portrait Visualization Options
Visualize entire text document or coded text
This button lets you toggle back and forth between the two visualization options. If you choose to
visualize the entire document, the visualization will include white squares for sections of the docu-
ment that have no code assigned to them. The other options only visualize segments of the docu-
ment that were coded.
Mixed colors for overlapping codes (yes/no)
This setting decides how segments should be visualized that are coded with more than one code. If
the above option is off, each of the colors of the codes used to code the same segment will be
listed sequentially, one after the other, similar to how it works in the “Overview of coded seg-
ments.” If the option is turned on, the colors of each assigned code are mixed together.
Display nodes as circles (on/off)
This button lets you switch the symbols in the visualization back and forth between squares and
circles.
Active Code Symbols
The square or circle symbols in the Document Portrait are also directly connected to the original
data, which means you can double-click on any symbol to call up that coded segment in the “Doc-
ument Browser.” (This is not possible if you have chosen to mix colors for overlaps.)

Visual Tools 225
Exporting the Document Portrait as an Image File
The Export symbol allows you to export the current display of the Document Portrait so you can
later insert it into a word processing file or Powerpoint slide.
15.5 Codeline: The Sequential Visualization of a Document
The Codeline is a case-based visual function that displays a sequential view of a document’s coded
segments. The picture is quite similar to that of a score of a piece of music. The x-axis displays the
paragraphs of the document, starting with §1 and ending with the last § of the particular docu-
ment. The y-axis displays the codes. The cells of the Codeline matrix are filled with a colored sym-
bol, if the code has been assigned to the paragraph.
The basic idea behind the visualization can be seen below. There are 12 paragraphs and three codes
shown. You can see that nothing was coded in the first paragraph of any of the documents. In the
second, eleventh, and twelfth paragraph, Code1 is used. In paragraph five, both Code2 and Code3
were used. This shows you already how you can use this visualization. It gives you an overview, so
you can quickly identify which codes appeared and overlapped in various phases of the document.
Paragraph
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Code1   
Code2     
Code3    
Schematic representation of the Codeline
The Codeline is called up …
 by selecting Codeline from the Visual tools drop-down menu,
 by right-clicking on a document and choosing Codeline from the context menu that appears,
or
 by clicking on the appropriate symbol in the “Visual tools” toolbar.
Calling up the Codeline visualization using the symbol in the “Visual tools” toolbar
Codeline Options
When you call up the Codeline, you have two options:
1. Only for activated codes – this limits the codes to be included in the visualization to those
that you have already activated in the “Code System.”

Codeline: The Sequential Visualization of a Document226
2. Aggregate on the 1st level – this option means that only top-level/parent codes will be
visualized. The subcodes of each parent code will be handled as if they were instances of
the parent code.
Options for the Codeline visualization
Codeline Display
Unlike the Document Portrait, the Codeline tool can be used even if you have not associated mean-
ingful colors to your codes. The Codeline graphics display the color, but if you have not selected
colors, only green symbols will be displayed. The function of Codeline is to show where in a docu-
ment the different codes have been applied, and this diagram also makes sense and can be inter-
preted without color differentiation.
What can the Codeline be used for?
 Codeline gives a good overview of the coding and can therefore be used universally.
 The diagram may be of use for exploration – just follow a particular code, see when it appears
and which other codes appear near it.
 The opportunity to display only selected codes enables comparing two or more codes in the
course of an interview.
 When analyzing focus groups, you can see at a glance which speakers react to each other and
what the topics are in relation to the speakers.
Example of a Codeline visualization

Visual Tools 227
The Codeline creates a table with the codes on the y-axis and the paragraph numbers on the x-axis.
The coded segments are shown in paragraph sequence, starting with the first. This means that the
visualization has as many columns as paragraphs. If the code is used in a paragraph, the code’s col-
or will be shown in the bar in the appropriate column. If a coded segment is more than one para-
graph, the bar continues from one to the next.
You can scroll through the paragraphs while keeping the code names visible by using the scroll bar
at the top of the window.
Note: The Codeline can be used not only for texts, but also for table documents, In this case each
row of the table represents a column.
Active Code Symbols
The display of the coded segments is interactive. If you hover the mouse over a symbol, a tooltip
appears with the code or subcode name and the paragraph number. Double-clicking on the symbol
opens that document in the “Document Browser” at the appropriate paragraph(s). The coded seg-
ment is also highlighted automatically.
Exporting Codeline as an Image File
The Export symbol allows you to export the current display of the Codeline so you can later in-
sert it into a word processing file or Powerpoint slide.
15.6 Tag Clouds
Tag clouds offer you a simple way to visualize the most frequently used words in a document or
group of documents. The size of the font is dictated by the number of times it is found in the se-
lected document(s). MAXQDA puts the words in alphabetical order, starting in the top left.
Tag cloud
The tag cloud function can be called up for a single document, a document group, a document set,
or all documents in a project. Simply right-click on the document/group/set in the “Document Sys-
tem” and choose Tag cloud from the context menu that appears.
So that you don’t end up with a list of short words that have no meaning for your analysis (e.g.
and, or, the, but), you can create a stop list, so that such words aren’t included. The easiest way to
add words to a stop list is from the “Word frequency list.” This list shows all the most frequently-

Tag Clouds228
used words, sorted from most the most frequent to the least frequent. To the left of each word is a
green symbol. If you want to add a word to the stop list, just double-click on this green symbol next
to it. This word will now no longer show up in the word frequency list or the tag cloud. You can
also add several words at the same time to the stop list by holding the Ctrl or cmd key, clicking on
the words one by one, and then right-clicking on one of them and choosing Add to stop list from
the context menu that appears.
In the screenshot above, you can see the Edit stop list button at the bottom left of the tag cloud
window. This button brings up a list of all the words that are currently in the Tag cloud of the cur-
rent project. You can here add or delete words as well, although the double-clicking option de-
scribed above is considerably easier.
The Copy button copies the tag cloud to the Windows clipboard, which makes it easy to then paste
it into other programs, like Microsoft Word.
Word frequency list: double-click on the green symbol next to a word to add it to the stop list, or right-click
on the word and choose Add to stop list from the context menu.

MAXMaps 229
16 MAXMaps
16.1 What Does MAXMaps Do?
MAXMaps offers a new perspective on your data and the connections within it. The primary task of
MAXMaps is to provide a graphical representation of the different elements within a MAXQDA pro-
ject. These “objects” can be inserted into the MAXMaps drawing pads, and connections can be
made in order to visualize a complex graph of relationships. MAXMaps also allows you to design
graphical models or networks that are completely independent of MAXQDA’s data. That’s why
MAXMaps is a universal graphics software tool that is not only restricted to applications in qualita-
tive research within the social sciences. All elements of MAXQDA, e.g. codes, memos, coded seg-
ments, and documents, may be imported into a map. In addition, MAXMaps also allows you to
insert so-called free elements (text, pictures, and graphics) that can be chosen by the user.
MAXMaps can be used for different purposes. Maps can help to explore and organize data. They
allow you to develop your ideas and to communicate them to your research team. Maps can also be
a valuable tool for scientific explanation and can help to visualize complex relationships and theo-
ries. For instance, you can create tables and worksheets to gain a better perspective of the different
elements within a project. MAXMaps can also be used for presentations and lectures. The different
layers of a map may be displayed in arbitrary order; thus, a variety of different options for designing
presentations are available.
With MAXMaps, it is possible to display:
 The relationships between different codes and categories.
 An overview of different facts and phenomena within the research field.
 The different memos belonging to a document or a group of documents.
 The context or important facts of the research, e.g. photographs of locations or persons.
 A graphical overview of the research methods used.
 A research timeline.
 The research design and characteristics of the sample.
MAXMaps can also have different functions for researchers. You can, for instance, use MAXMaps
to organize and manage your code system. Or you can link codes, text, and memos in a hypothet-
ical order to then further test the relationships in a second step.
MAXMaps is not merely a graphics tool that works with icons and symbols, though. All the ele-
ments used in a map are interactive, meaning they are connected to the MAXQDA project. Simply
switch to “sync mode” to establish a connection to the MAXQDA database. This makes an icon
that symbolizes a text document not only a passive icon, but allows you to double-click on the icon
to open the document in MAXQDA’s “Document Browser.” Then you can read and browse
through the document. The same is true for memos. As soon as you click on the memo symbol, the
memo appears and can be read or even modified. In the case of symbols for coded segments, one

Getting Started – Creating a New Map230
click displays the segment, which allows you to examine and compare different segments of your
map.
MAXMaps allows you to define connections and relationships as you choose. These connections
may be hypothetical -- they do not even have to be consistent in logic while you are designing the
maps because you are always free to make changes. As a result, you can “play” with different
models and relationships. For example, a code “attitude” may appear as a condition of another
code “behavior” in Map A and as the result of the code “behavior” in Map B. Constructing, test-
ing, and modifying different models is a an important aspect of analysis, thus making it counterpro-
ductive to be consistent with links and relationships right from the beginning.
MAXMaps not only allows you to define links and relationships, it also offers a way to make links
and relationships that have already been implemented in your project visible. Examples are memos
that have been assigned to a document: MAXMaps can import all the connected memos automati-
cally. These memos are displayed as symbols and you can open and check them. The same is true
for codes: If you have imported a code in your map, all the memos linked to this particular code can
also be imported automatically. Moreover, you can search and insert all of the codes overlapping
with a code on your map and automatically connect them to the code.
These features do not establish new links or new relationships, but they allow for completely new
perspectives to your data. Connections that have likely been hidden in listings or tables can now
come to the foreground. New views and relationships become visually apparent and much easier to
understand. The connections between different elements of the diagram are not restricted to hier-
archical relationships as with the “Code System” in MAXQDA. In MAXMaps, relationships can be
represented in a more complex way, for instance as networks or any other type of model.
This visual method of data display is supported by the variety and flexibility that characterizes
MAXMaps. All elements used in a map may be designed individually. Codes, memos, and texts are
not always displayed with the same symbols and colors. You can select different symbols, colors,
fonts, and sizes, or even import your own symbols unique to each element of your map. All labels,
images, and symbols can be managed individually. You can also import your own photographs,
icons, or clip art.
16.2 Getting Started – Creating a New Map
MAXMaps is available as an option in MAXQDA’s Visual tools drop-down menu. The MAXMaps
window is divided into two parts. The left part contains a list of your maps. The first time you work
with MAXMaps, the list will only contain one entry, which is called “New map." The right part of
the window is the place where you can create your map. Here, the different elements, such as
codes or memos, are imported. You can also design your model by importing your project’s ele-
ments, linking them, and inserting labels, headings, graphics, and images.
To create a new empty map, select New Map from the New drop-down menu. A new empty map
will then be created with the default name “New map." You can modify the default name by
right-clicking on the name and selecting Rename from the menu that appears.

MAXMaps 231
You can create as many maps as desired. All maps are stored in the MAXQDA project file. They can
also be saved in the form of JPEG or SVG, files which can then be inserted into text files. Maps are
automatically stored in the MAXQDA project file when you close the MAXMap window; it is not
necessary to use an explicit save command.
The MAXMaps screen
16.3 Arranging a Map
Working with MAXMaps: Two Work Modes
When working with MAXMaps, you can switch between two different work modes:
1. Selection Mode
This main work mode serves to select objects from MAXQDA and to insert them into the model. In
this mode, objects can be freely shifted on the work surface.
2. Link Mode
The link mode makes it possible to interconnect different objects contained within the
model. The connecting lines can even be treated like objects, i.e. properties can be modi-
fied in any manner desired. In the selection mode, the line type, color, label, and other
characteristics of a connecting line can be modified.

Objects in MAXMaps232
How to select various modes from the drop-down menu
16.4 Objects in MAXMaps
A map consists of three different types of items:
 Standard objects.
 Free objects.
 Connecting objects.
Standard objects originate from MAXQDA, e.g. a code, a text, or a memo. They can only be insert-
ed into a drawing pad once.
A text, a code, or a memo can only be included one time in a map.
Note: Modifications on standard objects have no effects on the MAXQDA project.
For instance, if you modify the name of a text imported from MAXQDA, the name in MAXQDA’s
“Document System” nevertheless remains the same. Objects removed from the drawing pad are
not simultaneously removed from the MAXQDA project.
No matter how you arrange an object, connections to the MAXQDA database will always be pre-
served. This also means that a text that is represented only as a picture will open via double-click in
MAXQDA’s “Document Browser.” Free objects are not connected with items of the current
MAXQDA project. In this sense, they are independent of the analyzed data. Connecting objects are
lines, which interconnect two objects.
Both standard and free objects consist of an object label and an object picture. Standard objects
receive the appropriate icon from MAXQDA as a picture and the appropriate name from MAXQDA
as a label.
For example, as with a MAXQDA document, the document name will be taken from the “Docu-
ment System.” Connecting objects can likewise be provided with a label. You can also select the
characteristics and types of connecting lines.

MAXMaps 233
Importing Objects into a Worksheet
Each object that is imported into the worksheet – be it a code, a memo, a text, a coded segment, or
a so-called free object – consists of two elements:
 A picture, and
 A label.
When importing a MAXQDA object, the MAXQDA default symbol is carried over as the picture and
the MAXQDA name as the label. For example, when importing a code, the colored code symbol
from the list of codes and the code name are carried over.
The following figure shows three inserted objects (a code, a memo, and a text) immediately after
being imported. They have not been positioned on the drawing pad.
The MAXMaps window after importing a text, a code, and a document
Something similar occurs with a memo. In the drawing pad, the assigned memo icon (in MAXQDA)
appears as a picture of the object and the title of the memo appears as a label. Both the label and
the picture can be changed, or a picture, a diagram, or a photo can be imported. The label can also
be changed along with the font type, font size, and other properties.
How to Import Standard Objects from MAXQDA
To import an element from MAXQDA, hold down the Alt key and double-click on the selected
object while in MAXQDA.
Alternatively, you can select the element with the right mouse button and click the Insert in
map option from the context menu. The chosen object is usually inserted in the drawing pad on the
top left.

Objects in MAXMaps234
Inserting an element via the context menu
The following MAXQDA elements can be inserted. The brackets state where the elements are locat-
ed in MAXQDA:
 a) Document groups (Document System).
 b) Documents (Document System).
 c) Codes and subcodes (Code System).
 d) Code memos (Code System).
 e) Memos attached to parts of documents (Document Browser).
 f) Memos attached to documents (Document System).
 f) Memos attached to document groups (Document System).

MAXMaps 235
 h) Coded segments (Retrieved Segments).
All of these functions listed are only available if the window “MAXMaps” is open. The object is im-
ported into the currently active map and displayed in the right part of the MAXMaps window.
MAXMaps will inherit the same color of codes, subcodes, and coded segments that have been as-
signed in MAXQDA. This is also the case for memos and memo symbols. All elements are usually
inserted into the upper left corner of the drawing pad if enough room is available.
Tip: The fastest way to import objects is by holding down the Alt key and double-clicking on the
selected item.
The specific import procedures occur as follows:
a) Document groups (Document System):
Select the document group in the “Document System” first, then hold down the Alt key and dou-
ble-click on the name of the text group. The choice can alternatively be carried out via the right
mouse button.
b) Document (Document system):
Select the document in the “Document System” first, then hold down the Alt key and double-click
on the name of the document group. The choice can alternatively be carried out via the right mouse
button.
c) Codes and subcodes (Code System):
Select the code or subcode in the code system first, then hold down the Alt key and double-click on
the name of the code. The choice can alternatively be carried out via the right mouse button.
d) Code memos (Code System):
Select the code memo in the code system first, then hold down the Alt key and double-click on the
memo symbol. The choice can alternatively be carried out via the right mouse button.
e) Memos attached to passages of a document (Document Browser):
Select the memo in MAXQDA’s “Document Browser” first, then hold down the Alt key and double-
click on the memo symbol. The choice can alternatively be carried out via the “Overview of memos”
table and use of the right mouse button.
f) Memos attached to documents (Document System):
Select the memo in MAXQDA’s “Document System” first, then hold down the Alt key and double-
g) Memos attached to a document group (Document System):
Select the memo in MAXQDA’s “Document System” first, then hold down the Alt key and double-
h) Coded segments (Retrieved Segments):

Object Properties236
Select the coded segment in MAXQDA’s window “Retrieved segments” first, then hold down the
Alt key and double-click on the info box on the left side of the coded segment. The choice can al-
ternatively be carried out via the right mouse button by clicking on the info box in front of the seg-
ment. In addition, coded segments can be selected directly from the different overviews which are
available e.g. in the “Document System” or the “Code System.”
How to Import Free Objects
Elements of a drawing that don't have any relation to objects in MAXQDA are understood as free
objects. Free objects, similar to standard objects, also consist of two parts, namely a picture and a
label (name). Since only text fields are frequently required without a picture, such text elements can
be inserted with a separate button. Thus, a free object can be a text field or a picture with a label
(description) underneath it. To insert such a free element, MAXMaps must be in the selection mode.
Click here to insert free objects and text fields
The labels can be deleted or renamed by using the context menu properties.
Arranging Connections between Objects
The connection lines drawn between single objects can be edited similarly to standard objects and
free objects. You can determine the connecting line properties in the connecting line menu by
choosing the selection mode and double-clicking on the connecting line.
Deleting Objects
Every object can be removed from the drawing pad. To do this, select the desired object with the
mouse. Then press the Del key (Windows) or the Backspace key (Mac), or click on the Remove
from Map symbol. This removes the object and all its connections with other objects entirely.
16.5 Object Properties
Object properties can only be modified when the selection mode is activated. Objects can be placed
in the desired position in the drawing pad by holding down the left mouse button and dragging the
object to its new place.
When you select an object with the right mouse button, a context menu will open that includes
the option labeled properties. Here, you can determine properties of a single selected object.
Tip: If the sync mode is turned off, the quickest method to access the properties dialogue window
is double-clicking on the object in question.

MAXMaps 237
The dialog window “Object properties”
You can choose from the following properties, among others:
“Label” Tab
Label: i.e. the name of the object. This doesn't have any effect on the text name in the MAXQDA
project. If you change the name of an object in a worksheet, e.g. the name of a text “Interview1”
into “Peter Miller’s,” the name of the text in MAXQDA remains “Interview1.”
Font, Font size, Font color: Diverse properties can be defined for the object, including font, font
size, and font color.
Borders: a frame is drawn around the object.
“Image” Tab
Visible: if this option is not selected, only the object’s label is shown.
Form: For free objects, here you can define whether the object should be a circle, a rectangle or a
rectangle with rounded corners. In addition, external graphics can be defined.

Shadow: a shadow is drawn around the object. This only applies to standard objects (not for im-
ported bitmaps and graphics).
“Link” Tab
External link: Insert a reference to a local file here and it will be opened if you click on the object.
Geo Link: Insert a path to a .kml/.kmz file with geoinformation and it will be opened if you click on
the object.
Format Painter to Copy Properties
MAXMaps permits the transfer of properties from one object to other objects. This allows for a
more uniform appearance among different objects. The function is applicable to all objects includ-
ing connection objects, and it also enables you to transfer the color and line type of one connecting
line to another one.
The “format painter” option: copy format

MAXMaps 239
The “format painter” option: apply format
How it works:
1. Select the object whose properties you wish to assign to another object.
2. Click on the option format painter in the toolbar.
3. Select the target object, i.e. the object to which the format shall be applied.
4. Click on the option format transfer in the toolbar.
Subsequently, the same format can be applied to an arbitrary number of objects. You can do this
simply by selecting these desired objects and then choosing the format painter option. If you
wish to transfer the format to several objects at the same time, you must select all of them using
the mouse and holding down the Ctrl key.
Extending and Reducing the Size of Objects
In the selection mode, every selected object can be extended or reduced by clicking on the “+” or
“-” symbols found in the toolbar.
In the selection mode, you can jointly extend or reduce objects simply by drawing a frame around
the objects with the mouse. You can then change the object size using the method described
above. The relation between the size of the picture and the font size can be defined in the proper-
ties dialogue window.
Grouping Objects
Objects can be arranged into groups. To do this, use the mouse to first draw a frame around the
object. The same can also be accomplished by holding down the Shift key and clicking on the de-
sired objects one after another and clicking on the Grouping symbol, which can be found approx-
imately in the middle of the toolbar.
Grouped objects can be separated again in the same way: Select the group and then click on the
icon Resolve grouping. Within an established group, the separate elements of the group can no
longer be modified with the individual properties menu. If at any point later on, you wish to modify
an element, you have to resolve the grouping first.

The buttons “Group objects” and “Ungroup objects”
Picture Exchange - Importing Pictures
When importing MAXQDA objects, initially the standard icon assigned in MAXQDA is transferred. It
is then possible though to exchange the picture and to import another picture, clip art, or drawing.
This works as follows:
 Select the desired object with the right mouse button. Then, choose the option Change pic-
ture from the context menu.
 Instead of the initial standard picture, the picture of your choice can be imported. JPG, PNG,
and TIF are all permitted formats.
Layer
Objects can be assigned to different layers. If you ignore this option, all newly inserted objects will
be assigned to the same standard “base” layer. The Layer option makes it possible to display or to
remove parts of the drawing, so you can, for example, design a presentation that gradually increas-
es in complexity. You can start building a model with only a few elements and gradually increase
the number of elements that are displayed, thus creating a structure that continually gains complex-
ity.
The Layer function can be called up by clicking the layer icon in the toolbar. This will open a
window in which the existing layers are listed. At first, this includes only the “Base” layer. You can
define a new layer by clicking on the arrows to the right of the layer icon, then selecting “New”.
Layer window

MAXMaps 241
Any object on the drawing pad can be assigned to a certain layer. Just choose the option Layer
after selecting the object with the right mouse button and assign the object to the desired lev-
el.
Assigning an object to a layer
To display a level, simply put a checkmark in front of the desired layer in the dialogue window.
Moving Objects to the Foreground or Background
To arrange the objects of a map according to your needs, it is necessary to be able to move objects
from the foreground to the background and vice versa. The corresponding Bring to the front and
Move to the back options are found in the toolbar.
Buttons “Bring to the front” and “Move to the back”
This procedure is arranged intuitively:

The Object Library242
 Select the object whose position shall be changed.
 Click on Bring to the front or Move to the back to achieve the desired position.
16.6 The Object Library
The object library is a helpful tool for simplifying the organization of your objects. The archive gives
you access to all objects that you have added to it. If for example, you create a specific shape, and
want to have this handy for future use, simply right-click on the object and select Add to library.
A free object is customized
Add the object to the library for future quick access
This item is now in the object library. The entire library can be viewed by clicking on the library sym-
bol:
You will then see the library at the bottom of the MAXMaps window.

MAXMaps 243
The MAXMaps Library at the bottom of the MAXMaps window
You can then quickly add this object to your map by simply double-clicking on it. All formatting is
the same as in the original.
16.7 Link Mode: Linking Objects
To be able to draw connections between objects, you must first switch to the link mode. You can
choose between three different link types in the toolbar:
1. A simple connection between two objects (no directional arrow).
2. A directional connection (a directional arrow).
3. A mutual connection (bi-directional arrows).
Link a starting element to a target element to connect objects. Start the procedure by selecting the
starting object and clicking on it. Step two is to select the desired type of connecting line. After
that, draw the line from the starting object to the target object. Once connected on the drawing
pad, the connections remain unchanged and move with the objects. You can determine the proper-
ties of the connection lines in the selection mode, including the style and weight, the line color, and
the label of a connecting line. Similar to standard and free objects, you can open the connecting
line properties menu by double-clicking on the connection line.

Exporting and Printing Maps244
Dialog box for connecting line properties
If in the link mode, it is not possible to extend or to reduce single objects. You can only change the
size of the entire drawing.
16.8 Exporting and Printing Maps
Printing a Map
Any map created in the MAXMaps module can be printed in high quality. To start the print proce-
dure, click the Print symbol in the toolbar.

MAXMaps 245
Export a Map as a Graphic File
Maps can be exported in different formats. Thus, you can use them with other software programs,
such as Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. To start the export procedure, click the Save as picture
symbol in the toolbar.
The following file formats are available: SVG, JPG, PNG and EMF for windows. For presentation
posters it is recommended you use the vector formats SVG or EMF, as these can be scaled.
Teamwork: How to Export and Import a Map
Maps can be exported and imported from one MAXQDA installation to a different one.
All the maps that you create will be saved in the MAXQDA project file (“mx12” format) along with
the rest of your project data. The teamwork function works in a similar way as the other teamwork
functions of MAXQDA, for instance, in the export of memos and codes.
To export a map, right-click on the map title in the left pane of the MAXMap window and select
Export Map. Maps will be exported with the extension .MOD.
To import a map from another project, click the New button and select Import Map.
16.9 Synchronization with MAXQDA
The sync mode synchronizes your map with the MAXQDA project. For example, when in sync
mode, if you hover the mouse over the icon associated with a document in the map, a connection
to your project’s data is established. A tooltip with the first lines of the memo assigned to this doc-
ument will appear, and by double-clicking on the icon you can open it in the MAXQDA Document
Browser.
You can switch the sync mode on and off by clicking on the corresponding icon in the toolbar. The
sync mode offers the following features:
Document Group and Document Set Symbols:
 When you hover the mouse: A tooltip with a preview of the memo assigned to the Document
Group or Document Set will appear (if memo exists).
 When you click on the symbol: The corresponding Document Group or Document Set will be
highlighted in the Document System.
Document Symbols
 When you hover the mouse: A tooltip with a preview of the document memo will appear (if
memo exists).
 When you click on the symbol: The document will be highlighted in the Document System.
 When you double-click on the symbol: The document will open in the Document Browser.

Synchronization with MAXQDA246
Memo Symbols
 When you hover the mouse: A tooltip with a preview of the memo will appear.
 When you click on the symbol: The memo will be highlighted in the Document System, Code
System, Document Browser or Multi-Media Browser, depending on the type of memo.
 When you double-click on the symbol: The memo will open.
Code Symbols
 When you hover the mouse: A tooltip with a preview of the memo will appear.
 When you click on the symbol: The code will be highlighted in the Code System.
 When you double-click on the symbol: The „Overview of Coded Segments“ for this code will
open.
Coded Segment Symbols
 When you hover the mouse: A tooltip containing a preview of the coded segment will appear.
 When you click on the symbol: The corresponding element will be highlighted in the Code Sys-
tem, Document Browser or Media Browser, and move to the position of the coded segment.
Functions in Sync Mode
In addition to the options described above, the sync mode makes further functional connections
possible between the Map and the MAXQDA database.
In the context menus for documents and codes, overviews of coded segments and linked memos
are available. These tables function exactly as elsewhere in MAXQDA, meaning you can click on an
element in the table to jump directly to the corresponding location in the document.
Importing all of a Document’s Memos
The option Import memos, which is available in the context menu of a document, allows you to
import all the memos that have been attached to a document. The corresponding memo symbols
now appear in the drawing pad. Connection lines link them to the corresponding document.

MAXMaps 247
All of the document’s memos displayed after import
Importing Subcodes
Right-clicking on a code displayed in the drawing pad causes the context menu to appear. It con-
tains the option Import subcodes, which causes all the subcodes of the selected code to be im-
ported. The symbols for these codes can now be seen in the drawing pad, including the lines linking
them to the corresponding parent code.
When you select this option, MAXQDA will ask if you wish to use different line widths to reflect
frequency. If you select Yes, subcodes with more coded segments will be represented with thicker
connecting lines than those with fewer coded segments. If a code already appears on the map, the
connecting line will be supplemented if necessary.
Importing Co-occurring Codes
The context menu for a code also contains the option Import co-occuring codes. This option will
insert all codes in the project that overlap with the selected code onto the work surface. All co-
occuring codes will be connected to the selected code with dotted lines.
The same option is available from the MAXQDA Code System. When you click a code and select the
Intersections option from the context menu, a list containing all the overlapping codes will appear.
This list is effectively a preview of the codes that would be inserted in the map if you used the Im-
port co-occuring codes function.
When you select this function, MAXQDA will ask if you wish to use different line widths to reflect
frequency. If you select Yes, codes with more intersections will be represented with thicker connect-
ing lines than those with fewer intersections.
If a co-occurring code is already present in the drawing pad, it will not be imported again. Yet, in
any case, a connecting line will be drawn between this code and the co-occurring code. All code
symbols will be inserted in the upper left corner of the drawing pad. Therefore, we recommend that
you leave enough space there for the imported codes.
Inserting Text of a Retrieved Segment
When you right-click on a retrieved segment symbol in the map and select Insert text of coded
segment as label, the complete text of the segment will be inserted in the map as a label.

Model Templates in MAXMaps248
Importing Linked Memos
This is another function for the automatic import of relationships that already exist in the MAXQDA
project. All memos that are linked with the selected code will be imported into the drawing pad.
Furthermore, to symbolize the link, lines will be drawn from each memo to the code. To avoid du-
plicate copies of memos that are already part of the drawing, these will not be imported a second
time. In this case, only a line will be inserted from the memo to the code, provided that it does not
already exist.
16.10 Model Templates in MAXMaps
With the model templates, using the one-of-a-kind MAXMaps tool to visualize connections and
patterns in your data set is made even easier. During the research process, it is often the case that
one focuses on a single part of the material: on a specific text, code, code overlap, or on a specific
hypothesis or theoretical aspect addressed in a memo. The new models offer quick, accessible solu-
tions for these situations, and they can be tweaked to fit your specific data set and research focus.
MAXQDA uses your settings and data to create an appropriate diagram in MAXMaps. This map can
be edited, added to, or rearranged as you see necessary. It produces results that you can literally
see: the graphics quality is superb, and with the newly-available EMF format (Windows Enhance
Metafile), you can even print out your maps as large posters for presentations.
There are five different models:
1. One-Case Model – All relevant data attached to a document is illustrated in the map. This in-
cludes all appropriate memos, codes, and coded segments.
2. One-Code Model – This model is very similar to the One-Case Model, except that a code is the
focus rather than a document. The coded segments and memos attached to the code are includ-
ed in this model along with any memos that are linked to the code.
3. Code Theory Model – This model is especially helpful for the development of theory. It auto-
matically displays all memos (with their ideas and hypotheses) attached to a specific code.
4. Code Co-Occurence Model – This model illustrates the associations and intersections between
selected codes. One or more codes are selected and dragged onto the MAXMaps window. All
codes that intersect with any of these selected codes are then automatically inserted with an ar-
row connecting them to the code with which they intersect. The width of this arrow is depend-
ent on the number of intersections. The model can be made more complex by including the sub-
codes in the visualization.
5. Code-Subcode-Segment Model – This is the most complex of the five models. The subcodes,
connected memos, and the coded segments for all selected codes are illustrated in a single mod-
el.
The models make it possible to explore the data in a unique way. All elements of the map are di-
rectly synchronized with the MAXQDA project, which means you can see the content of memos
and coded segments by simply moving your mouse over the appropriate icons. By double-clicking,

MAXMaps 249
you’ll be taken directly to the appropriate part of the document. All model templates can be ac-
cessed in MAXMaps by clicking the New button.
16.10.1 The One-Case Model
Function of this model
In this model, a document from the “Document System” is at the center of the analysis. After se-
lecting the model from the menu, the document to be analyzed is dragged onto the MAXMaps
workspace. The purpose of the visualization is to make the memos, codes, and code segments for
the selected document accessible.
Model display in the map
The elements of the model will be displayed in the map with the document in the middle of the
workspace and the other elements arranged in a star pattern around it. If memos are included, they
are positioned at the top of the map.
The various elements are connected to the text by lines with seven levels of thickness. The thickness
of each line is defined by the number of text segments coded with the particular code – the thicker
the line, the higher the number of coded segments. It could be that in some cases a text has dozens
and dozens of codes or memos, or that a very high number of text segments were coded. For this
reason, you have the option of setting a maximum number of codes, memos, and text segments to
be displayed, as well as the option of changing the exact search criteria.

An example of the One-Case Model
Model Options
In the One-Case Model, the following elements can be included in the visualization:
1. Memos: both those attached to a text segment in the selected document and the memo at-
tached to the document itself in the “Document System.”
2. Codes that are used in the selected document.
3. Segments that have been coded with the codes from point 2.

MAXMaps 251
Model options in detail
The One-Case Model options window
Memo options
 Memos. Here you can select each memo type to be included in the map: Document memos,
Memos in document, code memos, Memos linked with code.
Code options
 Display only activated codes. Only those codes are displayed that you already activated in the
“Code System” window.
 Maximum quantity of codes to be displayed. If there are more codes than the set maximum
quantity to be displayed, the codes will be ranked according to quantity. If, for example, there
are 11 codes, and the maximum is set to 10, the 10 most-used codes in the selected document
will be displayed.
 Display superordinated code. Top-level codes can be additionally displayed.
Coded Segments options
 Display coded segments. If this box is checked, the coded segments will be displayed for each
of the codes. You can set the maximum number of coded segments to be displayed per code.
 If there are more coded segments than the maximum to display, you have the option of setting
the Priority of coded segments by weight (relevance) or by segment size.

16.10.2 The One-Code Model
A code is the focus of this model. After selecting the model in MAXMaps, the code must be
dragged onto the MAXMaps workspace.
The purpose of this model is to display the selected code with all its connected memos and coded
segments.
The One-Code Model is similar to the One-Case Model, except that a code is the focus rather than
a document.
In this model, the code memo, other memos linked to the code, and all the document segments
coded with the selected code can all be displayed. The code icon is put in the center of the work
space, and the other elements are arranged in a circle around it. Lines connect all the elements to
the code.
The One-Code Model

MAXMaps 253
Model options
The following elements can be displayed in the One-Code Model:
1. Memos: both the code memo and any memos linked to the code.
2. Coded segments.
The One-Code Model options
Memo options
 Display memos. If this box is not checked, no memos will be displayed in the map. If the box is
checked, you can also set the maximum number of memos to be displayed.
Coded segments options
 Display coded segments. If this box is checked, coded segments will be displayed for each of
the codes. You can set the maximum number of coded segments to be displayed per code.
 Display only coded segments in activated documents.
 If there are more coded segments than the maximum to display, you have the option of rank-
ing the coded segments by weight (relevance) or by length (measured in bytes) of the coded
segments.
In Sync Mode
Memo icon
 Mouse over: shows a preview of the memo.
 Double-click: highlights the document in the “Document System,” opens the document in the
“Document Browser,” and moves to the point in the document where the memo is positioned.
 Second double-click: opens the memo.
Code icon

 Mouse over: shows a preview of the code memo.
 Left-click: highlights the code in the “Code System” window.
Coded segment icon
 Mouse over: shows a preview of the code memo.
 Left-click: highlights the code in the “Code System” and the document in the “Document Sys-
tem.”
 Double-click: opens document in the “Document Browser” and moves to the position of the
coded segment.
 Right-click: shows context menu, where you have the option of displaying the entire coded
segment in the map.
16.10.3 The Code Theory Model
A code, its subcodes (optional), and the memos attached to these code(s) are displayed in this mod-
el.
The code icon is put in the center of the map with the subcodes arranged in a circle around it. Sub-
codes can be arranged on two hierarchical levels, with the first level forming an inner circle around
the code, and the second level forming an outer circle. The memos are connected to the
codes/subcodes with a line. Since memos can be linked to more than one code, each code may be
connected with several lines.
Code Theory Model without subcodes. Code memos and linked memos of subcodes will be displayed.

MAXMaps 255
Code Theory Model with integration of subcodes on 1st level: subcodes are displayed in a circle around the
code. Memos are displayed in an outer second circle. The code memos and linked memos are imported, too.

Code Theory model with integration of subcodes on two levels: The subcodes are displaed around the main
code. The subcodes on level 2 are highlighted red.
Model options
In the Code Theory Model, the following elements can be included in the visualization:
1. Memos that are attached or linked to the selected code (and its subcodes, if desired).
2. Subcodes of the selected code.
The Code Theory Model options
Memo options

MAXMaps 257
 Display memos. If this box is not checked, no memos will be displayed in the map. If the box is
checked, you can also set the maximum number of memos to be displayed. If there are more
memos than the set maximum quantity to be displayed, the memos will be prioritized according
to creation date (newer codes get priority) or according to the size (longer memos get priority).
Subcode options
 You can limit the visualized subcodes by only displaying those activated in the “Code Sys-
tem.”
 You can also decide how many levels of subcodes are displayed (0 = no subcodes; 1 = only
the first level of subcodes; 2 = two levels of subcodes).
16.10.4 The Co-Occurrence Model
This model displays the intersections (or co-occurrences) of selected codes with other codes. It is
also possible to make the model more complex by including subcodes.
One or more codes are selected and dragged onto the MAXMaps work space. These codes are
connected with a black line to the code(s) with which they intersect. The thickness of the lines indi-
cates the frequency of the intersections. If the two codes intersect many times, the line connecting
the two will be thicker. Codes are connected to their subcodes with red lines.
The Code Co-Occurrence Model

Code Co-Occurrence Model options
Code/Subcode options
 You can now select which codes are to be included in the map.
 The visualization can be limited to include only intersections with activated subcodes.
 You can select how many levels of subcodes are to be included (0 = none; 1 = only the first
level; 2 = the first two levels).
 The minimum number of intersections can also be set. If this minimum number of intersec-
tions isn’t reached, the connections will not be included in the map.
Co-Occurrence options
 By selecting a certain required code weight, you can limit the displayed intersections accord-
ing to its relevance. By setting the required weight to 80 to 100, for example, one would ana-
lyze only those codes, to which the researcher assigned such a high value.
16.10.5 The Code-Subcode-Segments Model
This model creates a map with a selected code, its subcodes, and the segments coded with these
codes. This model is similar in many ways to the One-Case Model except that a code is the focus,
rather than a document.
Your selected code is placed in the center of the map with the subcodes arranged in a circle around
it and connected to it with lines. All coded segments are then connected to the appropriate
code/subcode.

MAXMaps 259
The Code-Subcode-Segments model

Options in MAXMaps260
The Code-Subcode-Segments Model options
Code options
 Subcodes can be limited to those activated in the “Code System” window. You can also set
the maximum number of subcodes to be displayed.
Coded segment options
 Display coded segments. If this box is checked, coded segments will be displayed for each of
the codes. You can also set the maximum number of coded segments to be displayed per code.
 You can also limit the coded segments by choosing to display only those that are found in
the documents activated in the “Document System.”
 If there are more coded segments than the maximum to display, you have the option of rank-
ing the coded segments by weight (relevance) or by length (measured in bytes).
16.11 Options in MAXMaps
By clicking on the Options symbol, a window will open where you can view and change stand-
ard settings.

MAXMaps 261
The “Options” window
Apply grid – this option “snaps” your objects to a grid, which is visualized in the background. This
allows you to more easily line up objects in straight lines, and the grid will not be shown in exported
pictures.
Reduce imported images to this size – this setting determines how imported images are handled.
You can select 300x300, 600x600, 1,200x1,200, or “Original size.” The longest side of an imported
picture is then reduced to the maximum pixel size. Background pictures are always imported in their
original size.
Visualize document links – when this box is checked, document links are visualized by a blue line
between documents.

Frequency Tables and Charts for Subcodes262
17 Statistics and Graphics Functions
17.1 Frequency Tables and Charts for Subcodes
With the help of the Statistics and Graphics module, MAXQDA can create frequency tables and
charts which indicate the frequency of subcodes. These functions can be accessed in the following
ways:
 From the menu Codes > Statistic of subcodes
 or with the Statistic of subcodes button in the “MAXQDA standard” toolbar
The split “Choose Codes,” dialog box: on the left side, all existing codes that have subcodes are
listed; on the right side selected codes appear. In the middle, arrow buttons allow you to transfer
codes from one window to the other. Click on the column header of either list in order to alphabet-
ize content.
Note: To select multiple variables at once, hold down the Shift () key, Ctrl key (Windows) or cmd
key (Mac)
Statistics and Graphics: Choose codes
For codes containing subcodes, this function can also be called up directly from the Code System.
Right-click on the code and select Statistic of subcodes. In this way, you can also access the statistics
functions for codes that are not at the top level of the code system.
The analysis can be restricted to currently activated documents and subcodes. To do so, check the
appropriate boxes.
Select Unit of Analysis for Statistical Evaluation
At the bottom of the screen, you will find options for the unit of analysis. The following options are
available:

Statistics and Graphics Functions 263
Documents (count all subcodes) – This option corresponds, in principle, to an evaluation of mul-
tiple responses. In this case, the analysis is performed assuming that when several subcodes can be
coded in a document, the subcodes are not mutually exclusive. MAXQDA analyzes the number of
documents to which a subcode has been assigned. All subcodes that occur in a given document will
be counted, on a per-document basis. This type of analysis would typically be employed to answer
the question "What percentage of cases (= documents) mention the theme XY ?".
Documents (count most frequent subcode only) – In this case, the analysis is performed under
the assumption that subcodes are mutually exclusive, meaning that subcodes can be interpreted as
categorical variables. MAXQDA analyzes the number of documents to which the subcode has been
assigned. On a per-document basis, only the subcode that occurs most frequently is counted. If two
or more subcodes occur with the same frequency within a document, a new “not defined” catego-
ry will appear.
Coded segments – This option analyzes the number of coded segments per subcode. As a rule, it
makes sense to use this option only when the Only for activated documents option is also select-
ed, otherwise the output frequencies simply correspond to the frequencies in the Code System.
Note: Regardless of which unit of analysis is selected, not only the direct subcodes of the selected
parent codes, but also the subcodes of subcodes, will be included in the analysis. All lower-level
codes will be aggregated with the top-level code, and only this code will be displayed in the results
table.
Once you click OK, MAXQDA begins the statistical calculation, after which the results will be dis-
played as frequency tables and diagrams.
The window shows the table view of the first selected variables:
Frequency Table
The first column of the table lists the different subcodes of the table; the second column, the abso-
lute frequency; the third column, the corresponding percentages. The fourth column shows the
percentages based on valid values, meaning missing values are not taken into account. If no missing
values exist in relation to the relevant variables, then the percentages will be identical in the third
and fourth columns.
Tip: Click on the column headers of the first two columns in order to define row order. For exam-
ple, you can sort in descending or ascending order of category frequency.

Table Values
The relevance of table values depends on the code selection option.
Unit of Analysis: Document (count all subcodes) – The table will show the number of docu-
ments in which the respective subcode was assigned. For each document, all subcodes that occur in
the document will be counted. The number of missing values corresponds to the number of docu-
ments to which none of the analyzed subcodes occur.
Unit of Analysis: Document (count most frequent subcode only) – The table will show the
number of documents in which the respective subcode was assigned. Subcodes are mutually exclu-
sive. For each document, only the most frequently occurring subcode will be counted. The number
of missing values corresponds to the number of documents in which none of the analyzed subcodes
occur.
Unit of Analysis: Coded Segments – The table will show how often a subcode was assigned,
meaning how many coded segments exist for this code.
Example: In this MAXQDA project, five interviews were analyzed with respect to the issue “World
Problems.” In total, 17 segments in nine documents were coded, and distributed among the three
subcodes “Scarcity of resources,” “War” and “Egoism.”
When “Coded Segments” is selected as the unit of analysis, MAXQDA generates a table which
shows how often each of the three subcodes occurs in the nine interviews. Missing values are not
taken into consideration with this option. The basis for the calculation of percentages is the total
number of coded segments: In this example, 17:
Unit of Analysis: Coded Segments
If “Documents (count most frequent subcode only)” had been selected as the unit of analysis, the
“Frequency” column would indicate the number of interviews in which the respective world prob-
lem was coded most often. As the table below reveals, the subcode “Scarcity of resources” was
awarded most often in 4 interviews. Note the category “not defined,” which occurs when two or
more subcodes are present in equal frequency within a document; in this case, twice. In each doc-
ument at least one world problem was coded, otherwise a missing value would be displayed. The
“Total” row indicates the total number of documents analyzed: In this case, nine.

Unit of Analysis: Document (count most frequent subcode only)
When the unit of analysis “Documents (count all subcodes)” is selected, MAXQDA counts the
number of documents in which each world problem occurs. The upper “Total” row shows the
number of documents in which at least one of the world problems is coded. The “Percentage”
column shows the percentage of people who mentioned at least one of the respective world prob-
lems.
Unit of Analysis: Document (count all subcodes)
The following table schematically represents the structure:
Subcode A Number of documents in which Code A occurs.
Subcode B Number of documents in which Code B occurs.
Subcode C Number of documents in which Code C occurs.
Total Number of documents in which AT LEAST ONE of the analyzed subcodes occurs.
Missing Number of documents in which NONE of the analyzed subcodes occurs.
Total Number of analyzed documents in total.
Toolbars
You will see a toolbar at the top of the results window. Here you can:
 call up charts by clicking the icon
 flip forward or back between main codes
 print results, or
 export results as an Excel file.

Charts
Once you have switched to the Chart view by clicking on the icon, a bar chart of the selected
subcode appears in the place of the table view.
Horizontal bar chart representation for the subcodes of the “World Problems” code
Note: The order of columns, bars and segments is determined by row order in the frequency table.
You will see two toolbars at the top of this window. The upper toolbar is the same as the frequency
table, and you can switch at any time to the table view. On the right side of the toolbar you will see
three buttons, with which you can choose between pie chart, horizontal and vertical bar chart. The
chart can be customized using the options in the lower toolbar.
Display labels – hide or show categorical labels of bar and pie charts on the x-axis.
Display data values – hide or show the data label, meaning frequency of variable values or
subcodes.
Display percentages – show relative, rather than absolute frequencies.
Display missing values – hide or show missing values category.
Display legend – hide or show the legend, which is switched “off” by default in bar charts.
Display scale – hide or show the scale axis in bar charts.
Display title – hide or show diagram title.
Display text – hide or show textual description of diagram.
One color – use the same color for all pie or bar chart segments.
Color gradient – add color gradient to pie or bar chart segments

Change color scheme – opens window for color scheme selection.
Customizing Chart Captions, Color and Font Sizes
When creating charts, MAXQDA sets an initial color scheme. To customize your charts, double-click
on the selected segment and choose your desired color. Click on the Change color scheme
button to select from among three preset color schemes.
Double-click on the title or description to customize content.
Formatting, such as font, font size and font style, can be changed via the dialog window that ap-
pears when you right-click on the title, description or another label.
Customize color and font size
Note: When window size is modified, font size will be automatically modified accordingly.
Printing and Exporting Charts
Like frequency tables, charts can be printed and exported. Charts will be exported in PNG format, or
as vector graphics in SVG format.
17.2 Frequency Tables and Diagrams for Variables
With the help of the Statistics and Graphics module, MAXQDA can create frequency tables and
corresponding diagrams for code variables as well as document variables. These functions can be
accessed in the following ways:
 from the menu Variables > Statistic of document variables and Statistic of code variables,

Frequency Tables and Diagrams for Variables268
 or with the Statistic of document variables button on the “MAXQDA standard” toolbar,
The split “Choose variables” window is displayed below: On the left side, all existing variables are
listed; on the right, the selected variables. The arrow buttons in the middle allow you to transfer
variables from one window to the other, i.e. for selection for analysis or removal from the selection
list. To select multiple variables, hold down the Shift (), Ctrl (Windows) or cmd (Mac) key.
Statistics and Graphics: Choose Variables
Note: System variables that are created and managed by MAXQDA are marked in red; codes that
have been transformed into variables are marked in green.
Both lists can be alphabetized by clicking on the column headers. By selecting Only activated doc-
uments you can limit the analysis to currently activated documents, for example the transcripts of
selected interviewees. The corresponding option Only activated codes is also available.
Tip: The statistics functions for variables can also be accessed directly with the button in the
„List of document variables“ and „List of code variables“. MAXQDA then begins the statistical anal-
ysis for only the selected variables, then considers all documents or codes.
When you click OK MAXQDA will begin the statistical evaluation and display the results as frequen-
cy tables and charts.
The results window displays the results of the first selection of variables in a table. The “Frequency”
column shows how many of the analyzed documents contain the variable value in question.

Frequency Table
Tip: Click on the column headers of the first two columns in order to modify the order of the table
rows. For example, you can sort the frequency of categories in ascending or descending order.
The first column lists the various categories of the variable; the second column lists the absolute
frequency; and the third lists the corresponding percentages. The fourth column shows percentages
based on valid values, meaning missing values are excluded. If there are no missing values among
the variables in question, the percentages of the third and fourth columns will be identical.
You can customize the order of the rows within the table by clicking on the column header of the
first and second columns. For example, you can sort the table in ascending or descending order in
regards to categorical frequency.
The results window has a toolbar at the top. From here you can:
 Call up the chart view by clicking the button
 Flip forwards or backwards between variables
 Print results, or
 Export results as an Excel file
Charts
When you switch to the chart view with the button, a bar chart of the variables in question ap-
pears in the place of the table view.

Frequency Tables and Diagrams for Variables270
Horizontal bar chart of the document variable “Age”
Note: The order of chart segments is determined by the order of the rows in the table, and can be
modified accordingly.
You will see two toolbars at the top of this window. The upper toolbar is the same as the frequency
table, and you can switch at any time to the table view. On the right side of the toolbar you will see
three buttons, with which you can choose between pie chart, horizontal and vertical bar chart. The
chart can be customized using the options in the lower toolbar
Display labels – hide or show categorical labels of bar and pie charts on the x-axis.
Display data values – hide or show the data label, meaning frequency of variable values or
subcodes.
Display percentages – show relative, rather than absolute frequencies.
Display missing values – hide or show missing values category.
Display legend – hide or show the legend, which is switched “off” by default in bar charts.
Display scale – hide or show the scale axis in bar charts.
Display title – hide or show diagram title.
Display text – hide or show textual description of diagram.
One color – use the same color for all pie or bar chart segments.
Color gradient – add color gradient to pie or bar chart segments
Change color scheme – opens window for color scheme selection.
Customizing Chart Captions, Color and Font Sizes
When creating charts, MAXQDA sets an initial color scheme. To customize your charts, double-click
on the selected segment and choose your desired color. Click on the Change color scheme
button to select between three preset color schemes.

Double-click on the title or description to customize content.
Formatting, such as font, font size and font style, can be changed via the dialog window that ap-
pears when you right-click on the title, description or another label.
Modify color and font size in charts
Print and Export Charts
Like frequency tables, charts can be printed and exported. Charts will be exported in PNG format, or
as vector graphics in SVG format.
Missing Values in Frequency Tables and Charts
MAXQDA will treat the following as missing variable values:
 For numerical and text variables, values set as “Missing values” in the “List of variables” will be
treated as missing.
 For text variables, blank fields will also be treated as missing.
Descriptive Statistics
When evaluating numerical variables the Descriptive statistics symbol is appears in in frequency
tables. Clicking on the icon produces an output of the usual parameters such including mean value
and variance.

The Idea behind the Summary Grid272
18 Summary-Grid
18.1 The Idea behind the Summary Grid
The systematic analysis of texts or other information is often about analyzing the data systematically
within a structural framework, summarizing it and then grouping it in different categories.
The idea is to look for theoretical explanations for certain phenomena as well as for similarities and
differences between texts. In this process, it is important to focus on what the research participants
precisely said. But on the other hand, the researcher should also detach from the participants own
words. His aim is to sum up and express what was said abstractly, and to eventually present it in a
way that is understandable for the recipient. During this analytical procedure, the “raw data,” that
is for example interview transcripts, records, field notes etc., should be accessible at all times.
The Summary Grid function of MAXQDA distinguishes two work stages and offers two individual
working environments for these stages:
The first stage is creating a summary and the second is creating result tables (so called “Summary
Tables”) based on the summaries.
These two functions are accessible from the Analysis drop-down menu:
Menu item “Summary Grid”
In order to create summaries, the segments that you want to analyze must already be grouped
thematically. This might have been done with the use of structured interviews, thematic coding, or
automatic coding. If the text is already coded with a Code System, a structure texts * codes already
exists; you can view it using the Code Matrix Browser.

Summary-Grid 273
You can picture the summary level as a thematic grid, i.e. a matrix documents * categories (codes).
MAXQDA has a matrix like this called the Code Matrix Browser (CMB). It displays the texts in the
columns and the categories in the rows.
The Summary Grid is a second analytical level that contains the summaries written by the user for
every node of the CMB. The user writes individual summaries and can edit them later, e.g. by add-
ing or altering the information. The idea is to present the summaries in overview tables at a later
stage of the analysis. This grid allows every summary to stay linked to the original text segment
from the raw data.
18.2 Creating and Editing Summaries
To create and edit summaries,
 From the main menu, select Analysis > Summary Grid,
 Or click the corresponding button in the “MAXQDA standard” toolbar.
MAXQDA then opens a new window called “Summary Grid.” The window itself is divided into
three areas:
 Left window: the thematic grid, the Code Matrix Browser display.
 Middle window: the coded segments, so exactly what is normally listed in the “Retrieved
Segments” window after double-clicking a node in the Code Matrix Browser.
 Right window: the summary, this is where the summary is displayed, created and edited.
Window “Summary Grid”
You can adjust the content of the columns and rows of the grid on the left with two buttons:
Only activated documents – only documents that have been activated in the “Document Sys-
tem” will appear as columns.
Only activated Codes – only Codes that have been activated in the “Code System” will appear
as rows.
Additional buttons offer the following functions:

Summary Tables274
Names, columns: none – in the left window, the document names will not be displayed in the
column header.
Names, columns: short – in the left window, the document names will be appear in the col-
umn header in short form.
Names, columns: full – in the left window, complete document names will be displayed in the
column header.
Display nodes as squares – existing codes will be symbolized as squares in the left pane.
Display nodes as circles – existing codes will be symbolized as circles in the left pane.
Summary tables – opens the “Summary Tables” window, described below.
In the right window, you can write and edit a summary for the node you have selected in the left
window. You can select a node by clicking on it. The summary will automatically be saved after
selecting a different node or closing the window.
Tip: You can move text segments from the middle window “Coded segments” to the right window
with the mouse. This way you can easily insert citations in the summary.
18.3 Summary Tables
A “Summary Table” is an overview table of summaries and document variables for selected docu-
ments and codes. It serves as a compilation of the summaries for selected topics. Summary Tables
are a useful tool for presentations and publications.
To create or view Summary Tables,
 select the menu item Analysis > Summary Tables
 or click the corresponding button .
This will open the Summary Tables window. This window is structured similarly to MAXMaps. On
the left side you find a list of the Summary Tables you have already created and in the window on
the right you can view the Summary Table that is currently opened.

Summary-Grid 275
“Summary Tables” window
To create a new Summary Table, click the button in the toolbar. A dialog window will appear
that offers three options:
1. You can decide whether to include all documents or only activated documents. This defines the
rows of the Summary Table.
2. You can select any number of codes,to be displayed in the columns of the Summary Table.
3. You can choose which document variables should be output as supplementary information. All
variables that are placed in the “Variables for first column” pane will appear in the first column
with the document name. All variables that are placed in the “Variables in own column” pane
will appear in their own columns after the codes.
By clicking OK, the table will be created according to the parameters you have chosen:

Summary Tables276
Summary Table
The Summary Table lists all summaries for the selected codes.
In the first column of the Summary Table, you can see the document group and document name. In
addition, the variable values of the variables chosen are displayed underneath each document. This
enables you to receive further information about a certain case in the Summary Table.
All table functions of MAXQDA are available:
 You can change the order of columns by clicking and dragging with the mouse.
 You can hide or display columns (right-click on the column header and choose Select fields).
 You can order columns alphabetically by clicking on a column header.
The table is in plain text format, so the entire table is formatted with the same font.
Note: You can edit any cell of the Summary Table individually, that means you can modify the
summaries displayed. Changes in the content of the Summary Table will also affect the summaries.
This means that the content of the corresponding cell in the Summary Grid will also change accord-
ingly. You can also change the variable values of the variables that are displayed in their own col-
umns – this has no effect on the document variables themselves.
Each cell of the Summary Table is connected invisibly to the assigned coded segments. These can be
viewed in the window “Retrieved Segments” by right-clicking in the cell of the Summary Table and
choosing “Display associated coded segments.”

Summary-Grid 277
Interactive cells in the Summary Table
Opening, Deleting, Duplicating and Renaming Summary Tables
To open an existing Summary Table, double-click on the name of the Summary Table in the left
panel. You can also right-click on the name of a table to open a context menu that allows you to
open, rename, duplicate or delete the table.
Context menu on a table name
Note: The Summary Table is dynamically linked to MAXQDA data. As soon as you open a Summary
Table, it scans your project for deleted documents, codes or variables, so that they can be removed
or updated if necessary. Deleting variables in the project or changing variable values not only affects
the first column, but also the variables in their own columns.
18.4 Overview of Summaries
The "Overview of Summaries" allows quick access to the summaries of selected documents. It is
accessible from the context menu at all levels of the Document System. Right-click on a document,
document group, document set, or the root of the Document System and select “Overview of
Summaries." A listing in table form will appear, as is typical in MAXQDA, and which contains all
existing summaries of the documents in question, displayed in the upper pane. As usual, the con-
text of the listing will be noted in the upper left corner.

Overview of Summaries278
The “Document” and “Code” columns contain information on the "node" from which the sum-
mary is derived, the “Preview” column contains the first 63 characters of the summary, and the
“Position" column lists all the positions from which the underlying coded segments originate. The
figure below illustrates the first summary from the document "Joanna" and is part of the code
"Significantly Positive." In this document two text segments were coded with this code, namely in
paragraphs 27 and 29.
Overview of summaries

Mixed Methods Functions 279
19 Mixed Methods Functions
19.1 General
MAXQDA is one of the pioneers of method integration. Functionality for working with both qualita-
tive and quantitative data was already available in the very first version of the software, which came
out in the late 1980s. The option to view a matrix of quantitative data parallel to the texts has been
a keystone of these mixed methods. In the previous version, MAXQDA 10, the option to create
code variables was added, which makes it possible to assign variable values to different sections of a
single document.
Functions that link documents and variables, for example themes from qualitative interview material
with the variables from standardized interviews, are available in the Mixed Methods drop-down
menu:
 Activate by document variables – lets you activate documents to be included in the Coding
Query based on document variable values. You could, for example, use this function to identify
what men between the ages of 40 and 50 said about migration issues.
 Quote Matrix – creates a Word file showing what different groups said about a theme based
on certain variable values that you specify. Each group’s coded segments for the specified codes
are in a different column. You could, for example, choose to see how those with various levels
of education differ on their approach to combating homelessness.
 Crosstabs – works parallel to the Code Matrix Browser, except that this function doesn’t work
on the document level. Instead, you can create groups based on your variable values and com-
pare how often each of these groups talks about each theme. You could, for example, compare
how often men talk about relationships in your life satisfaction interviews in comparison to
women.
 Typology Table – shows an overview of variable values for qualitative typologies that you have
created (e.g. for people with various views on combating their own homelessness). You could
see, for example, what the mean age, gender breakdown, and average time already homeless is
for the “apathetic pessimists” in comparison to the “proactive optimists.”
 Configuration Table – This table shows which combinations of codes exist in selected docu-
ments.
 Similarity analysis for documents – Selected documents are analyzed on the basis of existing
coded segments and document variables for their similarity, and the results are presented in a
similarity or distance matrix.
 Transform code into document variable or categorical document variable – Codes can be
converted into a document variable that specifies how often the code occurs in the document
or which subcode occurs most frequently in a document. The latter is particularly useful for
evaluative content analysis.

Activation by Document Variable: Variables as Selection Criteria for the
Coding Query
280
19.2 Activation by Document Variable: Variables as Selection
Criteria for the Coding Query
The Coding Query function in MAXQDA makes it possible for you to call up segments with selected
codes in selected documents. For simple retrievals documents and/or document groups are activat-
ed manually in the “Document System.” For example, you can activate all the documents in a pro-
ject, the documents of a specific document group, or individual docments based on specific criteria.
This type of selection is sufficient so long as you wish to retrieve only coded segments belonging to
a specific code. More complex, selective retrievals, however, can’t be done as easily with this meth-
od.
In addition to manual activation, there are also automatic activation options. With the Activate by
document variable function, you can choose to activate documents based on the variable values
that have been assigned to them. If you have defined variables for gender, age, and education level,
for example, you could choose to select only those documents that represent women over the age
of 40 that have at least a high school education. These activations can be made by entering the
appropriate formulas. The formula syntax in MAXQDA is similar to that of statistics programs like
SPSS.
The “Activate by document variables” function always processes the entire project. You can access
the function by choosing Activation by document variables from the Mixed Methods drop-
down menu or by right-clicking on the Documents icon in the “Document System” and choosing
Activate by document variables from the context menu that appears.
Accessing the function from the context menu
After clicking on the appropriate button, a dialog window will appear where you can enter the for-
mulas for activation. In the example mentioned above, we would want to activate only document
with women over the age of 40 with a high school education. The dialog window is made up of the
following sections:
 A section for the logical formulas and the buttons to create a new formula, delete the currently
selected formula, or delete all formulas.
 Checkboxes for selecting operators.
 Buttons for opening or saving formulas.

 Buttons for carrying out the activations.
Dialog field for activation by variable
All logical conditions must have the following components:
variable name / operator / value
If you have created a variable called “gender” and used the characters “m” for male and “f” for
female, we would use the following formula in order to activate those documents that are inter-
views with women:
gender = w
Example
Let’s say a study was conducted about the effects of the Gulf Oil spill on the reputation of offshore
drilling companies, and all documents have already been coded. A variable was created based on
the presence or absence of a critique of drilling company management (”Criticism”). If there was
such critique in a document, the variable value was set to “Y.” Otherwise it was set to “N.”
Now, if we only wanted to activate those documents that included critique of company manage-
ment, we would use the following formula:
Criticism = Y
To do this, you would follow these steps:
Double-click on the variable Criticism from the list of variables. You will now see the following text
in the formula window:
[Criticism] = <empty>
The only thing that is missing at this point is the variable value. On the right side of the screen you
will see a field where you can enter the value. Here you could enter “Y,” or simply click on the ar-
row to open the drop-down menu and select a value from the list of all the values that have been

Coding Query
282
entered for a document up to that point. In our example above, both “Y” and “N” would be in the
menu. Using this menu helps you to avoid any typos.
Be careful when typing in values: MAXQDA variable values are case sensitive, so it makes sense
to simply pick the value from the drop-down list.
Since the “=” operator is used most often, it is automatically selected when you start a new formu-
la. If you want to use a different logical operator, simply choose it from the right side of the win-
dow.
The operators have the following meanings:
= Selects variable values that are the same as the formula value.
<> Selects variable values that are not the same as the formula value.
< Selects variables values that are smaller than the formula value.
> Selects variable values that are larger than the formula value.
In our example, we wanted to activate those documents where the person did include critique of
the company management, so the “=” operator is appropriate. We would want to see those doc-
uments with the variable value equal to the formula value (”Y”).
If you are starting a formula with a numerical variable, a “0” is inserted automatically until you
change it.
Tip: It is possible to specify the condition that a non-numerical variable value should be <empty>.
Then all documents to which no variable value was assigned will be selected.
Results of Activations by Document Variable
Once you have entered the correct logical formulas, you can start the automatic activation. Click on
the Activate button.
MAXQDA then checks the variable values assigned to each document to check whether it matches
the formulated criteria. The automatic activation window is closed, and you will be brought back to
the standard MAXQDA four-window interface. The documents that matched the criteria are now
activated (marked red) in the “Document System.”
Tip: The status bar at the bottom of the MAXQDA window shows you how many documents have
been activated.
If you also had codes activated, you will immediately see results of your retrieval in the “Retrieved
Segments” window.
If you want to activate documents frequently based on the same criteria, it is recommended that
you save the activation model as a document set. To do so, select the option Activate and create
set from the dialog window. MAXQDA will then activate not only all the documents that meet the
defined variable conditions (formulas), but also create a document set containing the activated doc-
uments. This new document set can be activated at any time in the Document System, without hav-
ing to call up the function for automatic activation via document variables.

Changing and Saving Formulas
After starting the automatic activation process, the dialog window is no longer seen. The formulas,
however, will still be in that window the next time you open it.
You can change the logical formulas (operators and values) at any time:
 Click on the Formula in the dialog window, and select another operator.
 If you want to change the value, simply enter the new value or select it from the drop-down
menu.
After you have changed the formula, click on the Activate button to restart the activation.
You can also save a formula, so that you can have quick access to it at a later time. Just click on the
Save symbol at the bottom of the dialog window. You can then give it a name and choose
where you want to save it.
Files for saved logical formulas are saved by MAXQDA as .LOA (logical activation) files. To open a
saved formula, choose Open and navigate to the place you saved the .LOA file. It makes sense to
set up a folder for all of your LOA files, so they are easy to find.
Complex Logical Formulas
It is also possible to combine various logical formulas. The basic units of these combinations are still
the formulas in their basic form:
Combining formulas just means that you are connecting two of these basic formulas with an opera-
tor.
In the above example, we activated documents where the value for the variable “Criticism” was
“Y.”
If you want to further limit the results, so that you only see what women that critiqued manage-
ment had to say, we would want to include a second formula where the value for the variable
“Gender” is “f” for female.
This second formula would just need to be added and given the AND operator, so that documents
will be found that have variable values indicating that it is a woman, and the woman critiqued
management. The second formula, then, would be created as follows:
Double-click on the variable Gender from the list of variables.
The new formula should now look like this:
[Gender] = <empty>
 Enter the value f in the dialog field, or select it from the list of values.
 MAXQDA automatically inserts the “OR” operator. To use the “AND” operator instead, select
the appropriate option in the right-hand pane. According to the schema, any number of other
logical combinations can be added. Click the Activate button to begin.

Coding Query
284
In this way, you can add as many combinations of logical formulas as you want. You can then click
Activate to start the activations.
The combination operators OR and AND have the following affect on the results of your activation
process: If you choose the OR option, MAXQDA looks for documents that meet at least one of the
various formulas’ criteria. If you entered the formulas “Criticism = Y” OR “Gender = F,” you will get
all the documents that included critique of management as well as those that were women. For our
example, then, the OR option would not be appropriate. We want both formulas to be met, so we
would need to use the AND operator, so that it looks as follows:
A complex logical formula
Deleting Formulas
It is possible to go back and delete a formula at any time:
 Click on the row you wish to delete.
 Click on the Delete button.
Using Code Variables for Activation by Code Variable
It is not only possible to activate documents based on their document variables; you can also acti-
vate codes based on their assigned code variables. The Activate by code variable function can be
accessed by right-clicking on the Code System icon and choosing the appropriate option in the
context menu that appears, or by clicking the icon in the “Code System” window toolbar.
Activate by code variable function in the “Code System” icon’s context menu

19.3 Crosstab
The Crosstab function has some similarities to the Code Matrix Browser, except that documents are
analyzed grouped by document variable. Social groups, such as men and women, or people with
different personal background, etc. can be compared based on variable values. All of the variables
that are in your project can be used to set up a group.
Crosstab is a visualization of the relationship between document variables and codes. The following
example displays the number of times each code was assigned woman or men.
Crosstab example based on gender
The Crosstab function can be accessed from the Mixed methods menu or from the context menu
of a code.
The Crosstab toolbar at the top of the window offers the following in addition to the usual export
functions:
Quote Matrix – Displays the coded segments as a matrix in Excel.
Number of segments – Displays absolute frequencies, meaning the number of segments of
the respective codes for the variable form of the respective column.
Row percentage – The percentage share of the cell calculated across the row (horizontal per-
centage calculation).
Column percentage total – The percentage share of the cell calculated across the column
(vertical percentage calculation).
Column percentages #N – The column percentage in terms of the number of documents in
the column (the option Count hits per document only once will be selected automatically)
Count hits per document only once – The unit of analysis is set to Document. Each document
is analyzed based only on whether the code has been assigned or not; the frequency with which a
code occurs within a document is not taken into account.
Refresh – recalculates the values in the table.
Crosstabs are well suited for the analysis of sub-categories and their distribution in sub-groups of
the sample. Imagine you have asked how students prepare for examinations, and the different op-
tions (e.g. reading books, working together with colleagues, etc.) are defined as codes. With the
Crosstab function, you can compare various groups with each other. Are female students participat-

Crosstab286
ing more in training groups? Do male students read more text? The options to view the values as
row or column percentages make the interpretation of the data even easier.
Selection of Codes and the definition of Columns in Crosstabs
As usual in MAXQDA, the selection of codes is done via activation. The selection should be com-
pleted before using the Crosstabs function, otherwise all codes will be displayed in the Crosstab.
The definition of the columns is done by defining appropriate variable conditions (formulas) in the
dialog window, which is similar to the “Activate by document variables” dialog window.
After activating codes and selecting Crosstab, you will have the option to create logical conditions
that will be used to assign documents to each column. The window is broken up into the following
sections:
 A list of all the document variables in the project.
 A section for the definition of logical conditions (formulas).
 Buttons for selecting operators and values.
 Buttons for opening and saving logical conditions (formulas).
 Further functions, for example starting Crosstabs calculation or cancelling the action.
The Crosstab dialog window
All logical formulas must have the following components:
If you have created a variable called “Gender” and used the characters “Male” for male and “Fe-
male” for female, we would use the following formula in order to create one column of the Cross-
tabs to represent women:
Gender = Female
If you wish to record all occurrences of a variable in the table (e.g. gender) as a column in the cross-
tab, you would follow these steps:

31. Select the option Insert all variable values as conditions.
32. Double-click the desired variable in the left pane of the window.
MAXQDA then lists the formulas that you have set up in the middle pane of the window. In the
example, it would look as follows:
[Gender] = Female
[Gender] = Male
The Crosstabs created in this way would look as follows:
Crosstabs comparing the number of coded segments for each code by women and men
If there are many different possible values for a certain variable, you can choose to delete those that
you don’t want to include in the visualization. If, for example, you had a variable “level of organiza-
tion” with possible values “very high,” “high,” “medium,” “low,” and “very low,” you might only
want to compare the two extremes. To do so, click on the element you wish to remove from the list
in the Formula row and click the Delete symbol.
You can also compare groupings based only on specific variable values by not checking the box to
Insert all variable values as conditions. Instead, you would simply create a formula and add sin-
gle values by following these steps:
1. Double-click on the desired variable in the list of variables to set it as a condition (formula).
2. Insert the appropriate variable value in the field on the right side of the window or choose it
from the drop-down list. The drop-down list will have all the values that were assigned to the
chosen variable. Choosing the value from the list helps you avoid any typos that would cause
you to get false results.
3. Repeat the first three steps to set up each column of the Crosstabs.
When you click OK, the table will be displayed.
You can also save formulas, so that you can have quick access to them at a later time and don’t
have to reenter them one by one. Just click on the Save button at the bottom of the dialog win-
dow. You can then give it a name and choose where you want to save it.
Files for saved formulas are saved by MAXQDA as .LOA files. To open a saved set of formulas,
choose Open and navigate to the place you saved the .LOA file.

Quote Matrix288
19.4 Quote Matrix
The Quote Matrix is based on the same idea as the Crosstabs function, i.e. to create a joint
display of themes and quantitative variables. The Quote Matrix does this on a more de-
tailed, non-aggregated level. Here the coded segments themselves are listed in the cells of
the matrix, not only the number of coded segments for that particular cell. In the example
below, we can see a comparison about what married and single people said about certain
themes.
Code Family status = married Family status = single
emotions Happiness does not remind me of one
event. It makes me think of my life. Even
though there are bad times, overall I am
very happy with the way I turned out as a
human being and I like were my life is
headed.
New York/Joanna: 34 - 35 (100)
Sadness reminds me of the death of my
grandmother (Dec. 90') and my grandfather
(June 96'). Their deaths effected my life
greatly.They were like my second parents.
These two times were definately the worst
times of my life
New York/GINA: 12 - 12 (100)
I feel as if I am very healthy and I know that I
have a firm background on what being healthy
means because of my interest in Nutrition and
Exercise. I always to try to eat better and make
the right choices and exercise on a regular
basis. I really think that those two components
contribute highly to health. But, health also
means emotionally, mentally and even spiritu-
ally. I feel like my spiritual life really contributes
to the rest of my health because I take care of
my body because God tells us to in the Bible
and everything else falls into place.
New York/Milly: 11 - 11 (100)
education My career now is college. I am graduating
this weekend from my Community Health
Undergraduate program at Hofstra Universi-
ty. I am continuing my undergraduate stud-
ies at CW Post in the fall to get a BS in nu-
trition. Getting my RD is my major career
choice. My satisfaction level on my career is
only a 7 because I am not looking forward
to going back to undergrad college but it is
the only way I can achieve a license.
New York/GINA: 17 - 17 (100)
Overall I am pretty happy with my mental,
social and physical health. I would like to
improve my dedication to working out. I am
the type of person who will work out 5
times a week for a month staight and then
is slowly turns into less days a week until it
is none. I get distracted by school work, my
job or just being tired.
New York/Silvia: 42 - 42 (100)
My major is Dietetics and I am planning on
working with children at either a center or a
Children's Hospital and do meal plan counsel-
ing for children that need special diets because
of sickness, or whatever the case may be.
I know that will not be happy in my occupa-
tion unless I work with children. I have a heart
for kids and I found this out by working a
summer camp for kids for the past 2 summers.
I started taking a Nutrition class last year and
decided that it interested me and found out
what kind of jobs that I could get involved
with by talking with my counselor and it all
worked out great.
(…)
New York/Vincent: 12 - 12 (100)
Example of a Quote Matrix with source references (document, position, weight)

MAXQDA creates a table that shows the same coded segments that would be numerically listed in
the Crosstab, but here they are displayed as text. In theory, it would be possible for you to create a
Quote Matrix on your own by doing retrievals in MAXQDA for each group and copying them from
the “Retrieved Segments” window into a table in Word, but the resulting table would contain only
the segments themselves and no source data.
To create a Quote Matrix, proceed as follows:
1. First, activate the codes you wish to include in the Quote Matrix.
2. From the main menu, select Mixed Methods > Quote Matrix. The following dialog window
will open, in which you can define the columns of the matrix:
Defining columns for the Quote Matrix
When you click OK, a dialog window will open in which you can create a file name and select the
location where the Quote Matrix will be saved. The matrix can be saved as an Excel, HTML or RTF
file. For a matrix with many columns, Excel format is recommended, for a matrix with few columns,
RTF format is recommended. The file will open automatically upon export.
Tip: You can also generate a Quote Matrix directly from the Code Matrix Browser or Code Relations
Browser or Crosstab by clicking the Quote Matrix symbol.
19.5 Typology Table
This function offers yet another way to combine quantitative data and your codes or categorical
variables. It is called a Typology Table, because it is able to calculate various variables and their per-
centages (means, standard deviations, etc.) for qualitative typologies.
The table is set up similarly to the following example from Creswell and Plano’s book “Designing
and Conducting Mixed Methods Research” (2010: 292):

Typology Table290
Example of a Typology Table
This table shows a comparison between two types of patients, “Depressed” patients (27 persons)
and “Not Depressed” patients (21 persons). The last column p-Value shows the statistic significance
of the mathematical means. The first row shows the average age of both groups and the standard
deviation in brackets.
The row “Women” contains the number of women and their percentage. This means that of the 27
depressed persons 21 are women, which is exactly 79%.
As we can see, the rows consist of variables, metric variables to be exact, and specific values of cat-
egorical variables – either text or numerical variables. The columns follow the pattern of Crosstabs,
meaning the values of any categorical variables can be selected.
Example of a Typology Table
To create a Typology Table, proceed as follows:
1. Select Mixed Methods > Typology table from the main menu.

Select variables in the rows for the Typology table
2. For categorical variables, all respective variable values are listed in the dialog window. For non-
categorical (metric) variables, the variables themselves are listed. For easy differentiation, non-
categorical variables appear in red. Check the variable values and variables you would like to in-
clude in the Typology table and to compare between groups.
3. Select the Exclude missing values option when the missing values of non-categorical variables
should be ignored. This will usually be the case.
4. When you click Continue a second dialog window will appear in which you can define the col-
umns of the Typology table, and where you can specify the elements that should be compared
with one another.

Configuration Table292
Defining the columns of a Typology table
5. Create a variable condition (formula) for each desired column, for example “Depressive = Yes”
and “Depressive = No”. The quickest way to do so is by double-clicking the variable in the vari-
able column. When you click OK, MAXQDA will display the Typology table.
19.6 Configuration Table
The Configuration Table is a Mixed Methods tool that shows you at a glance how frequently a set
of codes appears in a document.
To create a new Configuration Table, go to Mixed Methods > Configuration Table.
This will open a dialog window. You can pull up to 10 codes from the “Code System” into this
window via Drag & Drop. You can also insert your activated codes in this window by clicking the
button Paste activated codes. If you have activated more than ten codes only the first ten will be
inserted in the Code System. You can delete one or more codes with the button Delete code(s).

Selecting codes for the Configuration Table
You can restrict the evaluation to the documents you have activated with the option Only for acti-
vated documents.
Click OK to view the result of the evaluation. It is made up of two results tables: the Configuration
Table and the Configuration Table – detail view.
1. Results Table: Configuration Table
In this table the columns contain the codes you have chosen as well as two additional columns con-
taining “Frequency” and “Percent.” Every row contains one possible combination of codes.
Note: A combination of codes that does not occur will not be displayed in the table.
For example, a results table for the combination of three major global problems could look some-
thing like this:
An example for a Configuration Table
Looking at this table, you can see that two documents exist which contain the first code “Scarcity of
resources” and the code “Egoism.” There is one document with the code “War” and none of the
other two codes and another document containing the codes “Scarcity of resources” and “War.”
There is also a document containing all three codes.

Configuration Table294
The column “Frequency” tells you how many of the evaluated documents contain a certain combi-
nation. The sum row also tells you how many documents were evaluated – in the example shown it
was five documents.
In the top right corner you see the number of combinations that actually exist in your documents
and – in brackets – the number of all possible combinations. In the example above it says 4(8) which
means there are four rows for the existing four combinations. And – because we evaluated three
codes – mathematically, there are 23
= 8 possible combinations.
Note: In the configuration table it does not matter how often a code was assigned in a document.
The table only shows you if a certain code was assigned in any of the documents at all.
The table is automatically sorted by the frequency. You can also sort it by a different column by
clicking a column header. You can also adjust the order of the columns via Drag & Drop.
Tip: The Configuration Table is interactive. When you double-click on a cell containing a blue
square, all of the corresponding coded segments will appear in the Retrieved Segments window.
If you click on the Statistic symbol, a frequency table in which all existing code combinations and
their frequencies are listed. In the <no codes> row you can see the number of analyzed documents
in which none of the selected codes occur.
2. Results Table: Configuration Table – detail view
The second results table lists all evaluated documents and shows whether the selected codes appear
in these documents or not. So this table corresponds to the (binarized) Code Matrix Browser, only
that you can also sort it by columns.
The table has as many rows as documents were included in the analysis. The first two columns con-
tain the document group and the name of the document. Next to these columns you see the col-
umns for the selected codes. The column on the far right gives you the sum of the selected codes
that appear in the respective document – regardless of how often those codes appears in the doc-
ument.
The following screenshot shows an example of the detail view table:
Example for a Configuration Table

Looking at this table we see that, in the document “B01 Tyler,” the codes “Scarcity of resources”
and “War” appear. In the document “B02 Maria” only the code “War” appears. All three codes
appear in the “B03 Jennifer” document. In “B04 Michael” and “B05 Garnett” both “Scarcity of
resources” and “Egoism” appear.
The table is automatically sorted in order of the “Document System.” You can adjust the order by
clicking the header of a column. You can also adjust the order of the columns via Drag & Drop.
Tip: The detailled view of the Configuration Table is interactive. Double-clicking on a row activates
the document in this row as well as all analyzed codes which occur in the document. The corre-
sponding coded segments will be displayed in the Retrieved Segments window.
19.7 Similarity Analysis for Documents
The Similarity Analysis for documents can be used to check the similarity or dissimilarity of various
documents in terms of code frequency. The values of document variables can also be included.
Starting the Similarity Analysis
1. Activate all documents you would like to include in the Similarity Analysis.
2. It is also helpful to activate all codes you wish to use for determining similarity.
3. From the main menu, call up Mixed Methods > Similarity analysis for documents. A window
will appear that contains all previously created similarity and distance matrices.
4. Click on the New Similarity/Distance matrix symbol to begin the similarity analysis.
Setting the parameters for the analysis
A dialog window will appear in which you can select the codes and variables and specify the type of
analysis.

Similarity Analysis for Documents296
Setting options for the analysis
In the upper section, you can add the codes you wish to include in the analysis. You can add all
activated codes directly via the Paste activated codes button.
Next, select the type of analysis:
Existence of code – Generates a similarity matrix that considers only whether the selected codes
occur in the document or not.
Code frequency – Generates a distance matrix that takes the distance of individual codes into con-
sideration.
Similarity Measures with the Option “Existence of Code”
To calculate similarity, various options are available. All of the calculations are based on a four-field
table of the following type that is generated for each paired combination of documents (in the
background):

Document A
Code/Variable value
exists
Code/Variable value
does not exist
Document B
Code/Variable value
exists a b
Code/Variable value
does not exist c d
a = Number of codes or variable values that are identical in both documents.
d = Number of codes or variable values that do not exist in both documents.
b and c = Number of codes or variable values that exist in only one document.
The calculation options differ in, among other things, the extent to which field "d", or non-
existence in both documents, is considered a match.
Simple match = (a + d) / (a + b + c + d) – Both existence and non-existence are counted as a
match. The result is the percentage match.
Jaccard = a / (a + b + c) – Non-existence is completely ignored.
Kuckartz & Rädikers zeta = (2a + d) / (2a + b + c + d) – Existence is counted twice, non-existence
once.
Russel & Rao = a / (a + b + c + d) – Only existence is considered a match, but non-existence reduc-
es the similarity.
Distance Measures with the Option “Code Frequency”
To calculate the distance between two documents based on “Code frequency”, the following op-
tions are available in which the code frequencies of two documents to be compared:
Squared euclidean distance = The sum of squared deviations.
Block distance = The sum of absolute deviations.
Note: Since it is also possible to include variable values in the analysis, all values are z- standardized
previously beforehand.
Including Variables
If you want to include variables in addition to codes in the similarity analysis, click the Integrate
variables button. If you selected “Existence of code” as the type of analysis, you can then select
which variable values MAXQDA should evaluate in the dialog window. If the selected variable value
exists in both documents, this is evaluated as a match (type "a"). In the dialog window, only varia-
bles of type "text", "true/false", "Date" as well as categorical integers or floating-point numbers
are listed.

Similarity Analysis for Documents298
Selecting variable values in the “Existence of Code” analysis
If you selected "Code frequency" as the type of analysis, another dialog window will appear that
contains only integer or floating-point variables, that are not marked as "categorical".
Selecting variable values in the “Code frequency” analysis
Dealing with Missing Variable Values
You can choose how missing values are handled:
Set missing values to 0 – If a variable value does not exist, it is set to 0 due to the z- standardiza-
tion of the average. In this option, the document with the missing value is taken into account in the
analysis.
Ignore documents with missing values – If in a document of one of the variable values is missing,
the entire document will be ignored in the analysis.
The Final Similarity or Distance Matrix

The following figure shows a similarity matrix for five interviews. The selected documents are listed
both in the rows and in the columns:
Similarity matrix for five interviews
The default shadowed color helps to interpret the cells, which in a similarity matrix can have a value
of 0 (no similarity) to 1 (identical): The darker the green, the more similar the two documents are in
terms of the selected code and variable values. In the figure, for example, you can see that "Joan-
na" completely coincides with "Kelly" both in their codes and their variable values.
The matrix is sortable: Click on a column header to sort the documents in the rows according to
their similarity to the clicked document.
The Similarity Analysis Toolbar
In addition to the usual export options, the following functions can be accessed from the toolbar:
New similarity/distance matrix – Calls up the dialog window where you can create a new
matrix.
Delete – Deletes the selected matrix.
Names, columns: none, short, full – Controls column width.
No color highlight – Turns off green highlighting.
Color highlight refers to whole table – The highlight color takes into account the value of the
cell. The same values will have the same highlight color in the table.
Color highlight refers to columns – In each column, the colors are graduated from white to
green. In this way, you can see at a glance which documents are particularly similar to the docu-
ment in the column. The same values in the matrix may be different colors.
Color highlight refers to rows – In each row, the colors are graduated from white to green. In
this way, you can see at a glance which documents are particularly similar to the document in the
row. The same values in the matrix may be different colors.
Distance matrices look identical to similarity matrices, however their interpretation is the reverse:
The lower the value in a cell, the more similar the two documents are.

Transforming a Code into a Document Variable300
The List of existing similarity and distance matrices
In the left pane of the window you can see the similarity and distance matrices created earlier in the
project. They can be renamed with a double-click, or deleted by clicking the Delete icon in the
toolbar.
Tip: In order to ensure the transparency of the analysis process, the matrix name and selected set-
tings will be displayed in the tooltip if you hover over a matrix name.
19.8 Transforming a Code into a Document Variable
A code in the “Code System” can be transformed into a document variable, indicating how often
the selected code appears in each document. The document variable is dynamic. MAXQDA will au-
tomatically update the document variable, i.e. increasing the variable value if a new segment is cod-
ed with the code. This feature is particularly useful as it allows the user to export code frequencies
along with variables, or activate documents based on certain code frequencies for analysis.
To transform a code into a document variable, right-click the code and select Transform into a
doc-variable. MAXQDA will generate a document variable, with the same name as the code, as a
numeric variable. The program will automatically insert the code frequency of each document into
the appropriate cell of the column. It opens along with the “Data editor” of the document variable
and positions it in the appropriate column.
Transform a code into a document variable

In the overview of document variables the code could be binarized using the Transform into bina-
ry variable button. The variable is thereupon no longer indicated according frequency of an associ-
ated code in a given document, but rather whether it occurs in a document (= “1”) or not (= “0”).
Transform into binary variable
19.9 Transforming a Code into a Categorical Document
Variable
Evaluative Categories in Content Analysis
In many research projects, forms of evaluative content analysis are used. The standard steps
are to: (1) define evaluative categories, usually with ordinal variables, (2) code text seg-
ments, and (3) analyze the data descriptively and statistically. A good example of this form
of analysis process is found in Philipp Mayring’s chapter on qualitative content analysis
found in “A Companion to Qualitative Research” (Flick, et al., 2004), which describes
scaled variations of structure content analysis.
In one of Mayring’s detailed examples from a study on student teachers, a category called
“self confidence” is created with three options: “high,” “medium” and “low” (see below).
These categories were developed from the material – one can see from the following figure
that the categories are not only precisely defined, but also empirically supported with the
help of the anchor examples in the material.

Transforming a Code into a Categorical Document Variable302
Coding guidelines for the category “self-confidence” (from Mayring 2000:16)
The coding process, which is standard procedure for content analysis, has the researcher
working through the entire data set and assigning evaluative codes to appropriate text

segments that have to do with “self-esteem.” This means that every single text segment
that connects to self-esteem will be assigned the code “high,” “medium” or “low” on the
basis of the coding guidelines established.
At the end, each case (in the case of interviews, a case would be an interviewed person)
can be analyzed as a whole and given a summary characterization as having “high,” “me-
dium” or “low” self-esteem. Cases characterized as having high self-esteem can then be
compared with those with low self-esteem. Code frequencies can also be compared and
used in combination with other categories in crosstabs.
Principles of Application in MAXQDA
The method for evaluative content analysis can be done in MAXQDA in the following way.
First, the category “self-esteem” is created as a code with the subcodes “high,” “medium”
and “low.” The definitions of these codes along with anchor examples can be created as
code memos.
Now the material will be analyzed, meaning that each document is read line by line. The
text segments that have to do with self-esteem are identified and then coded with the ap-
propriate code (e.g. “high” self-esteem). After an entire text has been worked through in
this way, the researcher will have one of the following situations:
 Text segments about self-esteem in this document were all coded with the same subcode (e.g.
“medium” self-esteem). In this situation, the entire case can be said to have a medium level of
self-esteem.
 Text segments about self-esteem in this document were coded with various subcodes, but one
of those subcodes obviously occurs more often (e.g. three with “high” self-esteem and one
with “medium” self-esteem). In this situation it makes sense to give the whole case that level of
self-esteem that is coded most often.
 Text segments about self-esteem in this document were coded with various subcodes, and none
of them clearly occur more often than the others (e.g. two with “medium” self-esteem and two
with “high” self-esteem). In this situation, a quick categorization cannot be made, so the coded
segments should be compared to one another by the coders, who then make a decision about
which categorization is more appropriate.
 No text segments were coded with self-esteem subcodes, meaning the document does not con-
tain any information about this theme. None of the subcodes can be used to categorize this
document, and will need to be treated as a “missing” value.
The “Transform into a Categorical Variable” Function
After coding the appropriate text segments, the “Self-esteem” code can be transformed into a cat-
egorical variable by right-clicking on the code and selecting the appropriate option in the menu that
appears.

Calling up the “Transform into a categorical doc-variable” function in a code’s context menu
After this option is selected, MAXQDA performs the following actions:
1. A new categorical variable is created in the List of document variables with the name of the
code that it was created from (in this case, “Self-esteem”).
2. All cases (documents) in the “Document System” are evaluated according to the rules explained
above.
a. Each case is assigned the value of the subcode that occurs the most often.
b. If there are two or more subcodes used the same numbers of time, it is labeled “unde-
fined.”
c. If none of the subcodes are used at all, no value is assigned. If the table is exported to a
statistical software, empty values are usually treated as “missing.”
Variable matrix with the new categorical variable “Self-esteem”

Dynamic Properties of Categorical Variables
In MAXQDA‘s List of document variables, the categorical variables have a special status. One recog-
nizes them in the list, because they have a green square in the first column and are created from a
“Code” as seen in the “Source” column; categorical variables are defined as text variables, and the
texts are taken from the “Code System” (in this case “high,” “mid” or “low”).
The newly-created categorical variable “Self-esteem” in the List of document variables
Categorical variables are dynamic, which means they are updated automatically when new seg-
ments are coded in the documents. This is also the case for documents that are imported after the
categorical variable has already been created; when one codes this new document, the variable
label changes accordingly.
Tip: If a subcode has further subcodes, they will not be included for the evaluation of categorical
variable values. Only direct subcodes of the codes that were transformed into a categorical variable
are evaluated.
Categorical Variables in the Context of Mixed Methods Functions
Categorical variables lend themselves very well to use with MAXQDA’s mixed methods functions.
With the activation by document or code variable function, for example, one can choose to
activate only those documents with a certain variable value. This is helpful for answering research
questions such as “How do student teachers with low self-esteem experience their situation in the
school system? How do they approach disciplinary issues?”
The Crosstabs function offers an aggregated overview of the number of coded segments in certain
categories in the “Code System” for each of the three self-esteem variables. The self-esteem char-
acterizations are shown in the columns on the x-axis, and the selected codes are shown in the rows
on the y-axis. Using the self-esteem example, the Crosstabs function could count the number of
times that student teachers with low self-esteem talk about disciplinary issues in comparison to the
number of times student teachers with high self-esteem talk about the issue. One can then easily
call up the document segments counted in each cell in the “Retrieved Segments” window.
One can also use the Quote Matrix to see a detailed table of the document segments, each col-
umn holding those segments that occur in documents with a specific categorical value. In our self-
esteem example, one column could hold those statements about a certain topic that come from
student teachers with high self-esteem, and the other column could display those statements from
teachers with low self-esteem.

The Typology Table uses categorical variables similar to the way the Crosstabs function does; a
table is created with the categorical variable values in the columns. In this case, however, the varia-
bles are analyzed rather than the categories. One could look, for example, what percentage of peo-
ple with high self-esteem are men and what percentage are women, or whether good grades in
teacher certification exams seem to connect in any way to self-esteem, etc.

Importing and Analyzing Twitter Data 307
20 Importing and Analyzing Twitter Data
20.1 What Possibilities does MAXQDA offer for Analyzing
Twitter Data?
MAXQDA allows you to import data directly from Twitter into an open project, and analyze this
data using known MAXQDA tools. Using advanced options, you can search for tweets and selected
hashtags, usernames or terms, and import these into your MAXQDA project.
A notable feature is that you can automatically code the tweets with up to 100 author names
and/or with up to 100 hashtags during the import process (and later if necessary). This automatic
coding function is an advantage for researchers, as it saves a great deal of time in preparatory work
that can be allocated instead to the actual analysis.
Researchers that analyze social media data can use MAXQDA to provide answers to such questions
as “What content has a user, user group, company or institution posted in a given time period?
How have other users reacted?”
Note: In order to use this function, a Twitter account is required.
20.2 Importing Twitter Data
To import Twitter data into a MAXQDA project, select Documents > Import data from Twitter
from the main menu.
Importing data from Twitter
The following dialog window will appear:

Importing Twitter Data308
Dialog window for importing data from Twitter
Twitter Login
In order for MAXQDA to import data directly from Twitter, you must first link your Twitter account
to MAXQDA. To do so, click Connect to Twitter at the top of the dialog window.
Connect to Twitter
A new browser window will open where you can enter the login data of your Twitter account.
Then, click Authorize App to allow MAXQDA to receive Twitter data from your account.

Authorize MAXQDA for Twitter
After registration, you can close the browser window and return to MAXQDA to start importing
data.
Note: MAXQDA uses the connection to Twitter only for importing tweets. When you close
MAXQDA, the connection will be cancelled, meaning you must reconnect to Twitter each time you
restart MAXQDA.
Searching for Twitter data
The original dialog window that you opened in MAXQDA will remain open, indicating whose ac-
count is connected to MAXQDA. You can now check the box below the login button, which was
previously greyed out. Only once you have agreed to the terms of using Twitter data neither for
advertising purposes nor for personal identification can you start your search on Twitter. Once you
agree to the terms, the search fields will become available.

Search window for importing data from Twitter
The complex search follows the same principle as the advanced Twitter search. In the top fields, you
can enter words or strings that must appear or not appear in the tweets. In the middle and lower
sections, you can set define specific conditions for the search and the accounts to be searched.
From these accounts – searches for tweets from specific users. Multiple usernames can be en-
tered, separated by commas.
To these Accounts - searches for tweets in which the entered username appears at the beginning
of the tweet. Multiple usernames can be entered, separated by commas.
Mentioning these Accounts - searches for tweets in which the entered user name appears some-
where in the tweet. Multiple usernames can be entered, separated by commas.
Further parameters can be set in the lower section:

Language: Limits the search to the selected language (the assignment of tweets to a language is
done by Twitter itself and is not verified by MAXQDA). If you wish for tweets in all languages to be
taken into account, allow the default parameter “Any language” to remain.
From/to: The default search period is set at seven days, becuase this is the maximum period
allowed by Twitter’s search function. You can reduce the search period, for example to one day, by
adjusting the dates accordingly.
Include retweets: By default, this option is not selected. If you wish to include retweets in your
analysis, simply place a check mark in the appropriate checkbox at the bottom of the dialog
window. (The inclusion and exclusion of retweets is managed by Twitter.)
Note: All search criteria are linked with the search operator AND. This means that only tweets that
meet all of the conditions entered will be retrieved.
After clicking the Run Search button, a preview window with the first 100 search results will
appear. The number of tweets found is displayed on the lower left. When more than 100 search
hits are found, the display is updated approximately every 10 seconds.
Preview of search results
When you click Import data, MAXQDA will begin the importing the tweets.
Note: An import operation is limited to 10,000 tweets.
Immediately after import, a dialog window will appear with the functions for autocoding tweets.
Twitter data in MAXQDA
During the import process MAXQDA creates a new document group in the Document System, in
which a table document is generated for every 1,000 tweets.

Table document with Twitter data in the Document System
To ensure transparency of the research process, the name of the document group contains the
import date. A memo will also be created for the document group in which the search query is
stored.
Memo of a Twitter import with the exact search query
When you double-click on the document in the Document System, the Twitter data will be
displayed in the Document Browser:
Table document with Twitter data in the Document Browser

Each imported Twitter document contains 15 columns, each of which are named in the top line.
Columns 1 to 3 relate to each tweet. Columns 4 to 14 contain information about the author.
Column 15 shows how many times the Tweet was retweeted.
20.3 Autocoding and Analyzing Twitter Data
MAXQDA can automatically code the text of up to 100 authors and 100 hashtags from imported
Twitter data. When you import Twitter data, a dialog window will appear in which you can enter
the author names and hashtags you wish to autocode. Alternatively, you can call up the function
from the main menu Analysis > Autocode Twitter data.
Autocode Twitter data dialog window
In the dialog window, all exisiting Twitter document are listed. From here, you can choose which
documents you wish to autocode. If the dialog window was opened automatically following an
import, the most recently imported documents are already preselected. Before you can start the
autocoding process, you must first select the hashtags or author names you wish to encode. To do
so, use the Select hashtags and Select Authors buttons. A new dialog window will appear, in
which the selected hashtags and author names are listed:

Autocoding and Analyzing Twitter Data314
Selecting hashtags for autocoding
In the "Hashtag" column, the different hashtags are listed, and in the "Tweet" column you can see
the number of tweets in which the hashtag appears. In the upper left corner you can see how many
different hashtags were found in total; the top right shows how many of these hashtags are
currently selected.
How do you select the entries with the hashtags that are relevant to your analysis?
1. Select the desired row. As usual, you can select multiple rows by holding down the Ctrl key
(Windows) or Command key ( Mac ). Your selection will be highlighted in green.
2. Click the green checkmark symbol in the upper toolbar. A green checkmark will appear in
front of the the selected hashtags.
This procedure can be repeated as desired, or reversed by selecting a row and clicking on the Stop
icon to deselect an entry. Note that a maximum of 100 entries can be selected.
When you click OK, you will return to the Autocode dialog window, where you can proceed in the
same manner with author names. When at least one hastag or author name is selected, the
Autocode button becomes available and can be clicked. MAXQDA then begins the autocoding
process, which may take a moment depending on the number of entries. The resulting new code
“Autocode Twitter data” with the date will be inserted at the top of the Code System.

The automatically inserted code in the Code System
In the automatically generated code, "Tweet hashtag" and "Tweet author" appear as subcodes of
the selected hashtags and author names. For the analysis, they are automatically sorted in
descending order of frequency. The hashtags and author names that appear most often in the
tweets are at the top. The codes can be managed like any other code - for example, you can
change the color or arrangement, depending on what makes the most sense for your analysis.
Note: From the main menu Analysis > Autocode Twitter data you can call up the autocode func-
tion as often as desired. It is therefore not necessary to perform the autocoding process immediately
after import.
Analyzing Twitter Data
For the analysis of Twitter data, all the usual MAXQDA tools are available. For example, you can use
the Simple Coding Query to determine which tweets were written by specific authors:
1. Activate one or more documents with Twitter data in the Document System.
2. Activate the codes with the relevant author names in the Code System.
The result will be a compilation of all relevant tweets, which will appear in the “Retrieved
Segments” window. If you are using MAXQDA Plus and therefore have MAXDictio available, you
can use this compilation of tweets to perform a simple word frequency analysis. Select MAXDictio
> Word frequencies and check the option "Only in Retrieved Segments".

How can MAXQDA support Focus Group Analysis?316
21Focus Group Analysis
21.1 How can MAXQDA support Focus Group Analysis?
Conducting focus groups and group interviews occupies an important role in social and market
research. Focus groups offer a high potential for diverse analyses, therefore in MAXQDA 12, many
new features have been developed that allow for the simple and effective analysis of focus group
data. For simplicity we use only the term “focus groups” in MAXQDA and in this manual, although
the functions are all suitable for the analysis of group interviews as well.
 Transcripts of focus groups can be imported so that the contributions of the participants are
automatically coded while importing..
 Individual participants can be activated directly in the "Document System", so you can easily
compile the statements of individuals on selected topics. Background information on the partic-
ipants, such as age and professional experience, can be stored as variables for focus group par-
ticipants and used for the specific and comparative analysis of participant groups.
 The "Overview of focus group participants" can be used to answer questions such as the fol-
lowing: Who has spoken at what frequency? How extensive are the contributions of each par-
ticipant, in words or characters?
 Use the Code Matrix Browser and the Crosstab for focus groups to create visualizations such as
"Themes x Participants", with which participants or groups of participants can be compared by
diverse themes, arguments, positions, and viewpoints in the allocation of codes.
21.2 Importing Focus Group Transcripts
To import a focus group transcript to MAXQDA, select the Main Menu function Documents > Im-
port focus group transcript. Alternatively, this function is available in the context menu at the top
level of the "Document System”. The transcript can be stored in all MAXQDA readable text formats,
which include DOC/X, ODT, RTF and TXT. When importing MAXQDA automatically generates a
unique code for each participant in the Code System, and for the following evaluation and differen-
tiation automatically codes all contributions of a given participant with this code .
To ensure that the automatic import process goes smoothly, MAXQDA requires the following in
terms of composition and structure of the transcript:
 Each contribution begins in a new paragraph. At the beginning of each contribution the name
of the participant appears, followed by a colon. Using bold type or special fonts for the names
will not affect the import process, however upper and lowercase will be taken into account.
Names like "Lisa B." or "Gábor" with spaces and special characters are not a problem when
importing. The subsequent text will be coded with the names of the participants, up to the
point where the next speaker is indicated.

Focus Group Analysis 317
 MAXQDA will tolerate a space that is accidentally set before a name or in front of a colon, and
treats the associated names to be identical.
 The names of the participants that appear before the colon can be a maximum of 63 characters
in length.
 Sections of text at the beginning of the transcript (in which no colon occurs within 63 charac-
ters) will not be coded. This provides the opportunity for you to include a title and general in-
formation about the focus group for easy recognition.
 Timestamps originating from the transcription software F4 or F5 will be treated as usual:
MAXQDA will ask if you wish to associate the corresponding audio/video file with the transcript.
The timestamps will be integrated into the MAXQDA project and removed from the text.
Let’s take the following interview with multiple participants as an example:
Moderator: So would you say you are actually insecure job-wise – or is it just something that comes from a bit of
negativity at the moment?
Lucas: Actually I think my job is actually safe because they would find it hard to replace me – not just saying that
but it’s true. And – and they do try to improve morale and there’s plenty of awards they dish out for employee of
the month etc. That’s sort of text book stuff though do you think?
Moderator: Anyone else with anything to say about their own careers or current employment anyway?
Miles: I’m an artist – just commercial – but even a commercial artist hasn’t got much job security. But I’m lucky to
have a job at all. Don’t knock it. – Most of the people I graduated with are still messing around looking for some-
thing permanent or retraining or doing nothing at all.
Lisa: Yes I am carer. I work for XXX home care staff agency. I am not really happy with that. I tried to get perma-
nent job with Nursing homes, but my papers – they needed NVQ, I have right experience you know but. So the
agency not so well paid but its job so I must take. The council I think they pay agency £35 an hour for me. I only
get 8. I would like leave but cannot maybe when I get proper job.
Excerpt from an optimally prepared focus group transcript
Following a successful import, MAXQDA opens the transcript immediately in the "Document
Browser", and from the coding stripes in the margin you can see that the speech contributions have
already been coded. During the import MAXQDA creates a new document in the "Document Sys-
tem" with the filename of the transcript. This document has its own symbol, which allows you to
immediately recognize that it relates to a focus group. Below the document, the participants of are
listed individually, with the number at the end of the line indicating the number of contributions.
The participants are attached to their transcripts. If you move the document, the participants will
move with it. Only the order of participants can be adjusted with the mouse. Like other documents,
focus groups documents can be assigned to a document group or set.

Importing Focus Group Transcripts318
MAXQDA view after importing a focus group transcript [must be able to view Document System, Code Sys-
tem and Document Browser with the above transcript]
In the “Code System” you will see a very similar listing: At the top of the Code System a code with
the name of the imported data will appear, with the participants listed as subcodes, and the same
symbol as in the “Document System”. Participant codes and the participants in the document
are attached: If you change the order of the participants or their names in the Code System, their
order will also change in the Document System, and vice versa. This also applies when a focus
group transcript is deleted: If you remove a transcript from the “Document System”, the corre-
sponding code and its subcodes will be deleted from the “Code System”.
The fact that the participants are available both in the "Document System" and in the "Code Sys-
tem” opens up extensive possibilities for the analysis, as the participants can be activated as inde-
pendent codes and as document subsets.
Tip: After importing the transcript you should check the names of the participants for typographical
errors. This will avoid frustration later, in the case that the same person appears twice under differ-
ent names because the name was written or spelled differently. Since the participant code cannot
be deleted, you would have to make the appropriate modifications in a word processing program
and then import the transcript again.
When you import multiple transcripts, a unique code will be assigned to each focus group along
with subcodes for the respective participants. The top-level codes can be moved within the same

Code System, but the participant codes are firmly attached to their top-level code, and their order
can be modified only under this top-level code.
Tip: The automatic coding function for participants may be useful for other types of documents in
which multiple individuals interact, for example forum discussions or comments on YouTube videos.
21.3 The “Overview of Focus Group Participants”
The "Overview of focus group participants" provides important information about the individual
participants, such as the number and scope of their respective contributions, and also allows you to
store additional information about each participant in the form of variables. To access the overview,
right-click on a focus group in the "Document System" and choose Overview of focus group par-
ticipants.
The following window will open:
The “Overview of Focus Group Participants” provides important information
The first two columns are used to identify the participants and their respective focus group tran-
script. The percentages of contributions and the characters always appear in the displayed table. If
you have assigned a particular color to a participant, it will appear in the first column of the table.
In top of the window are several buttons, whose special functions in relation to the focus group
analysis are explained here:
Only activated focus group participants - Reduces rows to those of participants activated in
the “Document System”. This is especially handy if you want to exclude Moderators from the over-
view: Activate only the other participants and click the button.
Statistics - Presents the values of all the columns displayed in a frequency table or chart, exclud-
ing the “participants” and “focus group” columns. More information on frequency tables and
charts can be found here >> LINK.
Data Editor - Turns on the Variable View, in which the variable values are visible.

The “Overview of Focus Group Participants”320
List of variables - Switches to Variable View, where you can define new variables and adjust
and edit existing variables. More information on the use of variables in focus group analysis is pro-
vided in the next section.
Tip: You can call up the summary table not only for individual focus groups transcripts, but also for
the participants of all the focus groups in the MAXQDA project. To do this, click at the top level in
the "Document System " with the mouse and select the appropriate entry. A corresponding over-
view is also available in the context menu of an individual participant, referred to here as “Overview
of participant variables”.
Editing Variables for Focus Group Participants
You can store background information for each participant in a focus group for selective analyses
and comparisons; for example, comparing the statements of older and younger participants. First
open the "Overview of focus group participants" from the context menu in the "Document Sys-
tem" (either at the top level for all focus groups in the project, or at the level of a single focus
group).
As seen above, the default overview contains multiple columns of information that MAXQDA com-
piles for the participants. You can add more columns for information such as, for example, age,
profession, or professional rank.
Creating new variables
Adding new variables is done in the same way as in other overviews of variables in MAXQDA:
1. Click on the List of Variables button to switch to Variable View.
2. Next, click on the New Variable button.
A new window will appear, in which you can define the name and type of the new variable.
Creating a new variable
After clicking OK, you will see that a line has been added with the newly added variable in Variable
View.

Newly added variable in Variable View
Entering values for the participants
Click on the button Overview of focus group participants to return to the normal view. On
the far right you will see a newly added column, in which you can enter values for each participant.
The editable column can be easily recognized by its blue column heading, unlike the black headings
of the columns automatically generated by MAXQDA.
Entering data for a variable
The variable values for participants can be used:
 To activate only selected participants with specific values for further analysis or
 in a Crosstab for focus group to compare groups of participants.
21.4 Coding Query for Coded Segments
The central principle for the compilation of coded segments in MAXQDA is the activation of codes
and documents. This principle also applies to the analysis of focus groups, however in this case you
have the possibility to activate not only the focus group transcript as a whole, but also all or certain
participants in the Document System. In this case, only the contributions of activated participants
will be taken into account in the analysis.
Selecting Participants for Analysis through Activation
To activate a participant in the "Document System" for analysis, proceed exactly as when activating
a document . You can right-click the on participants and select Activate from the menu, or simply
click on the gray circle by icon of the participant. To activate or deactivate all the participants in a

Coding Query for Coded Segments322
focus group, you can use the commands Activate all participants or Deactivate all participants
in the context menu of the focus group.
Activate all participants of a focus group
MAXQDA analysis of focus groups applies either to the entire document or to individual participants
of the selected focus group, but never a mix of these two levels. For this reason, the transcript and
the participants can never be activated together, following the principles below:
 When you activate a transcript, its participants will be deactivated.
 When you activate a participant, its transcript will be deactivated.
 When you activate a document group or all documents, focus group participants will be disre-
garded or deactivated if necessary.
During the search for participant statements, MAXQDA can help you by performing the following
standard tasks:
Find everything that the participant Lucas said in a focus group
1. Activate the corresponding focus group in the “Document System”.
2. Activate “Lucas” in the “Code System”.
MAXQDA will list all of the contributions from Lucas in the “Retrieved Segments” window.
Find everything that the participant Lucas said in multiple focus groups
1. Activate all focus groups in the “Document System”.
2. Activate “Lucas” in the “Code System”

MAXQDA will list all of the contributions from Lucas from all focus groups in the “Retrieved Seg-
ments”.
Find everything that Lucas said regarding a particular theme, for example “Stress due to the
financial crisis”:
1. Activate “Lucas” in the “Document System” in all of the transcripts you wish to include.
2. Activate the theme code “Stress due to the financial crisis” in the “Code System”.
MAXQDA will list all of the contributions from Lucas related to this theme in the “List of Coded
Segments”. The participant is also indicated in the indication of origin, so you can easily associate
the contribution with the participant.
Statements of a participant on a topic in the “Retrieved Segments” window
Find everything that multiple participants said in a focus group
You can always activate multiple participants simultaneously. MAXQDA takes all activated partici-
pants into account during the Coding Query.
Complex Coding Query
The Complex Coding Query function also allows you to limit the search to the statements of a par-
ticular participant as coded segments. This function follows the same logic as the simple Coding
Query: When you activate the focus group transcript, the search takes the whole document into
account, whereas when you activate an individual participant, this participant’s contributions are
treated as a document.
Suppose you have assigned thematic codes in a transcript, and also coded the communication se-
quence so that there is a Code System of the following type:
Themes
 Financial Crisis
 Sense of Security

The Code Matrix Browser: View Coded Segments per Participant324
 …
Communication sequence
 Objections
 Support for the statement
 …
If you want to find all the statements in which Lucas presents an objection to an earlier statement
about the "financial crisis", you can do so using the Complex Coding Query:
1. Activate the participant “Lucas” in the “Document System”.
2. Activate the codes “Financial Crisis” and “Objections”.
3. Call up the Analysis > Complex Coding Query function.
4. Select the “Overlapping” function, which searches for instances in which two codes, namely
“Financial Crisis” and “Objections” occur simultaneously.
5. Ensure that the Only activated documents and focus group participants function is selected.
6. When you click on Start, MAXQDA will list the results in the “Retrieved segments”.
21.5 The Code Matrix Browser: View Coded Segments per
Participant
MAXQDA’s Code Matrix Browser is the ideal tool with which to illustrate and analyze the distribu-
tion of coded segments in different documents. This tool is in the form of a table, in which the doc-
uments make up the columns and the codes make up the rows. In the analysis of focus groups,
often it is not the transcript as an individual document that is the central focus, but rather the anal-
ysis of the contributions in multiple documents, to be considered separately from each other.
The MAXQDA Code Matrix Browser therefore offers the opportunity to automatically perform ex-
actly this analysis and visualize the distribution of codes per participant:
1. Call up the Code Matrix Browser from the Visual Tools Menu.
2. In the window that appears, select the option Focus Group Participants. If you would like
to visualize the codes of an individual participant (or to exclude the moderator from the vis-
ualization), you can activate these elements in advance, and additionally select the option
Only for activated focus group participants.

Code Matrix Browser options
When you click OK, MAXQDA will open the Code Matrix Browser, whose columns are made up of
the participants.
Codes per participant
The size of the squares provides information about how many coded segments from the four the-
matic codes are present in the contributions of each participant. The image above demonstrates the
frequency of encodings on the four issues made by Lucas, Miles, Lisa, Casey, and Parker. The larger
the square, the more encodings have been made with the code in question. It is evident from the
image that Lucas a high amount of coding occurred regarding "Stress due to the financial crisis",
whereas Parker made no contribution to this theme.
In the presentation of focus groups, The Code Matrix Browser operates in the same manner as usu-
al: Double-clicking on a cell will display the corresponding coded segments in the “Retrieved Seg-
ments” window and clicking on the Display nodes as values presents the information as code
frequencies rather than square. The functions of the other buttons in the Code Matrix Browser are
described here >> LINK.
Note: If a project has multiple focus groups, all or all activated participants from all focus groups
will be displayed in the Code Matrix Browser. The order of participants from left to right corre-
sponds to their order in the "Document System" from top to bottom.
The Segment Matrix for focus group participants
Using MAXQDA’s Quote Matrix, you can synoptically compile coded segments. This can be illustrat-
ed as follows: Behind every square in the image above is a certain number of coded text segments,
which can be easily compiled by, for example, double-clicking on the square. A Quote Matrix con-

Crosstab for Focus Groups326
tains not only the text segments that lie behind a square, but also compiles the text segments of all
the squares together in a table.
To create a Quote Matrix, click the Quote Matrix button in the Code Matrix Browser toolbar.
MAXQDA will open a window where you can select a location and an output format, which in-
clude: Excel, RTF, HTML, and TXT. The Excel format is suitable for tables with many columns; other-
wise the RTF format, which can be opened with all standard word processing programs such as
Word, is recommended.
Excerpt from a Quote Matrix in Excel
An indication of origin appears below each segment: The contribution in the upper left is from a
statement by Lucas from paragraph 11 of the transcript, and encoded with a weight of 0.
21.6 Crosstab for Focus Groups
MAXQDA offers the opportunity to save background information on each focus group participant
in the form of variables. Suppose you have divided participants into two age groups: With the

Crosstab for focus groups, you can easily compare the thematic coding for these two groups. The
Crosstab for focus groups functions essentially the same way as the “normal” crosstab: The codes
form the columns and the groups of focus group participants form the rows, while the respective
code frequencies are presented in the cells.
The function is located under Mixed Methods > Crosstab for focus groups. The following win-
dow appears, in which you can define the participant groups.
Define participant groups for the columns
Each line in the middle column of the window forms a column in the final crosstab. In the image
above, the option Insert all variable values as conditions has been selected and the variable "age
group" has been automatically transferred to the middle pane with the blue arrow. MAXQDA has
automatically inserted a row for both occurring values, "20 - 29" and "30 - 39".
Note: In the crosstab, MAXQDA evaluates all participants that meet the conditions in the second
column of the window - regardless of whether they come from one or more focus groups. You can
restrict the evaluation to include only currently activated participants using the Only activated fo-
cus group participants option.
The final crosstab appears as follows:
Crosstab for focus groups

Using the Lexical Search for Contributions from Participants328
The example - with the Column percentages #N option selected – is read as follows: 33.3% of the
20 to 29-year-olds have been assigned the code "Finance", but none of the 30 to 39-year-olds.
21.7 Using the Lexical Search for Contributions from
Participants
MAXQDA’s lexical search can be limited to individual contributions from participants:
1. Activate the participants whose contributions you would like to search in the “Document
System”.
2. Access the function via Analysis > Lexical Search.
3. In the window that appears, enter the desired search terms and select Only activated doc-
uments and focus group participants.
Search the contributions of focus group participants
21.8 Notes on Teamwork and Exporting Code Systems
With the function Project > Merge projects, existing focus groups in a project will be transferred
automatically. Coding with participant codes will also be transferred when using the Export team-
work and Import Teamwork functions, as long as both projects contain identical focus group
transcripts.
When codes are exported using the function Codes > Export Code System (MAXQDA format)
the participant codes will be exported as normal MAXQDA codes.
When you open a MAXQDA 12 project with automatically coded focus groups in MAXQDA 11, the
codes remain with the contributions in the Code System, however the document is treated as a
normal text document. If you transfer the project back to MAXQDA 12, the documents will remain
in the form of normal text documents; the additional functionality will no longer be available.

Transcribing and Coding Audio and Video Files 329
22 Transcribing and Coding Audio and Video Files
22.1 General Information about the Analysis of Audio and
Video Files
MAXQDA supports the transcription of audio and video data with basic functions. For example, you
can define the playback speed, volume, and rewind interval. In addition, you can insert timestamps
into your transcripts to create a link between transcript and voice-over. In addition, with MAXQDA
you can work with transcripts that were created with the software f4 / f5, wherein the existing
timestamps will be converted into MAXQDA internal timestamps .
MAXQDA allows you to code audio and video files directly without having to provide a transcript.
The coded segments are treated like any other segments in MAXQDA. You can retrieve, comment
and assign a weight to these segments in the same way as with other segments. With the help of
these MAXQDA functions, you can analyze a wide range of different types of data – text, tables,
PDFs, audio and video files – all within the same program.
22.2 The “Media player” Toolbar
To transcribe or code an audio or video file with MAXQDA, you need to work with the “Media
player” toolbar. This toolbar offers various functions such as playing media files. In order to work
with it, you should become familiar with this toolbar and understand how it works.
To open this toolbar, go to View > Media player.
“Media player” toolbar
The symbols in the toolbar give you access to the following functions (from left to right):
Media Player: switch on/off – turns on the media player and loads the media file into the
Multimedia Browser. You can compare this to turning on a CD player and inserting a CD.
Multimedia Browser – Switches the Multimedia Browser on, in which videos are displayed and
in which you can code media files.
Control Panel – Calls up the Control Panel, in which the options for volume and playback
speed are located.
Overview of timestamps – Displays or hides the table view of the timestamps in the current
media file.
New timestamp F6 – Inserts a timestamp of the current playback position of the media file in a
transcript.

Inserting Audio and Video Files in a MAXQDA Project330
Sync mode – turns on/off sync mode, which causes the text to follow the media file, compara-
ble to a teleprompter.
Previous timestamp Shift+F3 – Rewinds the media file to the previous timestamp.
Stop – stops playback and jumps back to the beginning of the file.
Play/Pause F4 or F5 – pauses playback at the current position and resumes playback at that
same position. You can set a rewind interval to resume playback from an earlier position.
Next Timestamp F3 – fast forwards the media file to the next timestamp.
On the right next to these icons, you see the time elapsed and total time of the media file. You can
jump easily to a certain position using the slider on the right.
22.3 Inserting Audio and Video Files in a MAXQDA Project
Audio and video files are not imported into MAXQDA but are saved in the MAXQDA Externals data
files folder and are linked with a text document. Documents with an assigned media file are marked
with a symbol in the “Document System:” a musical note for audio files and a camera for
video files.
There are different ways of making audio and video files available for use in MAXQDA:
 Select Documents > Import document(s) from the main menu,
 Or right-click on the root of the “Document System”, or a document group, and select Import
document(s),
 Or click on the button Import Document(s) in the “Document System.”
A dialog window will appear which shows all files that MAXQDA can read. Select a media file and
click Open.
Tip: You can also easily insert audio and video files from Windows Explorer or Mac Finder into the
“Document System” via Drag & Drop with the mouse.
This creates a new document named like the media file; this document is linked to the media file.
The media file itself is saved in the MAXQDA Externals data files folder which you can set in the
main menu by selecting Project > Preferences (Windows) or MAXQDA 12 > Preferences (Mac).
If a file with the same name already exists, MAXQDA will ask you if you want to replace the existing
file.
You can also assign a media file subsequently to an existing document. To do so, right-click on the
document in the “Document System” and select Properties. Here, you can insert or change a link
to a media file.
MAXQDA supports the following file formats:

Audio Windows: MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, M4A
Mac: MP3, WAV, AAC, CAF, M4A
Video MP4, MOV, MPG, AVI, M4V, 3GP, 3GGP
Windows: zusätzlich auch WMV
For video , a MP4 file with the video codec H.264 / AVC is recommended.
Windows can also support other file formats if the required codec is installed. Normally this is how-
ever not necessary.
Assigning Audio/Video files to a Text Document
It is possible to retroactively assign a media file to an existing document. To do so, right-click the
document in the Document System and select “Properties”. From here you can link a media file at
any time.
Alternatively, you can right-click the document and select Link Audio/Video file
Assigning an audio or video file subsequently to an existing document
Note: When you first open a media file, MAXQDA creates a file with the extension .DAT in the
folder for externally saved files. This file has the same name as the media file. MAXQDA requires
this .DAT file in order to quickly display the media file, and it should therefore not be deleted.
22.4 Playing Audio and Video Files in MAXQDA
To execute playback of the sound of a media file in MAXQDA:
1. Ensure that the “Media player” toolbar is visible. It can be accessed through View > Media
Player in the main menu.
2. Double-click on the document to which the media file is assigned in the Document System to
open it.
3. Click on the icon Play/Pause on the “Media player” toolbar or press the F4 or F5 key.

Notes on Synchronizing Transcripts and Media Files332
4. To display the image in a video file, click the Multimedia Browser symbol in the "Media Play-
er" toolbar.
Note: If a transcript is empty, the Multimedia Browser will open automatically when you double-
click on the text document to which the video file is assigned in the Document System. In this case,
MAXQDA assumes that you wish to work directly with the video file.
22.5 Notes on Synchronizing Transcripts and Media Files
You can use timestamps – which are visualized similar to the way memos and coding stripes are
seen in the “Document Browser” – to synchronize your transcripts with the original audio or video
files. These audio and video files can even be played in MAXQDA in the integrated media player. A
timestamp table also lets you insert comments for each section of your transcript represented by
that timestamp, so you can later search for these comments and go directly to that section of the
text or audio and video file.
There are three different ways to work with text and audio and video files:
Option A
First you do the text transcription with whatever transcription software you want to use, import the
transcription as a document in MAXQDA, and then link the document to the original audio/video
file. At this point, there aren’t any connections between specific segments of the transcript and
parts of the external file. These connections have to be created with timestamps within MAXQDA.
Option B
The first step in this variation is to transcribe the file with a professional software, for example f4
(for Windows) or f5 (for Mac) (http://www.audiotranskription.de/english/home), in which you can
create timestamps as you transcribe. You can then export the transcript in RTF format and import it
into MAXQDA, and the timestamps are imported along with the text. You will then already have
the connection between your text and the audio or video file.
Option C
In this variation, you transcribe the file within MAXQDA.
The second variation is the most efficient, because you have the advantage of a professional tran-
scription software, and – as opposed to in the first variation – you don’t have to create the
timestamps within MAXQDA. The option to transcribe audio and video files directly in MAXQDA
doesn’t have as many features as a program that is designed to only do the specific task of tran-
scription. It is, however, possible since MAXQDA 10.

22.6 Importing Transcripts without Timestamps and
Subsequently Inserting Timestamps
This variation will be explained with a song as an example. Let’s say we wanted to have a synchro-
nized connection between the text and the audio for the song “I Want You” by Bob Dylan. To save
us the time of doing the transcription, we can get the text from Dylan’s website. We can then either
copy and paste it into a document in MAXQDA, or we could paste the text into an RTF or DOC/X
file and import that file into MAXQDA. For this example, we’ll name the document “Dylan: I want
you.” Once the text is in MAXQDA, we need to create the connection to the audio file.
 Right-click on the document in the Document System and select Link audio/video file.
 In the dialog window that appears, select the audio/video file you wish to assign to the docu-
ment. This assignment can later be modified by selecting Properties in the context menu of the
document. In the dialog window that appears, you can click on the three dots in the “Media
file” row to reopen the file.
The MAXQDA document with the Dylan text is now linked to the audio file, but the audio file
wasn’t actually imported as part of the MAXQDA project. You will now see that the symbol next to
the “Dylan: I want you” document has changed. This is the symbol for a document linked to an
audio file:
Insert timestamps into a MAXQDA transcript
Double-clicking on this document opens it in the “Document Browser” (see below). A new column
has been inserted between the text and the paragraph numbers, which will show your timestamps.
The document only has one timestamp at this point, representing the very beginning of the song,
since we haven’t added any yet. To play the song with the internal media player, you need to acti-
vate the “Media player” toolbar from the Toolbars drop-down menu. You can then click on the
Media Player switch on/off button in this toolbar to activate the media file.

Importing Transcripts without Timestamps and Subsequently Inserting
Timestamps
334
Imported transcript with media file connection
Next, we would want to put the cursor at the beginning of the actual song text, right before “The
guilty undertaker …” and start playback of the song. We can do this by clicking on the Play
button or using the F4 or F5 key on the keyboard. We would then let the song go until right before
the singing begins and insert a timestamp by clicking on the New timestamp button or by pressing
the F6 key. We want to do this same thing for the beginning of each verse. We would then see a
timestamp symbol next to the first line of each verse.
Timestamp in front of the verses

We can now use the synchronized text and audio together. By clicking on any of the timestamps,
we will hear the song played from that point. If you do this with an interview transcript, you can in
a similar way get back to various sections that you may want to hear again for tone or emphasis.
If you turn on the Sync mode in the toolbar and click on the timestamp next to the first verse, the
text follows the song, meaning the section of text being sung will be highlighted, similar to the way
karaoke works. You can then follow along with the song text as you hear it.
22.7 Importing f4/f5 Transcripts with Timestamps
When transcribing with f4/f5, it is recommended that you set up a standard structure of
timestamps. The easiest way to do this is to set the program to automatically insert a timestamp
every time you hit the Enter/Return key. It is also recommended that you take advantage of the
shortcut keys to mark which sections are being spoken by different people (e.g. in group discus-
sions). This is accomplished selecting Insert time stamp at the end of each paragraph in f4/f5.
f4/f5 option for automatically inserting time stamps
Important: MAXQDA can interpret timestamps in a transcript only when they appear at the end of
a paragraph.
Furthermore, when transcribing, it is useful to make use of f4 keyboard shortcuts in order to differ-
entiate between speakers, for example in group discussions or interviews.
To import the transcript including timestamps and media files into MAXQDA, follow these steps:
1. Save the transcript in f4/f5 as a RTF file. Ensure that the option Save with time stamps is selected.
Timestamps will then remain in the text, marked with a “#” symbol at the beginning and end.
2. Insert the file into the “Document System” in MAXQDA by selecting Documents > Import docu-
ment(s), or with the Import document(s) button in the “Document System.” Alternatively you
can use the function Documents > Import f4/f5 transcript.
3. When the file is imported, MAXQDA automatically recognizes that it contains timestamps and
prompts you to select the appropriate media file. Choose the appropriate file from the dialog
window and confirm your selection by clicking OK.
4. When the file is imported, MAXQDA formats and inserts timestamps into the timestamps table,
removing them from the text for improved readability.

Transcribing Directly in MAXQDA: Transcription mode336
Note: The timestamps are only imported when a media file is selected. Subsequent automatic
linking of transcripts with media is not possible!
5. Open the imported document by double-clicking it in the “Document System.”
Note: Documents with associated media files are marked with special symbols: for audio files
and for video files.
When imported, timestamps from text, audio and video files will appear in the corresponding col-
umn before the text in the “Document Browser.”
Timestamp display in MAXQDA
The audio or video file will not be loaded automatically when you open MAXQDA, but only when it
is activated in the “Media player” toolbar – the “Media player” toolbar must therefore be displayed
first (via the Toolbars drop-down menu). To load the media file click on the Media Player: switch
on/off button.
Texts that already contain timestamps upon import can be divided further, if necessary, with other
timestamps.
22.8 Transcribing Directly in MAXQDA: Transcription mode
It is also possibly to transcribe audio and video files directly in MAXQDA. To do so:
1. Call up the function via Documents > Transcribe audio/video data. This option can also be
accessed by right-clicking on a document group or the root of the Document System.
2. You will then see a dialog field, in which you can select the file to be transcribed.
MAXQDA automatically creates an empty document named like the media file, connects it with the
media file and opens it in the Edit mode in the “Document Browser.” You can now play this file in
MAXQDA’s media player and start the transcription in the empty document.
Tip: If you have already imported the media file into the "Document System" and have transcribed
a part of the file, right-click on the document and select the entry Transcribe audio file/video file.

A small dialog window entitled “Transcription Mode“ will open, which remains visible throughout
the transcription.
Empty transcript in the “Transcription mode” window
From this point on, you can play data on MAXQDA's Media player, and begin the transcription pro-
cess. You can process media files and insert timestamps using the icons in the Multimedia Browser
and “Media player” toolbar, playback options in the “Transcription mode” toolbar as well as vari-
ous keyboard shortcuts:
New timestamp F6 – inserts timestamp into the transcript at the current playback position.
You can insert a timestamp between two existing timestamps, so long as the current playback posi-
tion is located between them.
Previous timestamp (Shift+F3) – jump to previous timestamp in the media file.
Stop – stops playback and returns to the beginning of the file.
Play/Pause (F4 or F5)– stops playback at the current position and continues at the same point –
using the rewind interval.
Next timestamp (F3) – jump to next timestamp.
You can also access further transcription options in the “Transcription mode” window.

Synchronizing Transcribed Text with Audio/Video files338
Set options for playing media files and transcribing
 Volume – set volume from 0 to 100 percent.
 Playing Speed – allows adjustment of playing speed from half to one-and-a-half times.
 Rewind Interval – Sets number of seconds to rewind from 0 to 10 when you start playing a
media file.
 Timestamp on enter – If this option is selected, a timestamp will automatically appear in the
“Document Browser” each time you press the Enter key.
Transcription using foot pedals
For faster and easier transcription, MAXQDA supports the foot pedals “Science” and “Science II”
from the company audiotranskription.de:
 The yellow “Science” switch has the same functionality as the F4 or F5 key (depending on the
software setting): Press once to play, and a second time to stop.
 The black “Science II” switch must be held down to play media data, and will stop playing
when released.
22.9 Synchronizing Transcribed Text with Audio/Video files
MAXQDA allows you to play an audio or video file at the same time as the transcript. You can view
media files synchronized to their transcribed texts, like a teleprompter for a television presenter, or
karaoke, in which you can read the text on the screen while listening to the music.
To start a synchronized playback, click on the Sync mode button in the “Media player” toolbar.
Activate Sync mode from the “Media player” toolbar
Begin by clicking the Play button or the F4 or F5 key. You can also click on a timestamp in the doc-
ument.

22.10 The “Overview of Timestamps”
The “Overview of Timestamps” has as many rows as there are timestamps in the document, and
every row has three columns. The first two columns contain the start and end points of that seg-
ment. In the third column, you have the option of writing in a short comment about that particular
segment. The “Duration” column provides the length of the respective segment.
The Overview of Timestamps
These Overview of Timestamps table and the “Comment” column function just like any other
MAXQDA table. It is possible to sort the comments or to search for a comment.
Tip: To search for a comment, right-click on the “Comment” column and select Search.`
If you are importing a document with timestamps, you still have the option to add new ones once it
has been imported into MAXQDA. The option to write your comments in the list of timestamps also
gives you a new way to find sections of your media file. Double-clicking on a row takes you to that
section of the text in the “Document Browser” and starts playback of the media file from that
point.
22.11 Coding Audio and Video Files in the Multimedia Browser
The Multimedia Browser Window
Using the Multimedia Browser you can easily play and code audio and video files. To open the Mul-
timedia Browser, click the Multimedia Browser icon on the “Media player” toolbar. To do this,
the Media Player has to be turned on by clicking the icon (you can only do this when a docu-
ment with a media file assigned to it is displayed in the “Document Browser”).
The following screenshot shows the structure of the Multimedia Browser:

Coding Audio and Video Files in the Multimedia Browser340
The Multimedia Browser window
For video files, the Multimedia Browser consists of five panels:
 The upper panel shows the video.
 Underneath, there is a toolbar containing the functions to adjust the view and playback and the
functions for coding. Here, you can also see the current playback position and the total time of
the media file.
 Beneath the toolbar, preview pictures are shown.
 Underneath, you can see the waveform of sound of the media file, and below this, there is a
time line where you can see the current playback position precise to the second.
 Under the time line there is a bar for the timestamps of the transcripts.
 At the very bottom is an area where the coded segments are visualized by bars.
For audio files, the video window and preview pictures are not shown.
The blue vertical line and the blue bar underneath the time line indicate the current playback posi-
tion.
The following functions are available on the toolbar:
Control Panel – opens the window with playback options
Copy video image to the clipboard – saves a screenshot of the current video image in the
clipboard, which can then be pasted, for example, directly in a Word file.

Insert video picture as an image in ‘Document System’ – the currently displayed video im-
age is inserted as a new document in the Document System, in order to, for example, code image
segments.
New memo – creates a new memo in the current playback position
Set clip start – sets the beginning of a clip segment at the current playback position
Set clip end – sets the end of a clip segment at the current playback position
Play clip – plays the segment selected on the waveform
Remove clip – removes current clip marks from the waveform
Go to beginning – jumps back to the beginning
Previous timestamp – rewinds the media file to the previous timestamp.
Stop – stops playback and jumps back to the beginning
Play/Pause – starts/pauses playback
Next timestamp – fast forwards the media file to the next timestamp.
Go to end – jumps to the end
Slider – helps you jump to a certain position
On the far right of the waveform, there are other icons that you can use to adjust the zoom for the
waveform and for the preview pictures of videos. The icons are hidden in order to not cover the
waveform. They appear as soon as you move the cursor over this area.
zooms out of the waveform, reduces the number of preview pictures for videos.
zooms the view to 100%. This view is configured by default and is usually ideal for coding.
shows the complete media file in the Multimedia Browser; this gives you an overview of the
waveform of the complete file. This view is usually not suitable for coding.
zooms into the waveform, increases the number of preview pictures for videos. This makes it
easier to navigate to single pictures and words.

hides the preview pictures bar.
Note: These thumbnails are generated upon the first showing. For large video files, this may take a
few moments.
Coding in the Multimedia Browser
You can code audio and video files in the same way as texts in MAXQDA. You start by marking a
segment of the waveform (a so called “clip”). Typically, you will want to set the beginning and end
of a segment in a media file precisely to the split second as the scene and content can change com-
pletely from one moment to the other. For this reason, MAXQDA offers a number of functions that
allow you to mark an audio or video clip:
 To roughly mark a segment, keep the left mouse button pressed and select the segment by
dragging the cursor over the waveform. The time limits are displayed underneath the beginning
and end marks.
 You can easily alter the time limits of the clip by moving the whole blue-marked segment or by
clicking and dragging the outer borders of the segment in the waveform.
 By using the right and left arrow keys, playback is moved by one tenth of a second. If the play-
back precisely matches the beginning or end of a clip, the clip is enlarged or reduced according-
ly.
 To play the marked clip, click the icon Play clip or press the F9 key.
Marking a clip
 You will usually play a media file and then pause exactly at a position where you want to set a
new coding. To do this, use the button Play/Pause or the F4 key.
 When the playhead is at the designated position, click the button Set clip start or press the
F9 key.
 Now resume playback and pause at the position where you want to end the coding. Click the
button Set clip end or press the F10 key.

Setting the clip limits at the current playback position
You can now code the selected segments as usual, for example by (a) dragging and dropping the
marks on to a code, (b) clicking on an emoticode, or (c) by clicking a color code. Right-clicking on a
marked segment opens a context menu that contains three options that are relevant for coding:
Context menu on a marked clip
When coding is completed, it will be indicated by a horizontal coding stripe in the Multimedia
Browser. Below it, on the left, the code name is displayed. The coding will also be indicated by the
color of the waveform (green for standard codes, other colors for color codes). If various codes are
layered on top of each other, the color of the waveform is a mix of the colors. Segments coded with
an emoticode are indicated by the Emoticon next to the coding stripe.
Clicking on a coding stripe selects the coded segment on the waveform. Double-clicking plays the
clip.
Visualization of codings in the “Multimedia Browser”
Right-clicking on a coding stripe opens a context menu containing the usual options:
 Modify weight
 Edit comment

 Delete
Coded segments that have a comment are marked with a white square on the left hand side of the
coding stripe.
Audio and Video Clips in the “Retrieved Segments”
In the “Retrieved Segments” window, video clips are shown using the first picture of the video clip.
For audio clips, a picture of a waveform is shown.
The time indication tells you when an audio or video clip starts and ends.
Audio and video clips in the “Retrieved Segments”
Attaching Memos to Audio and Video Clips
You can attach memos for notes to any playback position. To attach a new memo,
 Right-click a position of the waveform
 Or click the button New memo in the Multimedia Browser toolbar.
Creating memos

Teamwork: Using MAXQDA as a Team 345
23 Teamwork: Using MAXQDA as a Team
23.1 How can MAXQDA support Teamwork?
In the context of scientific research, the evaluation of documents is often a collective, rather than
individual endeavor. This raises the question how MAXQDA allows for teamwork.
Important: MAXQDA is a single-user, not a multi-user program. Simultaneous use of the same
project file at the same time is not possible. Various people cannot make changes to the same file at
the same time.
The sort of functionality that is currently available in MAXQDA does not blend with the logic of mul-
ti-user software. A typical example of a multi-user program is the kind used by airlines for flight
bookings. Such programs only work when one user’s ability to change something requires that the
other users be given read-only permissions. MAXQDA, though, is set up so that a user can write or
change a memo, modify coded segments, etc. at any time. All of these functions would be limited –
if not made impossible all together – with a multi-user system. For these reasons, one has to accept
that simultaneous work by various team members on the same project file is not possible. MAXQDA
does, though, make it easy to separate a project into various files, have team members work on
them at the same time, and then later bring them together in one file.
This teamwork is possible in three principle forms, depending on how the team members want to
work together.
 Handing over a complete MAXQDA project to another team member – Different people
work with the same master version. They perform online searches, text retrievals, and other
kinds of analysis with this master version. But, they do not perform code and memo procedures
simultaneously on the master version. The MAXQDA project is therefore passed from team
member to team member, each time for further processing.
 Exchanging coded segments, memos, summaries, etc. of a single document, document
group or entire project among team members – A MAXQDA project with all the documents
to be processed is duplicated for each team member. Each member works on a pre-arranged
part of the project, for example only segments coded with selected codes, or only certain doc-
uments. At the end, the coded segments, memos, etc. are transferred from the respective pro-
jects into a master project.
 Merging MAXQDA projects – Members of the team edit the documents of a MAXQDA pro-
ject in collaboration. For example, team member A codes as document 1 , 5 , 6 , 7 and 9, team
member B codes documents 2 , 3 , 8 and 10, and team member C edits documents 4 and 11.
Each member is working in a separate project that contains only the documents that he or she
is responsible for. At the end, all three projects are merged.

Transferring a MAXQDA Project to Other Team Members346
23.2 Transferring a MAXQDA Project to Other Team Members
The first case is the easiest, because here you can always transfer the entire project as a MAXQDA
project from one computer to another, knowing that all team members always have the same data
pool. However, you can never have two people coding project documents or creating memos simul-
taneously on different. Evaluation in which no new codes are created, no variable values are
changed and no new memos are assigned can of course be carried out simultaneously.
The transfer of MAXQDA projects is very easy: MAXQDA saves all aspects of the project in a MX12
file. If you name a project “ForumAnalysis,” it will be saved on your computer as “ForumAnaly-
sis.mx12.”
The project file contains all … The project file does not contain …
 Documents
 Codes
 Memos
 Variables
 Coded segments
 Summaries
 Document links
 Text links
 External links
 Diagrams made in MAXMaps
 Similarity and Distance matrices
 The MAXDictio dictionary
 External documents (e.g. PDF files, images, audio
and video files)
 Externally saved geographical references (KML
files)
 Saved search formulas (SEA files = search files)
 Saved selections for logical activations and other
mixed methods functions (LOA files = LOgical Ac-
tivation files)
 Saved Code Systems in MTR format
The project file can be transferred to other team members in the form of a single file. It can also be
sent by email. It can also be saved in the shared folder of a cloud system, such as Dropbox or
Onedrive.
If the MX12 project file is opened on any other computer where MAXQDA 12 is installed, the entire
project appears with all its components.
If you want to set up the project, so that various members of the team can work on it at the same
time, it is recommended that you start by importing all documents into a MAXQDA project on one
computer, and then sending a copy of that file to everyone in the team. This saves you the work of
importing the files on each individual’s computer and guarantees that everyone will have the exact
same data set.

Sharing Projects that have External Files
If you have associated audio or video files to documents or if you did not import very large PDF or
image files, they will not be saved in the project file, but rather in a folder for external files (path
listed under Project > Preferences (Windows) or MAXQDA 12 > Preferences (Mac)). If you want
to share these files along with the project file, follow these steps:
1. Send the project (MX12) file.
2. Group all the external files together by selecting Project > Bundle external data files. A com-
pressed ZIP folder with those files attached to the project will then appear in the same folder as
your MX12 file, which you can then send to your team members
3. Pass on this file to your fellow researchers. The file can be very large, especially if it contains
audio and video data. It can therefore not be sent via email but rather using a cloud system or
USB stick.
Procedure for Receiving the Files
1. Open the MX12 file.
2. Select the Unpack bundled data files option from the Project drop-down menu and choose
the ZIP file that was sent with the external files. MAXQDA unpacks these external files and puts
them in the appropriate folder, so that they are connected to the newly-opened project.
23.3 Transferring Coded Segments, Memos, Variables, etc.
from one Project to another
MAXQDA also supports another type of teamwork, which allows people in the team to work on
documents at the same time. It is required that everyone has the same exact data set, meaning that
each person has a copy of the project on their own computer. However, different team members
are not required to process the documents in the same order, nor must the number of documents
be the same on each computer, meaning different computers can have more or less documents
available in the “Document System.”
Tip: Each document must be identical in form for all team members or computers, meaning the
number of paragraphs and the actual text must correspond completely and accurately. The format-
ting, however, for example font type and size, does not need to be the same.
The following example is set up for only two different computers, but the same principle works for
as many computers as you require.
Computer 1
Project with documents A, B, C and D
Computer 2
Project with documents A, B, C and E, F
The document pool does not need to be exactly the same, in the sense that all documents available
on computer 1 must also be available on computer 2.

Transferring Coded Segments, Memos, Variables, etc. from one Project to
another
348
The codes do not need to be the identical, but in a research team you should of course ensure that
the same category, meaning the same code, is assigned the same name and does not differ among
each team member.
Exchange of Coded Segments, Memos, Variables, etc. for a document
If “Interview 1” was coded on Computer 1, how do you make this work available to someone else
in your team? And what if new codes were created during this process? In this case, it doesn’t
make sense to send the project file, because the work that the person has done on Computer 2
would be lost. It is necessary in this case to simply transfer the work done on that single document.
In MAXQDA, you can do this as follows:
1. The person working on Computer 1 right-clicks on the text “Interview 1” in the “Document Sys-
tem”
2. He then selects the option Export Teamwork from the context menu, and selects the file name
and saving location. The document name will be proposed as the name for the saved file, which
in general should be used.
3. MAXQDA then saves a file containing all the information about this document, including coded
segments information, memos, variables, and external links. All codes, coded segments, memos,
variables and external links will be included in the file. The file will have the extension (Max-
EXchange format), allowing for easy recognition later.
Choosing to export the information for the document “Teresa”
If you want to document all of the coded segments that you are exporting for the person that will
be receiving it, you can do so by right-clicking on the document a second time and choosing to see
the Overview of coded segments. You will then have a list of the segments in the following form:

List of coded segments in the “Overview of Coded Segments”
You can then export this table and/or copy it to the clipboard and paste it into a word processing
document, so you can print it out.
Note: The “Teamwork export” file contains all coded segments, memos, variables, summaries, and
external links for a document regardless of what you may have activated. This means that it is not
possible to export only those segments coded with a certain code. The rule is: all or nothing.
The MEX file can then be sent as an email attachment or transferred with a flash drive. It is recom-
mended here again that you first compress it as a ZIP file, so that the email program is sure to be
able to read it.
Import the MEX File into the target project
The exported file can be imported on any computer where the same document with the same text
structure is present in the “Document System.” This works in the same way as the “Teamwork ex-
port.” Right-click on the document in the “Document System” on Computer 2. Then choose
Teamwork import and choose the appropriate file in the dialog window. You will then see a dia-
log field where you can check the source and target documents. As long as the documents on
Computer 1 and Computer 2 have the same names, you don’t need to change anything, since
MAXQDA will already assume this is the document for which you wish to import the MEX file. If the
documents have different names, this will need to be corrected.

Transferring Coded Segments, Memos, Variables, etc. from one Project to
another
350
Options for importing teamwork
Important: The document that you are importing the coded segments, memos, and variables to
must have the exact same structure as the document that is receiving the information. To make sure
you’re not importing a completely different document, MAXQDA will ask you once again to confirm
the import.
You can then decide what exactly you want to import: coded segments, memos, variables, and/or
external links. You can also choose to view a protocol after the import, so you can later document
exactly what was imported. The standard settings are to import all aspects of the document.
When you import a coded segment it may occur that at the same code has already been assigned
to the respective coded segment, perhaps with slightly different segment boundaries. Since in
MAXQDA a document segment can be coded only once with a code, you can decide which seg-
ment boundaries should be maintained via the drop-down menu:
Segment boundaries of imported file – This is the default selection: In case of conflict the newly
added coded segment and its boundaries are adopted.
Segment boundaries of the opened project – In case of conflict the existing coded segment will
be retained, so it will not make any change to the code.
OR-combination of segment boundaries – In case of conflict, the outermost boundaries of both
coded segments will be adopted.
AND-combination of segment boundaries – In case of conflict, the intersecting area of both
codes is adopted as the coded segment.
When importing summaries, you can also control how MAXQDA should proceed in case of conflict:
Existing summaries will not be changed: With this setting, only empty summaries are imported.
In case of conflict imported summaries are therefore ignored.

Imported summaries overwrite existing ones – In case of conflict, existing project summaries will
be deleted and overwritten with imported summaries.
Add imported summaries to existing ones – In case of conflict the imported summaries will be
added tot he existing summaries.
Click on Import to begin the process.
MAXQDA’s Import Process for Coded Segments and Memos
MAXQDA proceeds as follows with the imported coded segments:
 All coded segments existing in documents before the import procedure will be maintained or
adjusted, depending on the selected option.
 Previously non-existent encodings will be inserted into the open project.
 If in the Teamwork file a segment coded with a code or subcode not yet in the Code System is
found, this code will be recreated and inserted in the appropriate position in the Code System.
Codes with the same name at the same position will thereby be regarded as identical; their col-
or will not be taken into account.
 Coded segment comments will not be included if a coded segment with the same segment
boundaries already exists.
Document memos within a document are always imported (exception: memos at the same start
position with the same title). The memos that are attached to a document or document group in
the “Document System” as a document memo or attached to codes in the “Code System” as a
code memo are handled differently. Since there can’t be more than one of each of these memos,
one of the versions of the memo has to be kept, and one has to be ignored. If a memo already ex-
ists in the project, the memos from the imported project will not be included.
Variables are handled slightly differently. Variables that did not previously exist in the project are
automatically created, and the variable values are inserted. If the variables already exist, their values
will be updated and consequently overwritten.
To make sure that the import procedure was carried out correctly, it is recommended that you open
the document in order to review of the newly inserted coded segments. You can also obtain a list of
all coded segments with the “Overview of coded segments”.
Exchanging Coded Segments, Memos, and Variables for Document Groups or the
Entire Project
In MAXQDA, the document-related exchange of coded segments, memos, and variables is possible
for document groups or even the entire project.
The same rules will apply as with individual documents. To start the import function, right-click on
the document group, or, if you wish to exchange the entire project, on the root of the Document
System, and choose Export Teamwork from the context menu that appears.
When importing, therefore, the document group, rather than the single document, must be clicked.
Once you have selected Import teamwork and selected the MEX file format, a dialog window will
appear which lists the assignment of source and target texts. Here you have the option to make

Merging Two MAXQDA Projects352
changes to the automatic assignment by MAXQDA. In order to do so, double-click the text in the
target column. You can access a list with all the texts of the document group by clicking on the
small triangle in this field. Here you can optionally select a different text as the target of the import..
Options when importing teamwork for an entire project
23.4 Merging Two MAXQDA Projects
Another teamwork feature in MAXQDA is the option to merge two projects. The “Merge projects”
function causes all elements of a second project to be added to a project you currently have open.
To do this, follow these steps:
1. Open the larger of the two projects you want to merge.
2. Choose Merge projects from the Project drop-down menu.
3. Select the second project from the dialog window, which will be in the form of an MX12 file.
The following dialog window will appear:

Options for merging projects
Because a MAXQDA project can contain only one project memo, one memo per code, and one
Logbook, you can choose, in the top section, what content should be kept and what should be
overwritten. When the default settings are left as is, the existing data in the already opened project
will remain unchanged.
In the bottom section, two options are available that allow you to determine how MAXQDA should
handle documents whose identical name already exists in the project.
Don’t import already existing documents – When the projects are merged, by default, all docu-
ments from the imported project are inserted into the open project. When you select this option,
already existing documents will be ignored, thus not imported. For example, if the open project
contains the document group “Interviews” with documents A, B, and C, and the imported project
contains the document group “Interviews” with the documents A, B, and D, document D will be
imported and inserted into a second document group.
Merge document groups with same name – This option is available only when the previous op-
tion is selected. In this case, no further document groups with the same name will be created, and
the imported documents will be integrated into the already existing document group. This means if
the document group “Interviews” with documents A, B, and C already exists, only document D will
be imported.
When you click OK, MAXQDA then starts the merging process, which may take some time, depend-
ing on the size of the two projects.
Note: Before merging the projects, MAXQDA automatically creates a backup of the current project
in the selected backup folder.
The merge function is carried out in the following manner:
 All document groups of the imported project will be inserted with their documents, possibly
generating duplicates. If a text group entitled “Interviews” exists in both projects, the resulting
merged project will have two text groups of this name. The options above can be set so that al-
ready existing documents are ignored and so that no duplicate document groups are created.
 All memos of both projects will be inserted.
 Coded segments will be merged; in the case that a code or subcode does not exist in the new
project, it will be created. Codes with the same name and same position will be considered
identical; their color is not relevant.

Merging Two MAXQDA Projects354
 Summaries will be imported.
 All internal and external links will be imported.
 Each variable will be analyzed to determine if it already exists in the project.
If the variable does not exist in the open project, a variable of that name will be created. The
variable values of the documents in the open project will be set to 0 or to the preset missing
value for numerical variables, or empty for text variables.
If a variable exists with another type declaration, it will be created. Suppose the open file con-
tains the text variable "marital status" and the file to be added contains a numerical variable of
the same name. The result is that after import two variables entitled "marital status" will exist;
for the old project the numerical variable will be set to 0 and for the new project the text varia-
ble will be left blank.
 Codes that have been transformed into variables will be ignored.

Admin System for User Management 355
24 Admin System for User Management
24.1 Calling Up and Activating User Management
MAXQDA supports teams working on projects with an optional user management system, in which
you can set different rights for different groups of users.
Note: The admin system is not designed to ensure secure of your projects, just for working together
in teams.
To activate user management, select Project > Activate user management from the menu.
Activating user management
The user who activates the user management will automatically become administrator and has to
set a password for his user name.
Set admin password
Caution: Note your password carefully! Without this password, the MAXQDA project can no longer
be opened.

The Main User Management Window356
Once the administrator has been established, user management can only be opened with a valid
administrator name and password. The next time the project is opened a login window will appear
and you'll be prompted for a valid user name and password.
Login window
In the default configuration, only administrators are able to open the user management,
add users or change rights.
24.2 The Main User Management Window
In the main user management window, you can create new users, remove existing users, and define
the rights of individual user groups.
Main user management window
On the left side of the user management window, the various levels (Admin and Levels 1-3) are
displayed. The right side of the window contains information about each user, which can be created
or edited here; it is also here that users can be assigned to one of four user groups.

Admin System for User Management 357
Adding a New User
Click on the Add user button to add a new user. The new user settings can subsequently be
edited:
User: Here you can set the user name (= Login name), with which the user can log into the project.
Group: Here you can set the level within the hierarchy to which the user is assigned.
Name: Here you can enter the user's real name.
Comments: In this field, you can post comments regarding the user.
The properties of a user can be modified at any time by clicking on the user name in the left side of
the window.
Deleting Users
To delete a user, select the user name in the left side of the window and click the Delete user
button. You will be required to confirm your selection.
User Passwords
User passwords can be managed in two ways. If no password has been set by an admin, each user
must first log in and set his own password. Alternatively, the administrator can set an initial pass-
word and communicate it to the other users. In order to set the initial password, click the Set initial
password button. The users can then access the MAXQDA project with this password, and set
their own passwords upon first use. Only the user will know this new password. If a user forgets his
password, the administrator can reset it by clicking the Reset user password button. The ad-
ministrator can also reset the initial password in this way.
Initial Password
The purpose of the initial password is to act as a barrier to entry into the project. New users must
enter this password the first time they log into a locked MAXQDA project, before setting their per-
sonal passwords.
Hierarchical Levels
When you click on a particular level in the left side of the window, the rights of the users at this
level will be displayed on the right side of the window. Aside from the Admin Level, users can be
placed in three different groups, from Level 1 to Level 3. In a research project, the levels can be es-
tablished, for example, in the following way:
 Level 1: Project leaders
 Level 2: Research associates, who can import and delete texts, work with the “Code Sys-
tem,” and write, edit and delete memos
 Level 3: Student associates, who work primarily on the coding of material
The following image displays the default Level 1 functions. For example, the top three functions are
reserved by default for the Admin Level. User rights can be modified at any time by clicking on the

The Main User Management Window358
red or green icon in front each program function. Any number of users can be assigned to each
level, including the Admin Level. At least one administrator must be defined in any case, meaning
the last entry in this list cannot be deleted.
Define user rights for various levels of the hierarchy
Modify User Settings
Click on a user name in the left side of the window in order to modify settings in the right side.
Importing and Exporting the Entire Admin System
It is possible to export the entire Admin System of a MAXQDA project, including user names, pass-
words and user rights. Click on the Export button on the lower edge of the main window. The
data will be saved in MXUSR format, which is, of course, encrypted. This file can be imported into
another MAXQDA project by clicking on the Import button, thus saving the administrator a lot
of time.
Deactivating User Management
It is possible to deactivate user management at any time by checking the corresponding box at the
lower edge of the window, then closing the window.
Option “Deactivate user management”
All user names and passwords will be saved in the project, so it is possible to reactivate the user
management at any time.

Reports 359
25 Reports
25.1 Smart Publisher
Using Smart Publisher
Smart Publisher is a convenient report generator. It exports selected retrieved segments in a format-
ted Word document report, including title page and table of contents. The structure of the report is
determined by the “Code System:”
 An individual chapter will be created for each top-level code.
 A subchapter will be created for each subcode.
 Coded Segments of each code form the content of each (sub)chapter.
Opening Smart Publisher
Smart Publisher can be accessed by clicking the icon in the main menu, or Reports > Smart Pub-
lisher.
Opening Smart Publisher
Note: To use Smart Publisher with Windows, Microsoft Word Version 2003 or more recent must be
installed.
When Smart Publisher is called up, a dialog window will appear in which you can select the codes
to be included in the report. When top-level codes are selected, their corresponding subcodes will
automatically be included in the report. You can also choose to include coded segments only from
activated documents.
Selecting top-level codes for Smart Publisher

Smart Publisher360
Smart Publisher Settings
The following dialog window displays the various options available when creating a report. For easy
navigation, Smart Publisher settings are displayed in seven tabs:
Smart Publisher settings
“Title“ Section
Title – The title, which will appear on the first page of the report.
Subtitle – The subtitle, which will appear on the first page of the report.
Image files 1 and 2 – Selection of up to 2 image files, which will appear on the first page of the
report. If the field is left blank, no image will appear.
”Header and Footer” Section
Reports can be formatted to include headers and footers, which will appear on each page after the
title page.
Header – Header text
Footer – Footer text
“Options” Section
You can limit the output to segments where a weight was assigned in a defined area.
Comment – Below a coded segment, its comment is also output.
Use code alias instead of code name – The code alias will be used in the place of the code name
as a heading, if defined for the respective code (see Creating a Code Alias).
“Source information” Section
In the “Source information” you will find numerous options for the presentation of coded segments
in the report.
Quotation marks – text segment will be placed in quotation marks

Reports 361
Document – Document groups and document names will be displayed in the references below the
segments.
Position – The beginning and the end of the coded segment (as well as paragraph numbers for
textual data) will be included in the list of sources.
Creation date – The date on which the segments were coded will be included in the list of sources.
Author – The name of the user who coded the segments will be included in the list of sources.
Weight – The weight of the coded segments will be included in the list of sources.
The following figure shows an extract from a report that was generated using Smart Publisher. The
displayed segment comes from the paragraphs 35-36 of the document “Jon” from the document
group “New York.” It was encoded with a weight of 100. The segment was assigned the code
“Significantly Positive:”
Extract from a Smart Publisher report
Word template section (available only in MAXQDA for Windows)
Here you can indicate which Word template Smart Publisher should choose. The Word template
determines the appearance of the report and can be easily modified (see below)
After clicking OK and choosing a file name and location, Smart Publisher starts to create the report.
This may take a moment to complete depending on the number of coded segments to be exported.
Note: While the Smart Publisher creates your report, you should not use Word, as the preparation
of the report could be affected.
The Finished Report
The finished report is in the form of a Word document (for Windows in DOCX format, for Mac in
RTF format), which includes a title page, table of contents, a page that lists of all the documents
included in the report, and the main section including all of the exported segments. If a head-

Smart Publisher362
er/footer was included, it will appear on all pages aside from the title page. If an end page was in-
cluded, it will appear at the end of the report.
All elements of the report are formatted using the Word template (DOT format). Formatting
of the final report can be modified; for example, you can easily insert additional pages or
content.
Alias Names for Codes
Smart Publisher uses the code names from the “Code System” as headings for the individual sub-
chapters of the report. However, you may wish to assign an alternate name to some or all of the
subchapters in the report. This may be the case if the 63 characters per heading allowed by the
system are not enough, and you wish to create a longer name, or if, in other cases, a shorter head-
ing would be more appropriate. For this reason, MAXQDA allows you to create a “code alias” of up
to 225 characters.
In order to assign a code alias, right-click on the code in the “Code System” and select “Proper-
ties”. A dialog window will appear, in which you can enter the code alias.
Assigning a code alias in the Code properties window
From the menu Codes > Code alias table you can call up a table, in which you can conveniently
create code aliases for multiple codes, and can see for which codes a code alias has been assigned.
Code Alias Table
The Word Template for Smart Publisher (only for Windows)
Upon installation of MAXQDA for Windows, two document templates named “MXReport_A4.dot”
and “MXReport_Letter.dot” will be installed in "MAXQDA12" folder (or on the USB device with a
portable installation). These templates can be opened with Microsoft Word and edited. As the file
name indicates, one document is set to A4, while the other is set to letter format. You can create
multiple versions of the Word templates for different occasions and customize them according to
your needs.

Reports 363
Placeholder for Customization of Word Templates
The Word templates contain placeholders, for example for titles and subtitles written as <Title>.
These placeholders can be modified just like any other content in a Word document. The position of
the placeholders can also be modified as desired.
If a placeholder is deleted, it can no longer be inserted by Smart Publisher.
The following placeholders can be used:
 <Date> = Creation date of the report
 <Title> = Title assigned on the “Title Page” tab for the report
 <Subtitle> = Subtitle assigned on the “Title Page” tab for the report
 <Image 1> = Image file 1
 <Image 2> = Image file 2
 <ContentTable> = Table of contents
 <DocumentList> = Document list
 <Documents> = List of documents in table form
Placeholders for Word templates
Format Templates
The Word templates contain predefined format templates, which should not be deleted:
 MX_Header1–9 (chapter titles according to the position of codes in the code system)
 MX_Standard (textual content from coded text segments)
 MX_Numbering (numbering of individual text segments within the chapter)
 MX_Table (list of documents in table form)
The format templates can be customized directly in the Word templates. Formatting of content can
also be customized here.
Note: The template contains some example text, including headlines and text segment presenta-
tion, which can be easily adapted to suit your needs. You can modify the sample texts, however,
when the report is generated, only the tags will be applied and all other text will automatically be
deleted.

Creating a Codebook with Category Definitions364
25.2 Creating a Codebook with Category Definitions
The “Export Codebook" function allows you to automatically generate a Codebook – i.e. a category
manual. The codebook lists all or selected codes in the order of the Code System and also outputs
the associated code memo for each code. The completed Codebook therefore contains the
category definition of each individual code, provided that this was recorded in the code
memo. This saves a lot of work in the creation of the annex for a research report, especially
since it provides the opportunity to unify the font for all memo text.
The Codebook is created in RTF format and can therefore easily be opened with word processing
programs such as Word. It includes a cover page with the title "Codebook", the project name and
the creation date. On the following page, the Code System is listed in a table. In the main section,
the respective codes with their associated memos are listed in the order of the Code System.
The Codebook function is accessed through the menu Reports > Codebook. A window will ap-
pear in which you can specify the Codebook options in more detail.
Setting options for the Codebook
In the top section of the window, you can specify which codes should be included in the Codebook.
Only top level codes - If you select this option, only the codes in the top level of the Code System,
with their associated code memos, will be included. Subcodes will not be included.
Only activated codes - In this case, only activated codes will be included in the Codebook. You
can decide whether (inactivated) subcodes should also be included: Include subcodes. This option
is not available if you have selected Only top level codes.
Note: In general, only codes that include a code memo will be exported.
Other options can be set in the lower section:
Standardize memo fonts - If the font, font size, etc. varies between memos, they can be uniform-
ly displayed in the Codebook using this option.
Number Codes - If this option is selected, the listed codes will be numbered according to their hi-
erarchy in the Code System.

Reports 365
Include parent code in code name - If this option is selected, the code path will be specified as a
heading for the subcodes.
Export code system with frequencies - If this option is selected, a column containing the code
frequency will be added in the table overview of the code system.
After confirmation, select a name and location for the file before the Codebook is created and
opened in a standard word processing program (ex. Word).
25.3 Code Frequencies per Document, Document Group and
Document Set
How frequent is a code in a document, a document group or a document set? The Reports menu
contains three functions that are designed to answer these questions:
1. Code Frequency per Document
2. Code Frequency per Document Group (available only when document groups exist)
3. Code Frequency per Document Set (available only when document sets exist)
In principle, it is a shortcut to the MAXQDA Code Matrix Browser, which provides report
output with the following options:
 Code frequencies will be displayed in the intersections of documents and codes.
 Only activated codes and documents will be displayed. When no codes are activated, all will be
included in the display; the same applies for documents.
 All codes will be collapsed, regardless of their status in the Code System, and their code fre-
quencies will be aggregated.
 The columns will contain either documents, document groups or documents sets, depending on
the function that was called up. For document groups and document sets, the code frequencies
of the respective associated (eventually activated) documents will be aggregated.
 The sum row and sum columns will be displayed.
Code frequency per document

Project Information366
25.4 Project Information
The function Reports > Project Information collects information about the current project and
shows the completed report in a separate window. Specifically, Project information contains the
following data :
 Report date
 Name of the MAXQDA 12 project file
 Project Memo (from the root of the Document System)
 Number of document groups, document sets, and the individual document types
 Number of codes, coded segments, and code sets
 Number of memos
 Number of document and code variables
 Number of document links
Project information can be copied to the clipboard with the Copy button, and from there trans-
ferred into another program such as Word.
Project information

Project Organization and Data Security 367
26 Project Organization and Data Security
26.1 Renaming, Deleting, and Duplicating Projects
Creating a New Project
MAXQDA allows you to work with as many different projects as you want. If you want to work
separately with a secondary data set, you just need to create a new project for it.
This is how it’s done:
1. Click on the Project drop-down menu.
2. Select New project.
3. Navigate to the folder where you would like to save this new project
4. Give the project a name and click Save.
Every project in MAXQDA is given the ending MX12. In order to secure your work, it is recom-
mended that you back up this file regularly on an external backup device, such as a USB stick, ex-
ternal hard drive, or cloud location. Qualitative data analysis is a lot of work, but it only takes a mi-
nute to back it up and avoid risking a loss of your work if something happens to your computer.
Deleting a Project
If you want to delete a project, you can do so in the same way you would delete any other file in
Windows Explorer or Mac Finder. MAXQDA 12 projects always have the file ending MX12, (or the
file type “MAXQDA 12 Project) and the projects from previous MAXQDA versions have the endings
MX11, MX5, MX4, MX3, MX2, or M2K. It is not possible to delete a project directly from the
MAXQDA interface.
Whether or not it is possible to undelete a project depends on your Windows or Mac Recycle Bin
settings, but MAXQDA does not have any control of these operations on the operating system level.
Renaming a Project
Renaming a project can also only be done from Windows Explorer or Mac Finder, not within
MAXQDA. Right-click on the project file and select Rename from the context menu that appears.
Duplicating a Project
A copy of your project, for example for backup purposes, can be generated easily in Win-
dows Explorer or Mac Finder. Alternatively, you can duplicate the project directly in
MAXQDA:
1. From the main menu, select Project > Duplicate project.
2. Choose the folder that you would like to save the file in.
3. Assign a name to the file.

Manual and Automatic Backups for Projects368
To work with the copy of the project, you will need to open it; unlike the “Save as …” function in
programs like Word, the newly-created file isn’t opened automatically. However, MAXQDA will ask
if you would like to work with the duplicate project.
26.2 Manual and Automatic Backups for Projects
Manual Backup
It is strongly recommended to make regular backup copies of your project and save them on an
external device in case of computer damage or failure. Backup copies should be saved in a different
location than your computer in case of theft, water damage, etc.
You can transfer your MAXQDA data onto an external device with the help of Windows Explorer or
Mac Finder. Alternatively, you can open the project in MAXQDA and select Project > Duplicate
project. Then select the destination location and file name and click OK.
Automatic Backup
MAXQDA allows you to save projects automatically. Open a project that has a set time limit (default
14 days) and is not automatically saved by MAXQDA. A message will appear asking if you would
like to save the project now. When you accept, MAXQDA will save a copy in a selected directory.
MAXQDA automatically provides the backup file with a date and time stamp.
Both the time interval, meaning how often the project will be saved, and the directory for the back-
up files, can be set in Project > Preferences (Windows) or MAXQDA 12 > Preferences (Mac).
There, you can also disable the function entirely.
Note: Automatic backup is an extra security measure, but by no means replaces the regular backup
your project files to external media, such as a portable hard drive!

Import/Export Options 369
27 Import/Export Options
27.1 Overview of Import and Export Options
MAXQDA offers a variety of options for exporting data to other software programs like SPSS or
Microsoft Office programs. The following table gives an overview of the different options.
Data Type Option in MAXQDA Format
Single document Project > Export > Displayed docu-
ment
Right-click on the document name
Or select everything in the “Document
Browser” with Ctrl+A and copy it to
the Windows clipboard.
RTF, XLS/X for tables,
PDF for PDF files and
original image formats
for images
Highlighted document
segment
Highlight and copy the selection
with Ctrl+C (Windows) or cmd+C
(Mac) or by selecting Copy from the
Edit drop-down menu.
Formatted text in the
clipboard
One or more coded seg-
ments
Highlight the segments by clicking
on them while holding the Ctrl or
cmd button and choose the export
option or copy with Ctrl+C or
cmd+C
XLS/X, HTML, RTF, clip-
board
All coded segments in the
“Retrieved Segments”
window
Project > Export > Retrieved Seg-
ments or with the icon in the “Re-
trieved Segments” window
XLS/X, HTML, RTF, clip-
board
Coded segments for a sin-
gle document (teamwork)
Right-click on the document and
select Export teamwork
.MEX (internal format)
Memos Export in the Overview of memos RTF, XLS/X, HTML
Memos for a particular
document (for teamwork
export)
Memos for a particular
document
select Overview of memos
RTF, XLS/X, HTML
Text of a memo Copy to clipboard with Ctrl+C or
cmd+C
Windows clipboard

Opening Projects from Earlier Versions (MAXQDA 11 or older)370
List of variables Variables > List of document varia-
bles or code variables and then
click on the icon in the toolbar for
HTML or XLS/X table
.HTML, XLS/X
Variable table (export) Variables > Export data (document
variables) or (code variables) or click
on the Export icon in the “Data
editor”
.TXT (tab-delimited),
HTML, XLS/X
Variable table (import) Variables > Import data (document
variables) or (code variables)
XLS/X or TXT (tab-
delimited)
Variables and variable val-
ues for a document
(teamwork)
Export variable values for a
document
Right-click on a document, select
Overview of variables, and click on
the Export icons in the toolbar
TXT (tab-delimited),
HTML, XLS/X, RTF
Code frequencies table Codes > Overview of coded seg-
ments and click the Export icon
or
highlight the cells of the table that you
want to copy and hit Ctrl+C or cmd+C
to copy them to the clipboard
HTML, XLS/X or clip-
board
Code frequencies Codes > Overview of codes then
export symbol
HTML, XLS/X
27.2 Opening Projects from Earlier Versions (MAXQDA 11 or
older)
To open a project that was created in an earlier version of MAXQDA, launch MAXQDA and select
Open project. A dialog window will appear, from which you can select the file type which corre-
sponds to your project.

Open projects from previous versions in MAXQDA 12
MAXQDA 12 for Windows can read the following project formats:
 MAXQDA 12 (Ending: MX12)
 MAXQDA 11 for Windows (MX5)
 MAXQDA 10 (MX4)
 MAXQDA 2007 (MX3)
 MAXQDA 2 (MX2)
 MAXQDA (M2K)
 MAXQDA Exchange files (MEX), that were created with MAXQDA for Mac versions 11.2.2 or
newer.
 MAXQDA Exchange files (MEX), that were created with MAXQDA for Windows
MAXQDA 12 for Mac can read the following file formats:
 MAXQDA 12 (Ending: MX12)
 MAXQDA 11 for Mac (MX11)
 MAXQDA Exchange Files (MEX), that were created with MAXQDA for Mac version 11.2.2 or
newer.
 MAXQDA Exchange Files (MEX), that were created with MAXQDA for Windows version 11.1.0
or newer.
Note: MAXQDA 12 will install a copy of the project in the new MX12 format in the folder where
the project is located. Please note that the conversion process may take several minutes to com-
plete. The progress of the conversion process will be displayed on your screen at all times.

Opening MAXQDA Projects in MAXQDA 11372
27.3 Opening MAXQDA Projects in MAXQDA 11
MAXQDA 11 for Windows (as of version 11.1.1) and MAXQDA for Mac (as of version 11.2.3) can
open MAXQDA 12 projects using the MAXQDA exchange file format. To open a MAXQDA 12 pro-
ject in MAXQDA 11, proceed as follows:
1. Open the project in MAXQDA 12.
2. Select Project > Export MAXQDA exchange file. If the project accesses files that are stored in
the remote data folder, MAXQDA will ask if these files should be bundled in a compressed ZIP
file. If you select Yes, and have saved a large amount of data externally – such as large video files
– this process may take a long time to complete.
3. Open MAXQDA 11 and select Open existing project and click OK.
4. Select MAXQDA Exchange file as the file type, navigate to the saved file and click Open.
MAXQDA will search in the folder where the exchange file was saved for the compressed ZIP file,
and automatically decompress the file in the remote data folder.
Note: MAXQDA 11 creates a new MAXQDA 11 project in MX11 format in the folder where the
selected file is located. Please note that the conversion process can take several minutes to com-
plete. MAXQDA will constantly display the progress of the conversion for your information.
Should MAXQDA 11 already open with a project, you can choose to open it directly through the
main menu Project > Open MAXQDA Exchange File.
The following modifications will be made when the project is converted:
 Overlapping codes from PDF files will be split into multiple codes.
 Focus group documents and codes will become “normal” text documents and codes.
 The default color for codes will change from grey to green.
 Tables in text documents are counted as paragraphs in MAXQDA 12 and MAXQDA 11. In
MAXQDA 11 for Windows paragraphs are also counted within a table. Therefore, please note
when you open a project in MAXQDA 11 for Windows, the source data for coded segments in
text documents that contain a table may change.
27.4 Importing Projects from MAXApp
In the main toolbar, you will find the option to Import MAXapp Projects. With this function, you can
import documents that you created with MAXApp on your mobile device into the currently opened
MAXQDA project. The documents will be imported into a new document group with their docu-
ment memos, coded text segments precoded with emoticodes, and geographical references where
it applies.

Export project from MAXApp
Exporting projects from MAXApp
Select the project you want to export and touch the Dropbox icon at the bottom of the screen to
call up your Dropbox (if you don't have a Dropbox, get one at www.dropbox.com). Log in with your
Dropbox user name and password and when asked, allow MAXApp to copy files into your Dropbox.
Once the MAXApp Export Screen comes up, hit "Start" and all of the documents of your project
will be exported to your Dropbox.
Import Project into MAXQDA 12
MAXApp project import icon
In the main toolbar, click on the Import MAXApp Project button and navigate to your main Drop-
box folder on your computer. In your Dropbox folder you can find your project in “Drop-
boxAppsMAXQDA.” Open the folder that is named like the project you just exported, click on the
XML file inside that folder and choose Open.
The documents will be imported into your project and placed in a new document group that is
named exactly like your MAXApp project.

The Logbook374
28 Special Features and General Options
28.1 The Logbook
The logbook is a feature in MAXQDA that lets your write a sort of journal to keep track of your
analysis work. The term “logbook” is usually used in connection with ocean navigation, which was
used to record meaningful happenings and observations, and it can be used in a similar way for
your project. The logbook is set up to have the newest entries at the top.
You can open the Logbook from the main menu Analysis > Logbook or with the keyboard shortcut
Ctrl+Alt+B (Windows) or cmd+alt+B (Mac).
Calling up the logbook
The logbook window is a simple RTF window with a toolbar, which is fairly self-explanatory, and lets
you format the text as you want. You can, for example, edit the font style and size; use bold, under-
line, and italics; and change the text color. The icons on the far left let you create a new entry and
print or export the logbook.
Logbook
To create a new entry, click on the New logbook entry button on the far left of the toolbar.
This automatically inserts a date and time stamp at the top of the page, and you can enter your text
directly below it.

Special Features and General Options 375
28.2 Checking for Updates
Each time you start the program, MAXQDA will check the MAXQDA website to see if an updated
version is available. If an update is available, it is recommended that you download it in order to
benefit from interesting new features and enhancements.
Under Project > Preferences (Windows) or MAXQDA 12 > Preferences (Mac), you have the op-
tions to Search for updates automatically.
If you have opted to skip an update, you can later request it manually by searching for the item in
the Help menu.
28.3 General Preferences
In Project > Preferences (Windows) or MAXQDA 12 > Preferences (Mac) you can find the gen-
eral program settings. The window that appears lets you view and edit your options. Some changes
that you make might require a restart of MAXQDA.

General Preferences376
Preferences window
The following settings can be changed:
”General” settings
No duplicate code names
If this option is checked, you will not be able to create more than one code in the “Code System”
with the same name. This also applies to subcodes. In some cases, you will want to allow for dupli-
cations (e.g. if you have the main codes “Theory” and “Praxis,” and want to have “Political” and
“Economic” as subcodes for each of them).
Import objects in texts (e.g. images and OLE-objects)
Graphics, especially photos, can be very large and take up a lot of memory. For this reason, you
have the option in MAXQDA to link to graphics rather than import them as part of the MX4 project
file. If you actually want these graphics to be part of the project file, you can click this option. It is
important that you be careful not to let the project file get too big, though.

Special Features and General Options 377
Default weight
The default weight score for newly-created coded segments is 0, but can be changed here.
Max. number of codes in Quick List
This setting determines the maximum number of codes that can be added to the Quick List, which
is found in the “Code” toolbar. The default is 20.
Folder for externally stored files
Here you can set the location for all of your externally-linked files to be stored. These include audio
and video files, for example, that are too big to be included in the project file. Image and PDF files
might also be stored here, depending on their size and your settings (see below).
Sum up subcodes in the Code System
When this option is turned on, code and subcode frequencies of all compressed codes will be au-
tomatically counted and displayed in the “Code System.” If this option is turned off, the displayed
code always corresponds to the number of segments that have been encoded using this code. Fre-
quencies of compressed subcodes will not be counted.
Autosave documents in Edit mode and memos
Here you can specify the amount of time after which the project is saved automatically during edit-
ing of documents and memos.
”User interface” settings
Reset user settings (restart of MAXQDA required)
This is an emergency option of sorts that you can use if you have somehow altered your settings in
a way that makes MAXQDA unusable and can’t figure out how to undo these settings. If you check
this box, MAXQDA will need to restart, and all of your settings will then be reset.
Large font (only for Mac, restart of MAXQDA required)
The size of the text in the “Document Browser” can be adjusted as you wish, but you can’t control
the exact text size in MAXQDA menus and toolbars. With this option, though, you can switch all of
these user interface texts to a larger size. MAXQDA will need to restart.
”PDF and image documents” settings
Do not embed if larger than [MB]
This value determines the size at which an imported PDF or image file will be saved not in the
MAXQDA project file, but instead in the folder for externally stored files, with only a reference to
the document created in the project. The default size is 5 MB. If necessary, you can adjust this value
to be higher or lower.
“Media files” settings
Distance of video preview images (seconds)

Here you can define the interval at which MAXQDA generates thumbnails for video files.
The shorter the interval, the more images are generated.
Width of video preview images (pixel)
This setting allows you to control the width of the thumbnails for video files.
”Export” settings
Excel Format
You can set here whether you want to export Excel files in XLS or XLSX format.
”Program updates” settings
Search for updates
The default setting is for MAXQDA to automatically search for updates. If you don’t want this to
happen, you can uncheck this box.
”Automatic project backups” settings
If this option is selected, every time you open a project, MAXQDA checks when it was last saved by
MAXQDA and creates a backup in the backup folder after the specified Time interval (days). After
the set time interval [days] to demand the backup folder a backup of the project.

Keyboard Shortcuts 379
29 Keyboard Shortcuts
The following keyboard shortcuts are available in MAXQDA.
General
Windows Mac
F1 cmd + shift + ? Opens the MAXQDA help system.
Ctrl + N cmd + N Creates a new project.
Ctrl + O cmd + O Opens an existing project.
Ctrl + A cmd + A Highlights the entire text.
Ctrl + C cmd + C Copies the selected segment to the Windows clipboard.
Ctrl + X cmd + X Cuts out the selected segment and puts it in the Windows clip-
board.
Ctrl + V cmd + V Pastes the selection from the Windows clipboard.
Ctrl + Alt + B cmd + alt + B Opens the logbook.
Ctrl + Alt + M cmd + alt + M Opens the Code Matrix Browser.
Ctrl + Alt + R cmd + alt + R Opens the Code Relations Browser.
Ctrl + F cmd + F Opens the search toolbar for the current window or the table
overview.
Ctrl + Shift + F cmd + Shift + F Opens the lexical search.
Ctrl + P cmd + P Prints the focused window or view.
Alt + Double-click alt + double-click Inserts a MAXQDA object (e.g. a document or code) into MAX-
Maps, if MAXMaps is open.
„Document System“
Windows Mac
Double-click Double-click Opens a document.
Shift + double-
click
Shift + double-
click
Opens a document in a new tab.
Ctrl + click cmd + click Activates or deactivates a document.
F2 Enter Renames a document.
Del cmd + Backspace Deletes a document.
Alt + UpArrow
Alt + DownArrow
alt + UpArrow
alt + DownArrow
Moves a document or document group up and down in the
“Document System“.
Alt + Drag & Drop alt + Drag &
Drop
Creates a copy of the document without coded segments.

Ctrl + T cmd + T Creates a new document and opens it for editing in the “Docu-
ment Browser“.
Ctrl + D cmd + D Opens the dialog window for importing documents.
Alt + Shift + M alt + Shift + M Creates a new memo or opens an existing memo for a docu-
ment.
„Code System“
Windows Mac
Ctrl + click cmd + click Activates or deactivates a code including the subcodes.
Shift + click Shift + click Activates or deactivates a code without subcodes.
Enter Enter Renames a code.
Entf cmd + Backspace Deletes a code.
Alt + UpArrow,
DownArrow
alt + UpArrow,
 DownArrow
Moves a code (possibly with subcodes) up and down in the
“Code System“.
Alt + RightArrow,
LeftArrow
alt + RightArrow,
 LeftArrow
Increases and decreases the level of hierarchy of a code.
Alt + Drag & Drop alt + Drag &
Drop
Creates a copy of the code without coded segments.
Alt + N cmd + alt + N Inserts a new code on the chosen level.
„Document Browser“
Windows Mac
Ctrl + E cmd + alt + E Starts and stops Edit Mode.
Alt + C cmd + alt + C Codes the selected segment with the most recently used code.
Alt + W cmd + alt + W Opens the dialog window for creating a new code, which will be
used to code the selected segment.
Alt + C cmd + alt + C Codes the selected segment with the code shown in the Quick
List.
Alt + I cmd + alt + I Codes the selected segment with a newly-created code named
after the first 63 characters of the selected segment (in-vivo-
coding).
Strg + L cmd + L Inserts an internal link at the location of the selected segment.
The location it is linked to is set by highlighting another segment
in that document or another one in the project and hitting Ctrl +
L again.
PgUp, PgDn PgUp, PgDn Moves to the next/previous page of a PDF document.
Pos1, End Pos1, End Moves to the beginning or the end of a text document.
Strg + Plus, cmd + Plus, Zooms in or out of the document.

Keyboard Shortcuts 381
Strg + Minus cmd + Minus
Strg + Zero cmd + Zero Zooms the view to 100 %.
Alt + Tab,
Alt + Shift + Tab
alt + Tab,
alt + Shift + Tab
Jumps to the next/previous tab.
Strg + F4 cmd + w Closes the current tab or the current view.
„Media player“ toolbar
Windows Mac
Strg + Alt + P cmd + alt + P Activates/deactivates the media player.
Shift + F3 Shift + F3 Jumps to the previous time stamp.
F3 F3 Jumps to the next time stamp.
F4 or F5 F4 or F5 Plays or pauses the media file.
F6 F6 Inserts a time stamp.
„Multimedia browser“
Windows Mac
F7 F7 Sets a clip start.
F8 F8 Sets a clip end.
F9 F9 Plays a clip.
F10 F10 Cancels the clip mark.
Table overviews, e.g. „Overview of coded segments“
Windows Mac
Ctrl + Shift + E cmd + Shift + E Opens the table as Excel file in the standard program.
Ctrl + Shift + H cmd + Shift + H Opens the table as HTML file in the standard internet browser.
Ctrl + E cmd + E Opens the dialog window for exporting the table or view.
Del cmd + Backspace Deletes the chosen row/s.
MAXDictio Dictionary
Windows Mac
Ctrl + Shift + N cmd + Shift + N Creates a new category.
Ctrl + Alt + N cmd + alt + N Creates a new search item.
Ctrl + E cmd + E Opens the dialog window for exporting a dictionary.
Del cmd + Backspace Deletes the chosen category.

MAXDictio Stop list
Windows Mac
Ctrl + N cmd + N Creates a new word to be excluded.
Ctrl + E cmd + E Opens the dialog window for exporting the stop list.
Del cmd + Backspace Deletes the focused items.

Troubleshooting 383
30 Troubleshooting
If the results of a Coding Query don’t match your expectations, the first thing you should always do
is reset the retrieval functions by clicking Reset Coding Query in the “MAXQDA standard” toolbar.
Icon for resetting the Coding Query
This function takes you back to the standard OR retrieval settings, removes any weight filters, and
undoes all activations in the “Document System” and “Code System.” If you are still having prob-
lems after resetting and starting again, go to the menu entry Project > Preferences (Windows) or
MAXQDA 12 > Preferences (Mac) drop-down menu and check the box next to Reset user set-
tings. You will then be prompted to restart MAXQDA, which will have all of its original settings
after the restart.
A selection of other quickly-remedied problems is listed in the following table:
Problem Solution
In Windows, DOC/X documents can't
be imported.
A Microsoft Office Installation for Windows 2003 or later is needed
for this function. Please save your file as a RTF file and import it
again.
A document can’t be imported. Are you sure that it is not open in another program? Open it in your
word processor, save it as an RTF file, close it, and try importing it
into MAXQDA again.
Your imported document isn't shown. To view the document, you need to double-click on it in the “Docu-
ment System.” It will then appear in the “Document Browser.”
You want to import a document into a
document group, but MAXQDA says
that the document can’t be imported.
It could be that the document is still being used by another program
(e.g. Word). Make sure to close the document in these other pro-
grams and then try again.
Your documents aren’t shown in the
“Document System.”
It could be that you’ve chosen to collapse certain document groups.
Click on the + symbol in front of a document group to view the
documents in it.
No segments are shown in the “Re-
trieved Segments” window even
though you’ve activated documents
and codes.
Make sure you haven’t accidentally chosen an advanced retrieval
function (e.g. Near or Followed by).
Check to make sure you haven’t accidentally turned on a weight
filter.
Both of these things can be checked in the status bar at the bottom
of the MAXQDA window.
Some of your codes aren’t shown in
the “Code System.”
It could be that you’ve collapsed certain codes, hiding their sub-
codes. Click on the + symbol to show subcodes for a code.

You accidentally coded a segment
incorrectly.
Click on the Undo button in the “Code” toolbar. A list of recent
coding actions will appear, with the most recent action at the top.
To undo your most recent coding, click on the first string in the list.
Or: Right-click on the coding stripe and choose Delete.
Tip: If you aren’t able to solve your problem, don’t hesitate to contact our online support. You can
contact them at www.maxqda.com/support/onlinesupport.

Technical Data and Information 385
31 Technical Data and Information
31.1 Limitations and technical information
MAXQDA sets very few limits.
Note: Please note that several thousand documents, codes and coded segments may reduce per-
formance. The size of a document and the amount of coded segments per document may influence
the performance, too.
Text length: No set limit, but it isn’t recommended that you im-
port texts larger than 1 MB
Importable Text formats: RTF, DOC/X, ODT, PDF, TXT
Importable Image formats:
Importable Table formats:
JPG, GIF, TIF, PNG
XLS/S
Supported Audio formats: Windows: MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, M4A
Mac: MP3, WAV, AAC, CAF, M4A
Supported Video formats: MP4, MOV, MPG, AVI, M4V, 3GP, 3GGP
Windows: WMV
recommended Codec: H.264/AVC
Number of projects: No limit
Number of document groups: No set limit
Number of documents: 99,999, but check performance before working with
more than 1,000 documents
Number of codes: No set limit, but check performance before working
with more than 1,000 codes
Number of coded segments No set limit, but check performance before working
with more than 10,000 segments
Code System levels Max. 10
Strings in MAXQDA: Usually 63 characters
Numerical data: 10 characters
Number of variables No set limit, but more than 250 is not recommended

File Management386
31.2 File Management
MAXQDA creates the following file types:
.MX12 MAXQDA 12 Project file for Windows and Mac
.MX11 MAXQDA 11 project file for Mac
.MX5 MAXQDA 11 project file for Windows
.MX4 MAXQDA 10 project file
.M2K MAXQDA 1 project file
.LOA Saved formula files (Logical Activation)
.SEA Saved search files (SEArch file)
.MEX MAXQDA Exchange file (MAX EXchange)
.TXT Exported table file
.RTF Exported texts, coded segments, and memos
.MTR Exported “Code System”
31.3 System Requirements
 Operating System: Microsoft Windows from version 7, or Mac OS X from version 10.7
 Processor: 1,3 GHz with 2 cores recommended: 2 GHz or more with 2 cores or more
 RAM: 2 GB RAM, recommended: 4 GB or more
 Monitor: 1.024 x 600, recommended: 1.280 x 720 or more
Note: If you are working with challenging projects and/or large media files adequate computer
hardware is recommended.
To use the following features with Windows, Microsoft Word 2003 or later must be installed on the
computer:
 Import of DOC/X or ODT files
 Smart Publisher export

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