Maxqda 2020 質性分析及混合研究理論應用軟體完整使用手冊(英文版)

17 - Variables
Contents
WELCOME 3GETTING STARTED GUIDE: GO FOR IT! 401 - THE WORKSPACE................. ................. .................
8603 - VIEWING AND EDITING DATA 16704 - CODES 17905 - CODING............... ............... ............... .............
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Welcome 3
Welcome
MAXQDA 2020 is a high-performance program for professional, social science-
oriented data analysis – ideal not only for researchers but also for students and
teachers at universities and secondary schools. MAXQDA is used in a variety of
disciplines: the social sciences, education, health sciences, the humanities, economics,
marketing, and many others. In short, MAXQDA is the ideal software package for the
effective management and systematic evaluation of texts, documents and all kinds of
media data. Get to know the software package in the MAXQDA manual.
MAXQDA is the result of more than 30 years of continuous development that began
with MAX for DOS in 1989. MAXQDA 12 was groundbreaking as the world's first
QDA software that provided the same functionality for both Windows and Mac,
allowing you to switch effortlessly between the two platforms. We have continued on
this path of one combined software solution for Windows and Mac with MAXQDA
2020. 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
Started Guide” offers a brief introduction. The manual explains each of MAXQDA's
functions rather than following the logic of learning to use the program. Further help
can be found on the website www.maxqda.com, which features online tutorials,
textbook references and information on the annual user conference in Berlin, the
“MAXQDA International Conference MQIC”.
In our continuous effort to improve and troubleshoot MAXQDA, we are always
interested in your feedback and suggestions. To send us your ideas simply email our
Customer Support or use the feedback function in MAXQDA.
Research is a journey. Travel it well!
Your MAXQDA team

Getting Started Guide: Go for it! 4
Getting Started Guide: Go for it!
In this MAXQDA Getting Started Guide, we’ll take you through the basic features and
functions of MAXQDA in less than 30 minutes – which means you can get started as
quickly and easily as possible.
Starting the program
Once you have opened the program, the first thing you'll see is the MAXQDA
welcome screen. On the left, you can start new projects or open any existing projects.
On the right, you'll see videos and links with all the latest MAXQDA news and learning
materials.
The MAXQDA Welcome Screen
Enter your username in the top left text field and click the “New Project” button. Your
username will then be linked to (almost) every action you perform, which makes it
much easier to keep track of your work when analyzing your research in teams.
Your project file will be saved with the extension .mx18 – and since MAXQDA is a
database program, every change you make to or within your project will be saved

automatically as you go. Of course, it’s always a good idea to back up your project
files regularly. The best way to do this is to duplicate your project file after longer
sessions and copy it to a physically separate data storage device such as, for example,
a second hard drive or USB. You can also make sure your project files are backed up
automatically – learn more about this optione here.
Please note: As MAXQDA project files are saved continuously, we strongly advise
against opening files on network drives, USB sticks, and especially directly from
synchronized folders on cloud services (you can, of course, still use these as backup
options). In these cases, there is a risk that updates to the project file will stop due to a
connection failure, whether temporary or otherwise.
Four functions – four windows
Let’s take a step-by-step approach to MAXQDA’s four basic functions, which
correspond to the four main windows of the program’s user interface:
Your data - import and organize your data in the Document System1.
Code your data - view, edit and categorize (code) your data in the Document2.
Browser
Your codes - organize your codes (categories) in the Code System3.
Display your coded data - search for and display certain “coded segments” (for4.
example, all data selections assigned with the the codes A, B and C in the
documents X, Y and Z) in the Retrieved Segments window.
1. Your data – the "Document System"
You can directly import and analyze the most common forms of data with MAXQDA,

including text documents, tables, images, PDF documents or audio and video files.
Additionally, you can import results from (online) surveys, webpages, Twitter data,
transcriptions with timestamps or focus group transcripts in such a way that
information beyond the text is also recognized by MAXQDA and automatically
processed in the form of codes or variables.
Importing your data via the 'Import' Tab
To import any of these file types, go to the "Import" tab and select "Import
documents". In the dialog box that appears, navigate to where your data is saved and
select the documents you would like to import. Alternatively, you can simply drag and
drop these files from Windows Explorer or Mac Finder into the "Document System"
window.
2. View, edit and code your data – the "Document Browser"
View
All texts, tables or images that you import into MAXQDA can be viewed here in the
Document Browser. (There is also a media player for audio and video files.) On the left
side of the page, you will see your coded segments, any memos you have written, and
any time stamps (for audio and video recordings).

'Document Browser' layout
Edit
By default, MAXQDA will open your documents in such a way that allows you to code
them but not edit them. To edit the content and format of a text or table document,
you first have to activate Edit Mode in the window’s toolbar.
Turn Edit Mode on or off
Code
Analyzing your data usually involves categorizing it in line with both your research
methods and your methodological approach. These categories are called "codes" in
MAXQDA; a selection of data categorized under a code (e.g. a word, sentence, or
section within an interview) is called a "coded segment".

Coding via drag & drop
There are several ways to code a text in MAXQDA. In each case, first select the part
you want to code with your cursor. Then right-click on this selection and choose
“(Code) With New Code" (or press ALT + W for Windows or ⌥⌘ + W for Mac). A
window will then appear in which you can enter the name and color of your new
code.
This window will appear when you add a new code

Tip: Assign shortcuts to frequently used codes or use the code favorites option to code
even faster.
Tip: Write any extra information regarding codes, documents, or test/sample passages
as memos. Simply double-click on the memo column in either the "Document
Browser", "List of Documents" or "List of Codes" window in order to add a memo to
the relevant text passage, document or code. Unlike your classic Post-it notes,
MAXQDA’s Memo Manager will never let you lose track of your memos.
No matter which method of coding works best for you, after assigning your new code
you'll see a coding stripe, in the color you selected, along the left side of the
“Document Browser” window. To change the extent of this code, select your desired
area again, right click on the coding stripe and select “Recode with Highlighted
Segment”.
3. Your codes – the "Code System" window
Now that you have created your first few codes, you'll see them listed in your "Code
System" window. The window now offers you several ways to organize these codes.
You can create a hierarchical code system, with up to 10 levels, by simply dragging
and dropping them together. Alternatively, you can organize your codes according to
any criteria by creating different code sets.
4. Display your coded data – the "Retrieved Segments" window
If you activate a document and a code, all the data segments within the activated

document that have been assigned with the activated code will be displayed in your
"Retrieved Segments“ window. To do this more quickly, you can also click on the little
grey circle next to every document or code. You can also use the Complex Coding
Query function, for example, to display only those text passages in which code A and
code B overlap.
Activate codes via the context menu
All coded segments retrieved by activating your documents and codes are then loaded
into your “Retrieved Segments” window one by one.
The “Retrieved Segments” window
You now have multiple further options to continue working with your data in the
“Retrieved Segments” window. By clicking on the info box of each respective
segment, the document browser will jump to its location within the document, so that

you can see the data segment in its original context. You can also use one of several
export functions to, for example, create a list or table of the data assigned with a
specific code.
Have fun getting started with MAXQDA!
Get more help with our Online Manual
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 publi-cations
in the chapter “Further literature”. As you may know, there is an endless number of
different 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 research 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. Analytical 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 organizing your da-ta, or searching for words and word
combinations.

The MAXQDA Interface
Starting MAXQDA
When opening MAXQDA, you will see a window on the top left that lets you type in a
user name or a user abbreviation (which can be more practical in your later work).
To create your first MAXQDA project, click New Project, name your project and save it
to a place of your choice. The best location for a MAXQDA project is inside a local
folder on your computer, not on a network drive or on a USB flash drive. You should
also avoid folders that are synchronized by a cloud service like iCloud, Dropbox or
Google Drive. These services may compete for access to the project database while it is
open in MAXQDA.

MAXQDA 2020 project files have the file ending MX20. You can also recognize these
files in Windows Explorer or Mac Finder by the description “MAXQDA 2020 Project”.
MAXQDA uses Projects, like Excel uses workbooks (.xlsx), and Word uses text
documents (.docx). Nearly everything you import to or create with MAXQDA (like your
Codes and Memos) will be saved in Projects.
The right side of the start screen provides you with several links, for example the
option to open up the MAXQDA online manual, watch MAXQDA video tutorials or
send feedback to the MAXQDA team.
The user interface
Once you successfully created and saved your first MAXQDA project, the following
screen will appear – with all of the main windows 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.
(Don’t worry, if you only see three windows. The fourth window is hidden when you
start MAXQDA for the first time, because you don't need it at the beginning of your
analysis.)
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. You can change those settings in the main menu with the four symbols on
the “Home” tab.
These tabs (some programs may call them “ribbons”) are located at the top of the
MAXQDA window and offer access to many of MAXQDA’s features. On the “Home”
tab 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 click on the button for the
respective window(s), or simply close a window by clicking the “x” symbol in its upper

right corner.
Now, let’s return to the four main windows! All the files 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. You can view and edit your data
in the Document Browser. The Retrieved Segments window is where the results of
your retrievals will be displayed later on.
A few notes on data storage and saving
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 MX20 (older versions’ projects end in MX18 or MX12). MAXQDA
Exchange files are special types of files used to make data exchanges between
different program versions.
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 the
option Save Project as, which you can find in the “Home” tab 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
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 protocols, 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 ordered 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 segments, memos, variables, links and so on. All MAXQDA overviews follow the
same principle and allow easy access to individual elements so that you don’t lose
track of 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 Document 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 “Import” tab menu and click on the appropriate
symbol for your data, e.g. Transcripts, or – even easier – drag and drop the files from
Windows Explorer or Mac Finder into the Document System window. On the “Import”
tab you will see additional options to import special types of data, including importing
documents from spreadsheets, focus group transcripts or creating a text directly in
MAXQDA.
In the way that your computer lets you create folders to organize your files,
MAXQDA’s New document 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 documents 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 System 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 comment in paragraph 4!”) as well as coding whole paragraphs at once. You
can also use the paragraph numbers to quote your data sources. If you need a finer
numbering of your data, you can change the display to line numbering at any time by
right-clicking in the text and selecting “Convert to Line Numbering”.
In the example above you can see three colored vertical stripes, as well as a yellow
sticky note symbol next to the text. The latter shows that a memo has been attached

to that paragraph. The vertical stripes are the so-called coding stripes symbolizing
which code the text was assigned to (in this case long codes ending on “..Interests”,
“..Career” and “..Parents”). To view the whole code name, simply enlarge the coding
column by dragging the line next to the coding stripes 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 settings. 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.
At some point of your research, you may wish to print a text including the paragraph
numbers (or save this display to PDF with a PDF printer). To do so, chose the symbol
Print document or use the shortcut key Ctrl+P (on Windows) or cmd+P (on Mac). The
print menu will give you a variety of choices for the design of your print:

Search your data
The exploration phase of your research may call for the necessity to search your
documents for certain 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 navigate 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
“Analysis” tab 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.
As soon as the window opens you can enter as many search items as you like at once.
Use the return key to end your entry or add a new search string. Each search item is
placed in a new line. 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
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 icons at the top of the Document Browser window.
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. Select any part of a document, right-click on the
highlighted selection and use the context menu to create a new memo for you to fill
with your thoughts and ideas:
Similar to color-coding, it is simple to retrieve Memos. You can find all types of memos
and a special memo search feature on the “Memos" menu tab. The search results are
displayed in MAXQDA’s Memo Manager, where you can easily manage, edit and filter
all your memos, e.g. by only displaying memos you have written in a certain time

period.
Code your data
Coding data segments
As we learned earlier, the central work technique among most analysis methods is
Coding the data. 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 programs) 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 decoding 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 phenomena 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 process:
there are factual codes, thematic codes, theoretical codes and many more (see
Kuckartz 2018, 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 or hover over a code and click on the green plus symbol that automatically
appears.
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.
MAXQDA offers you other coding possibilities; you can access them via right-clicking a
selected section in the document or via the icons in the toolbar Code, which is located
at the top of the Document Browser window. The toolbar looks 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:

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 will
simply click the document or folder symbol to activate a document or a document
group.
You can immediately see if a document or group is activated. Both name and symbol
are colored red and a red arrow appears in front of them. symbols in the Document
System window change to indicate if a document is activated or not. The grey circle
turns into a red arrow to show that a document is currently activated. Further below,
MAXQDA’s so-called Status bar displays the total number of documents currently
activated. Should you wish to limit your search to certain texts, 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 click on the document
or document group symbol again.

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 assigned 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 click on the symbol in front of the code name). All coded segments found will
appear in MAXQDA’s fourth main window, the Retrieved Segments window. Below
every segment you will see the segment’s source information. In the example below
the segment can be found in paragraph 6 of document “Jamie“.
The source info does not only tell you which document a certain segment is from, it
also lets you go directly to that document: click on the document name, 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.
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 possibility 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
the “Visual Tools” tab.
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.
Conduct Mixed Methods analyses
Defining document variables
One of the most important MAXQDA features is its support of Mixed Methods
approaches. For every 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 “Variables” tab will open the following dialog window:

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 option 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 variable “number of children”).
You can define new variables anytime.
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 or SPSS format, which means
that you can continue working on them with statistics programs like SPSS or Stata and
conduct a statistical analysis.
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:
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 New Yorkers over 50 say about XY?” or “How did the suggestions by singles
compare to those of married couples?”. The relevant selection can be made with the
function Activate by document variables in the “Mixed Methods” tab.
First, choose a variable from the list on the left (in this case: Martial status), press the
arrow and then choose the variable value on the right (in this case: single). As soon as
you click Activate, all documents with matching variable values will be activated in the
Document System, in this example all interviews with male respondents.

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; Rädiker, Stefan (2019). Analyzing qualitative data with MAXQDA: Text,
audio, video. Heidelberg: Springer.
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-15671-8
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.
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-531-93267-5
Kuckartz, Udo; Dresing, Thorsten; Rädiker, Stefan; Stefer, Claus (2008). Qualitative
Evaluation. Der Einstieg in die Praxis. 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für
Sozialwissenschaften.
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-531-91083-3
Richards, Lyn (2015). Handling Qualitative Data. A Practical Guide. 3rd ed., London:
SAGE Publications.
Woolf, Nicholas H.; Silver, Christina (2018). Qualitative Analysis Using MAXQDA: The
Five-level QDA Method. New York, NY: Routledge.

01 - The Workspace 29
01 - The Workspace
How to Start the Program
When you open MAXQDA, the following start dialog will appear in which you can:
choose a user name,q
start a new project,q
open existing projects,q
open example projects, andq
view your license information.q
The window area to the right displays all the latest MAXQDA news.
MAXQDA Start Dialog
Entering your username
Enter your name in the "User" field and your signature will be added to everything
you do in MAXQDA, be it importing documents, coding segments or creating memos.
This becomes particularly useful when working in teams, as it’s easier to see who has

done what.
Starting a new project
Before you can analyze your data with MAXQDA, you need to create a new MAXQDA
project into which you can import your data. Click on New Project, enter a project
name and choose a location to save your project. (Please see the note on file saving
locations below.) As soon as MAXQDA has created a new project you can start to
import your data.
Opening existing projects
MAXQDA lists the recently opened projects in the lower window area, which you can
open with a double-click. If you want to open a project that doesn’t appear in this list,
click on Open Project and choose a file from the dialog window that appears.
Important note about saving MAXQDA projects: As MAXQDA is a database program,
all changes are always saved directly in the project file. For this reason, it is very
important that the computer's connection to the project file is not interrupted,
otherwise there may be problems with the project file.
To avoid data loss, we recommend that you do not open the project file from the
following locations:
USB drivesq
network drivesq
external hard disksq
folders synchronized with the cloud (Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, etc.).q
It is best to copy your project to a local hard drive (e.g. to the desktop) and open it
from there. Of course you can save your MAXQDA projects on USB drives, network
drives etc., but you should not open the file directly from there.
Opening example projects
Click on the Open Examples button to list the featured example projects, with which
you can thoroughly explore all MAXQDA’s functions. Just click on a project in the list
to open it.

Changes to projects are saved automatically
MAXQDA does not include a save function which you must click when you finish
working on a project.
MAXQDA operates as a database program, which means that all changes you make to
a project, including the import of texts or later coding of data, are automatically saved.
Exceptions are edits to texts, memos and MAXMaps. These are saved automatically
every few minutes, as well as automatically when you close the window and the
project.
Opening projects from earlier versions (MAXQDA 2018 or older)
To open a project that was created in an earlier version of MAXQDA, follow these
steps:
Start MAXQDA and select Open Project in the start window.1.
In the dialog window that appears select file type of the old project.2.
MAXQDA 2020 for Windows can open the following project file types:
MAXQDA 18 (extension: MX18)q
MAXQDA 11 for Windows (MX5)q
MAXQDA 10 (MX4)q
MAXQDA 2007 (MX3)q
MAXQDA 2 (MX2)q
MAXQDA (M2K)q
MAXQDA Exchange files (MEX), that were created with MAXQDA for Mac versionsq
11.2.2 or newer
MAXQDA Exchange files (MEX), that were created with MAXQDA for Windows.q
MAXQDA 2020 for Mac can open the following project file types:
MAXQDA 11 for Mac (MX11)q
MAXQDA Exchange Files (MEX), that were created with MAXQDA for Mac versionq
11.2.2 or newer.
MAXQDA Exchange Files (MEX), that were created with MAXQDA for Windowsq
version 11.1.0 or newer.
Please note: MAXQDA 2020 will create a copy of the project in the new MX20 format

in the folder where the project is located. Please note that the conversion process may
take several minutes to complete. The progress of the conversion process will be
displayed on your screen at all times.
Opening MAXQDA 2020 projects in MAXQDA 18
To open a MAXQDA 2020 project in the previous version MAXQDA 2018, you can
save it from MAXQDA 2020 in the previous format:
Open the project in MAXQDA 2020. (If you do not have a license for MAXQDA1.
2020, you can also use the free MAXQDA Reader.)
Select Start > Save project as from the menu bar.2.
Set the file type to "MAXQDA 2018 Projects", select a file name and location, and3.
then click Save.
Select the file type of the old project
Select the appropriate file format in the file dialog box
MAXQDA then saves a copy of the opened project in 2018 format. When converting
to the old format, the following adjustments are made to the project file:
Codeset memos are converted into free memos.q
The memo type "RQ" is converted into a normal memo type.q
Document links that refer to a memo or are saved within a memo as well as codedq
segments that are assigned to a memo are not saved in the project file.
Maps from MAXMaps are not saved in the project file.q
Project File Backups

Project file backups
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. Backup files shouldn’t be stored in the same location as your computer.
MAXQDA 2020 project files have the extension MX2020 - if the file extensions are
hidden in your computer system, you can recognize the files by the MAXQDA icon and
the file type "MAXQDA 2018 Project File".
You can transfer your MAXQDA project files to an external storage drive using
Windows Explorer or Mac Finder. Alternatively, open the file in MAXQDA and choose
Home > Save Project As in the top menu. Then specify a location and file name and
click OK.
Automatic backups
MAXQDA allows you to backup projects automatically. If you open a project that has
not been backed up by MAXQDA for more than a day, MAXQDA will save a copy in a
selected folder. MAXQDA automatically provides the backup file with a date and time
stamp.
Both the time interval after which a project should be automatically saved and the
directory for backup copies can be specified in the MAXQDA preferences. Open these
preference by clicking on the gear symbol in the upper right corner of the MAXQDA
window . There, you can also disable the function entirely.

Define the settings for the automatic backup of projects
Warning: The automatic backup represents a good safety net, but does not replace
the regular backup of your important project files on the Internet or on an external
data carrier, such as a hard disk!
The Main Menu
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 theq
location where it is saved.
Underneath the file name, you will see the main menu with several tabs that offerq
quick access to MAXQDA functions.
MAXQDA’s four main windows occupy the main part of the screen.q
A status bar is found at the bottom of the screen.q
The MAXQDA interface

Menu overview
Along the top edge of the MAXQDA interface, you will see the Main Menu, which
features several tabs.
The Main Menu
As soon as you hold the mouse pointer on one of the main functions, a brief
description will appear for most functions.
Home tab
In this tab you can choose to create a new project, open an existing project, or
complete other project management functions like printing, exporting, and importing.
The tab also features functions for managing externally saved project files.
The four main windows can also be hidden or revealed or changed in their
arrangement. For teamwork, there are functions for user management and for
merging two projects. You can also open the logbook from this menu.
Import tab
In this tab, you can import your data into your new MAXQDA project. You can also
transform text documents into tables, spreadsheets or focus group documents.
The Import Tab
Codes tab
In this tab you will find the functions relating to codes. Some of these can be opened
in the context menus within the “Code System” window.
These options allow you to create new codes, create code frequency analyses and
manage your code favorites, shortcuts, and code alias table.

Further functions let you export and import a code system, for example in the general
exchange format "REFI-QDA Codebook".
The Codes Tab
Memos tab
This tab provides access to important functions for working with your memos, in
which you can record your own thoughts, hypotheses, notes and ideas about the data.
On the tab you can create new free memos as well as open the Memo Manager for
individual memo types or, for example, list and edit all your memos in documents. You
can also search within your memos on this tab.
Variables tab
This tab lets you check and edit document, code and focus group variables as well as
check, add and edit the values of individual variables in the data editor. Additionally,
you can import and export variables.
It also allows you to create frequency tables and charts for these variables.
The Variables Tab
Analysis tab
This tab features MAXQDA’s extensive analysis functions. In addition to simple and
advanced lexical search functions, it includes retrieval functions for coded segments
(called a “Coding Query”) and a function for both qualitative and quantitative group

comparisons.
The Analysis tab also offers access to the intercoder agreement functions and working
with summaries. You can create summaries of encoded segments and present them in
summary tables. These summaries are an additional level of analysis over and above
the data.
The Analysis tab gives you access to text paraphrasing functions and the categorization
of survey data and the analysis and coding of twitter data.
Code configurations let you analyze the co-occurrence of codes, code frequencies look
at how often codes are used, and code coverage looks at the scope of coded
segments.
The Analysis Tab
Mixed Methods tab
This tab includes various functions for the combination of qualitative and quantitative
data using documents and variables.
The activation via variables allows you to select documents or document groups, based
on their assigned variable values, for further analysis. The Quote Matrix and Crosstabs
functions are different visualizations that show connections between coded segments
and selected variables or variable categories.
The Typology Table is similar and shows percentages and mean values and standard
deviations for qualitatively-designed typologies. The Similarity Analysis for Documents
makes it possible to compare documents with regard to their coded segments and
variable values. You can use the Quantitizing function to store the code frequencies of
the activated codes as document variables.
Additionally, you have access to a wide range of further joint displays that incorporate
qualitative and quantitative data into a visual representation, such as the Side-by-Side
Display or the "Statistics for QUAL groups" obtained using qualitative data analysis.

The Mixed Methods Tab
Visual Tools tab
This tab allows you to choose between many different visualization options:
"MAXMaps", the tool for qualitative modeling, can be found here as well as the
"Code Matrix Browser", the "Code Relations Browser" and the "Document
Comparison Chart".
The "Document Portrait" and "Codeline" tools always refer to a single text, i.e. they
can only be selected if a suitable document is opened in the "Document Browser"
window. The "Word Cloud" displays the most common words of the currently opened
text, PDF or table and can be adjusted using stop lists.
The Visual Tools Tab
Reports tab
This tab lets you create various table overviews for important analysis data, such as the
Overview of Coded Segments with all your coded segments and the Overview of
Memos with all your project memos.
Additionally, you can print the data in your project via this menu or export it for
further processing. With the Smart Publisher you create ready-made reports of the
coded segments while the code book contains the category definitions from your code
memos. You can also export tables of your summaries as well as look at a project
information page that provides a roundup of your project.
The Reports Tab
Stats tab (optional)
This menu is only available if you are running a license for “MAXQDA Analytics Pro”.

Stats is a module, which offers frequently used descriptives and inferential statistic
functions, like frequency tables, crosstabs, one-way analysis of variance, correlation
and creating scales.
The Stats tab
MAXDictio tab (optional)
This tab is only available if you are running a license for “MAXQDA Plus” or
“MAXQDA Analytics Pro”. MAXDictio is a module, which offers many functions for
word frequencies, word combinations, and other tools for text exploration as well as
quantitative content analysis based on a dictionary.
The MAXDictio Tab
Please note: For Mac, all the functions can be found in identical order in the menu at
the top of the screen.
Further functions in the main menu
There are several icons to the right of the menu that provide access to other MAXQDA
functions.
Undo options
Undo – undoes your last action, such as deleting a code or document.
Redo – redoes an “undone“ action.
When using the undo function in MAXQDA, please note the following:
Turning on Edit mode for a text or spreadsheet document disables MAXQDA's globalq
undo function. While Edit mode is on, no actions can be undone in MAXQDA. Only

the local undo function in the "Document Browser" is active, which means you can
undo text edits using the formatting bar or context menu. Once you switch off Edit
mode all changes within the document are saved and can no longer be undone.
The same applies to transcription mode, as MAXQDA's Edit mode is automaticallyq
turned on for this.
The "Merge Projects" and "Import Teamwork" actions cannot be undone. Sinceq
these functions can have complex effects on the project structure, a backup copy of
the project is automatically created in the designated folder before the function is
started. Actions taken before using these functions cannot be undone.
Text changes within a memo are also saved when the memo is closed. The undoq
function returns the memo to the state before it was opened.
The undo function of MAXQDA has no effect on MAXMaps - there is a local undoq
function, which applies to the opened map.
Reducing or expanding the main menu
Reduce Menu / Expand Menu – click on this icon and you can reduce the main
menu so that more space is available to work in MAXQDA’s four main windows.
When the menu is reduced, click the tab heading to access a function on the tab.
Another click on the symbol will expand the menu again.
Opening preferences
Preferences – here you can open the MAXQDA preferences menu.
Feedback to the MAXQDA Team
Send Feedback to the MAXQDA Team – opens a window where you can send a
message, including screenshots, to the MAXQDA team.
Help menu
Help – the question mark opens a comprehensive help menu that provides access
to MAXQDA’s online help and tutorials as well as information about your license.
The Four Main Windows
MAXQDA's four main windows occupy the main part of the main interface:

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,q
pictures and media files of your project. You also have the option of organizing these
documents in document groups, which act as folders.
The “Code System” displays all the codes, subcodes and code memos along with theq
number of associated coded segments.
The “Document Browser” displays one of the documents from the “Documentq
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 aq
selection of coded segments (Retrieval).
Small toolbars in the MAXQDA 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
Hiding or displaying the main windows
All four windows can be individually displayed or hidden so that you can control the
arrangement of windows on your screen and optimize your work space.
Click on one of the the four window symbols in the Home tab to hide or show one of
the main windows.
Symbols for hiding or showing the four main windows
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: At least one window must be open, which means it‘s not possible to switch off
all four windows at the same time.
Optimizing the interface

Adjusting the window size
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
The two-column and three-column layouts
You can change the arrangement of the four main windows at any time from a three-
column view for wide screens to a two-column view better suited for narrow screens.
On the Home tab, there are four icons that you can use to customize the window
layout:
Adjusting the windows in the “Home” tab
Top left: The three column layout 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 two-column layout with the “Document System” and the “Code
System” on the left side.
Bottom right: Alternative two-column layout with the “Document System” and the
“Code System” on the left side.

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 System”.
Optimal window setup when coding on small screens
The same is recommended for retrieving coded segments, the "Coding Query"
function. The "Document Browser" window is often not required and can be hidden.
Sometimes you want to see both the coded passage and its context. The easiest way
to do this is to open the "Retrieved Segments" and "Document Browser" windows
next to each other. If you then click on the source indication in front of the segment,
the surrounding context will be displayed the adjacent window.
There are several tasks for which specific window arrangements can be useful: for
example, in the case of selective searches for coded segments based on variable
values, it may be useful to display the "Document System" in the left window, to see
which documents are currently selected, and the "Retrieved Segments" in the right
window, so as to immediately check the results.
Maximize window
The four main windows can not only be hidden and displayed independently, they can
also be maximized to full screen mode by clicking on the corresponding symbol in the
upper right corner of the window. This is very useful, for example, if you want to
reorganize the category system and have the entire screen available for it.

Context Menus and Toolbar in the
"Document System"
In addition to the various menus accessible from the menu, MAXQDA can be
controlled using the toolbars and context menus in their respective windows. The
functions that relate to the handling of documents are available in the “Document
System” window.
Toolbar
The toolbar at the top of the “Document System” window offers quick access to the
following frequently-used functions:
Reset activations – resets current activations
Activate by ... – enables the activation of documents depending on their variable
values and colors as well as random activation
Display only activated documents - reduces the display of documents to currently
activated ones
Import document(s) – allows you to insert text, PDF files, spreadsheets, images and
media files into the project
New text document - creates a new text document and opens it directly for editing
in edit mode
New document group – creates a new document group directly above the top
document group in your list
Display search toolbar – allows you to search for a specific document name
Settings - opens a dialog with locally relevant options (see below)
Undock window
Maximize window
Hide window

Local settings
After clicking on the gear symbol in the "Document System", the following options
dialog box will appear with locally relevant settings:
Settings for the Document System
Open documents in tabs - If this option is enabled, each opened document is displayed
in a new tab in the "Document Browser". The previously opened document remains
open in a tab.
Show variable values at mouse-hover - Select which document variables should be
displayed at the mouse pointer when you hold the mouse over a document name.
Ignore images and objects when importing text documents - graphics, especially
photos, take up a lot of space in a text, and there are research situations where only
the plain text is of interest, not the potentially annoying graphics. Therefore, by
selecting this option you can ensure MAXQDA does not import graphics and other
objects and cleans up the text.
Insert new documents at the end of the list - By default, new documents are inserted
at the top of the tree or at the top of a document group. Select this option to insert
documents at the bottom of the hierarchy level instead.
Documents and document groups
In order to better organize your documents, it is possible to create document groups.
In MAXQDA, it is, however, not absolutely necessary that each document is put in a
document group. Documents can simply be left in the root folder of the “Document
System” window.
Documents can also be temporarily grouped together from various document groups
for certain aspects of your analysis. In MAXQDA, these groupings are called
"document sets."

Example: In an interview-based study on kindergartens in which teachers,
administrators, and parents are interviewed it makes sense to make three folders,
named “Administrators,” “Teachers,” and “Parents.”
In the “Document System,” it is possible to differentiate between three levels, each
level offering a different context menu:
the project levelq
the document group(s) levelq
the document levelq
Three levels in the “Document System” window
The top level
The top level in the “Document System” hierarchy is the project level. After creating a
new project, the “Document System” is empty except for the “Documents” entry.
When you right-click on the icon, the following context menu will open:

Context menu for the upper level in the Document System
The menu contains the following functions:
Activate All Documents – activates all documents in the entire project.
Deactivate All Documents – deactivates all documents in the entire project.
Activate Documents by Variables – allows you to create logical conditions based on the
existing document variable values for selecting and activating documents.
More... > Activate by Color – this function enables you to activate documents by their
assigned color.
More... > Activate by Random – this function enables you to activate documents at
random.

More... > Activate Focus Group Participants by Variables – with this function the focus
group participants can be activated via their variable values for the analysis. (The entry
is visible only if the project contains focus group transcripts.)
Invert Activation – activates all documents that are not currently activated and
deactivates all those documents that are currently activated. This is especially helpful
when doing logical activations; you can then very quickly compile segments from
documents with contrasting document variables.
Memo – creates a project memo, i.e. a memo that refers to the entire project. If a
memo already exists, it is opened.
New Document Group – creates a new document group.
Collapse All – collapses all document groups for a better overview. Thus, the individual
documents of the document groups will not be visible.
Sort Document Groups (Ascending) – sorts all document groups in ascending
alphabetical order.
Sort Document Groups (Descending) – sorts all document groups in descending
alphabetical order.
Import Documents – you can import one or more files. These are assigned to the top
level ( the "root" folder).
New Text Document – inserts a new text document at the top of your "Document
System" and opens it directly for editing.
Move Activated Documents Here – moves all activated documents to the top level of
the “Document System” window. This function is only visible if at least one document
is actually activated.
Coded Segments – lists all coded segments in the entire project in table form in the
Overview of Coded Segments.

Variables – displays the Data Editor for Document Variables for all documents in the
project.
Codes – lists all codes in the entire project in table form in the Overview of Codes.
Memos – lists all memos in the entire project in table form in the Overview of Memos.
Summaries – lists all summaries in the entire project in table form in the Overview of
Summaries.
Links – lists all links in the entire project in table form in the Overview of Links.
Focus Group Speaker - opens the Overview of Focus Group Participants" with all focus
group participants contained in the project and their variable values. (This entry is only
visible if the project contains focus group transcripts.)
Teamwork > Export Teamwork: Export Data to Exchange File – exports the coded
segments, memos, summaries, paraphrases and variables of your project.
Teamwork > Import Teamwork: Import Data from Exchange File – imports the coded
segments, memos, summaries, paraphrases and variables of an external project.
Word Cloud – creates a word cloud with the most frequent words that appear in the
documents within your project.
Code Cloud – creates a code cloud with the most frequent codes that appear in the
documents within your project.
MAXDictio: Quantiative Content Analysis – creates a count of the dictionary categories
in all your text, PDF, and table documents. (This function is only available for
"MAXQDA Plus" or "MAXQDA Analytics Pro".)
The middle level: document groups
A project can contain as many different document groups as you wish to create. A
context menu is also available at the document group(s) level, which offers functions
that only affect that specific chosen document group.

Context menu for the middle (document group) level in the Document System
The following options are available in the context menu of a document group:
Activate All Documents – activates all documents in the document group.
Deactivate All Documents – deactivates all documents in the document group.
Memo – creates a memo that refers to the selected document group. If a memo
already exists, it is opened.
Delete – deletes the selected document group, including all documents, coded
segments, memos, summaries and variables that are associated with it.

Rename – lets you give a new name to the document group.
Import Document(s) – one or more new documents can be imported. These are
assigned to the selected document group.
New Text Document – inserts a new text document at the top of your "Document
System" and opens it directly for editing.
Export documents - exports all documents of the clicked document group.
Sort documents > ... - sorts the documents within this document group according to
various criteria. Text documents can be sorted by the date of their last modification in
Edit Mode.
Move Activated Documents Here – moves all activated documents to this document
group, thus resorting the “Document System” accordingly. This function is only
displayed if at least one document is actually activated.
Coded Segments - Opens the Overview of Coded Segments with the codings of all
documents of the selected document group.
Variables - Opens the Data Editor for Document Variables with the variable values of
all documents of the selected document group.
Codes - Opens the Overview of Codes with the codes assigned in at least one
document of the selected document group.
Memos - Opens the Overview of Memos with the memos of all documents of the
selected document group.
Summaries - Opens the Overview of Summaries with the summaries of all documents
of the selected document group.
Paraphrases - Opens the Overview of Paraphrases with the paraphrases of all
documents of the selected document group.
Links - Opens the Overview of Links with the links of all documents of the selected
document group (document links and external links, geo-links and web links).

Focus Group Participants - Opens the Overview of Focus Group Participants with the
focus group participants contained in the selected document group and their variable
values. (The entry is only visible if the document group contains focus group
transcripts.)
Word Cloud – creates a word cloud with the most frequent words that appear in the
documents within this document group.
documents within this document group.
Single-Case Model > Single-Case Model (Coded
Segments)/(Summaries)/(Paraphrases)/(Code Hierarchy) - Creates a new single-case
model in MAXMaps with the selected document group at the center.
Teamwork > Export Teamwork: Export Data to Exchange File – exports the coded
segments, memos, summaries, paraphrases and variables of all documents this
document group.
Teamwork > Import Teamwork: Import Data from Exchange File – imports the coded
segments, memos, summaries, paraphrases and variables from another project into
this document group.
MAXDictio: Quantiative Content Analysis – creates a count of the dictionary categories
in all your text, PDF, and table documents in the document group. (This function is
only available for "MAXQDA Plus" or "MAXQDA Analytics Pro".)
Please note: Document sets are handled similarly to document groups. They are a
temporary grouping of documents, but only contain links to the documents instead of
the documents themselves. The context menu that appears when you right-click on a
document set is similar to the document group context menu, but it does not contain
the options to import documents.
The lower level: the document
A context menu is also available at the individual document level and contains a variety
of functions connected to the chosen document.

Context menu for the lowest (document) level
The menu contains the following functions:
Activate/Deactivate – activates the document; if the document is already activated, the
option will be to deactivate it.
Open Document – opens the document in the “Document Browser”. The document
which is currently opened in the “Document Browser” is indicated in the “Document
System” with a special symbol (document with a pen).
Open Document in a New Tab – opens the document in a new tab in the “Document
Browser”. The document which is currently displayed is indicated in the “Document
System” with a special symbol (document with a pen).

Open Document in Second Document Browser – opens the document in an undocked
“Document Browser”. The document which has last been focused is indicated in the
“Document System” with a special symbol (document with a pen).”
Delete Document – The document and all its associated data (memos, coded
segments, variable values) are deleted.
Rename Document – The name of the document can be edited.
Export Document – The selected document is exported and saved to a location of your
choice.
Memo – creates a memo for the document.
Assign Audio / Video File – Opens a dialog window where you can select an audio or
video file to assign to the text. (The entry is visible only if you click a text document
that has not yet been assigned a media file.)
Transcribe Audio / Video File – Activates transcription mode for an audio or video files.
(The entry is only visible if an audio or video file is assigned to the selected document.)
Coded Segments - Opens the Overview of Coded Segments with the coded segments
in the selected document.
Variables - Opens the Data Editor for Document Variables with the variable values of
the selected document.
Codes - Opens the tabular Overview of Codes with the codes assigned in the selected
document.
Memos - Opens the Overview of Memos with the memos of the selected document.
Summaries - Opens the Overview of Summaries with the summaries of the selected
document.
Paraphrases - Opens the Overview of Paraphrases with the paraphrases of the selected
document.

Links - Opens the Overview of Links with the links of the selected document
(documentation links and external links, geo-links and web links).
Focus Group Participant - Opens the Overview of Focus Group Participants with the
participants of the selected focus group and their variable values. (The entry is only
visible if a focus group transcript has been selected.)
Document Portrait – opens a visualization of the document that uses the code colors
of the coded segments in the document to create a picture of the document. The size
of the coded segment acts as the weighting factor, meaning that the longer the coded
segment, the more space that color takes up in the visualization.
Codeline – opens a visualization of the coded segments of the document. A matrix is
created with the codes on the y-axis and the paragraph numbers on the x-axis. It is
then possible to see which codes were used in each paragraph of the document.
Word Cloud – creates a visualization of the most frequently-used words in the
document (only for text, pdf and table documents).
document.
Single-Case Model > Single-Case Model (Coded
Segments)/(Summaries)/(Paraphrases)/(Code Hierarchy) - Creates a new single case
model in MAXMaps with the selected document at the center.
(Color Selection) - A color can be assigned to the document.
Teamwork > Teamwork Export: Export Data to Exchange File - Exports the encoded
segments, memos, summaries, paraphrases and variables of the selected document.
Teamwork > Teamwork Import: Import data from Exchange File - Imports the coded
segments, memos, summaries, paraphrases and variables of another project into the
selected document.

Teamwork > Export Teamwork – allows for the export of all coded segments, memos,
summaries, and variables for the document. The exported file can be imported in a
project on a different computer. This function enables you to work in a team and
divide the work on a single document among team members.
Teamwork > Import Teamwork – allows for the import of coded segments, memos,
summaries, and variables for the document of an earlier exported file.
MAXDictio: Quantitative Content Analysis – creates a count of the dictionary
categories in the selected document. (This function is only available for "MAXQDA
Plus" or "MAXQDA Analytics Pro".)
Properties – opens a window with all the properties of the document, which can then
be edited (e.g. whether or not the document should be opened in read-only mode).
You can also link a media file to the corresponding document (e.g. an audio file with
the corresponding transcribed interview) to either code the transcript or the media file
itself.
"Document Browser"
Toolbar
The “Document Browser” is MAXQDA's main work window: This is where you can
code texts and images, write memos, link text and/or images together, add external
links and more. The majority of the functions you will carry out in the “Document
Browser” are available in the context menu, which you can access by simply right-
clicking in the window. The most commonly-used functions are also available in the
toolbar at the top of the “Document Browser.” It contains the following functions:
Show sidebar - displays the sidebar to the right of the document. Memos,
comments and paraphrases can be displayed in the sidebar.
Print document – allows you to print the document displayed in the window,
optionally along with memo symbols and coding stripes.
Export displayed document – saves the open document in a location of your
choice.

Display search toolbar – allows you to search within the open document.
Settings - opens a dialog with locally relevant options (see below)
Undock window
Maximize window
Hide window
Local settings
When you click on the gear symbol in the "Document Browser" window, the
following options dialog box will appear with local settings:
Settings for the “Document Browser“ window
Copy text segments with source information to clipboard - If this option is enabled,
the indication of origin (document group, document name and document position) is
appended to all text segments that you copy to the clipboard.
Display coding stripes on the right - By default, the coding stripes are displayed to the
left of the document. Select this option to place the encoding strips to the right of the
document.
Maximum number of codes in 'Quicklist' - The setting determines how many codes
were last used in the encoding bar above the document.
Context menu
If you highlight a segment of text or select a section of a picture opened in the
“Document Browser,” a context menu will appear with a large selection of various
functions, if you right click on the selected segment.

Context menu in the Document Browser
Most of the available functions are self-explanatory, but they will still be explained
quickly in the following section.
Note: For PDF and image documents some functions such as cut and paste are not
available because these file formats do not permit modification. Some functions are
also unavailable for table documents.
Code with New Code – codes the highlighted text or section of an image with a new
code.
Code In-Vivo – codes the highlighted text with a new code created and named with
the highlighted text.
Code with “xyz” – codes highlighted text or section of a picture with the most
recently used code.
Code with Activated Codes – codes highlighted text or section of a picture with all

activated codes in the “Code System.”
Insert Memo for Selection – creates a memo for the highlighted segment.
Search for Highlighted Text – opens the lexical search, with which you can search for
the selected text in all or part of the project.
List Assigned Codes – displays the codes assigned anywhere in the selected segment.
Insert as New Document – adds the selected text or image excerpt as a new document
at the top of the "Document System".
Convert to Line Numbered Text/Convert to Paragraph Numbered Text – Switches
between the numbering of each line and the numbering of each paragraph in text
documents. The numbers are used for quotations from the data.
Insert Document Link – sets an anchor for a link, which is a connection between two
sections in your data or memos.
Insert external Link – opens a file dialog to allow you to choose a file to be linked to
the highlighted section of the text or image.
Insert Web Link – allows the insertion of a link to a website.
Insert Geolink – allows to insert a geolink; a file dialog will appear to open and import
a KML file, which links to a geographic location.
Remove link – deletes a link from the selected segment.
Cut – cuts the highlighted text from the document as in Microsoft Word.
Copy – copies the highlighted text as in Microsoft Word.

Paste – pastes the contents of the clipboard as in Microsoft Word (only works when in
Edit Mode)
Paste without formatting - Same functionality as e.g. in Word: The text from the
clipboard is pasted and the formatting of the existing text is assigned. (This entry is
only visible when Edit Mode is switched on.)
Undo Text Changes – undoes the most recent change to the text (only works when in
Edit mode).
Undo All Text Changes – undoes all changes to the text that have been done since Edit
mode was turned on (only works when in Edit Mode).
Display Geolink Column – displays the geolink column next to the memo and code
visualization column on the margin of the “Document Browser.” All geolinks are
visualized with a symbol in this column.
Display timestamp column - By default, the timestamps for connecting to an
audio/video file are displayed to the left of a transcript. Here you can hide this column.
Seitenleiste > Seitenleiste anzeigen – Rechts neben dem Dokument wird eine Spalte
eingeblendet, in der die Memos, Kommentare und Paraphrasen Dokuments dargestellt
werden.
Context Menus and Toolbar in 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.
Display codes from activated documents only - reduces the code system to codes
assigned in at least one of the activated documents.

New code – adds new code into the code system.
Display search toolbar – allows you to search for a specific code.
Settings - opens a dialog box with local settings options (see below)
Undock window
Maximize window
Hide window
Local Settings
Click on the gear symbol in the "Code System" and the following options dialog will
appear with local settings options:
Settings for the Code System window
Display frequency of - here you define what the numbers behind the codes should
indicate. The setting does not refer to the entries "Paraphrased segments" and "Focus
group speaker" in the code system. Is reset to the setting Coded segments of all
documents when changing projects.
Sum up frequencies of subcodes - if you collapse a code, the frequencies of the code
and all its subcodes will be added if this option is selected.
Table view - Switches from tree view to tabular view of all entries in the code system.

Will be turned off when changing projects.
Display only emoticodes - if this option is enabled, only emoticodes are displayed in
the code system and all other entries are hidden. Will be switched off when changing
projects.
Display 'Paraphrased Segments' at the top - by default the entry 'Paraphrased
Segments' is displayed below the codes. Enable this option to fix the entry at the top
of the code system.
Display 'Focus Group Speaker' at the top - by default, the 'Focus Group Speaker' entry
is displayed below the codes. Enable this option to fix the entry at the top of the code
system.
Insert new subcodes below - by default, new subcodes are inserted directly below the
clicked upper code. Activate the option to add new subcodes below the existing
subcodes.
"Coding with new code", "Coding in vivo", "Open coding".
Insert new codes at the top - new codes added by the listed coding functions are
inserted at the top of the code system.
Insert new codes at current position - Newly added codes are inserted at the current
position, i.e. the blue mark, as subcodes.
No duplicate code names on same level - this option prevents codes with the same
name from being generated at the same hierarchy level.
The top level in the “Code System”
When you create a new project, the “Code System” is empty except for the “Code
System” icon and label. This represents the root directory or folder, the upper level of
the “Code System” hierarchy. If you right-click on the symbol or the label next to it,
you will see a context menu. Since most selectable functions only apply to a non-
empty Code System, some codes have already been inserted into the following
illustration.

Context menu for the upper level of the Code System
This menu offers access to the following functions:
Activate All Codes – activates all codes in the entire “Code System”.
Deactivate All Codes – deactivates all codes in the entire “Code System” (except focus
group participant codes).
More … > Activate Codes by Variables – allows activation based on code variable
values.
More … > Activate Codes by Color – allows activation based on code colors.
More … > Invert Activation – activates all currently deactivated codes and deactivates
all currently activated codes in the entire “Code System.”
More … > Load Activation – code activation status will be imported from a file
previously created in MAXQDA.
More … > Save Activation – the current activation status of the code system is stored
in a file that can be called up at a later time in order to establish this specific activation
status.

New Code – creates a new top level code in the code system.
Code Favorites – opens window with your code favorites.
Code Alias Table – Displays a table with all codes that can be assigned an alias with
up to 255 characters for each code.
Sort – sorts all subcodes of the current code by alphabetical order or by code
frequency.
Reduce All Subcodes – for a better overview all subcodes are reduced so that only the
codes at the top level are visible.
Move Activated Codes Here – moves all activated codes to the top level of the “Code
System” window. Subcodes of activated codes will keep their position as subcodes as
long as they are not activated. This function is only visible if at least one code is
actually activated.
Coded Segments – lists all coded segments in the entire project in table form in the
Overview of Coded Segments.
Variables – the complete data matrix for code variables is displayed.
Linked Memos – lists all memos that are linked to any code in the “Code System.”
The lower level: individual codes and subcodes
There is also a context menu for the single code/subcode level, which offers functions
that affect the code you right-clicked on.

Context menu on the code/subcode level
The following functions are shown in the context menu:
Activate Incl. Subcodes / Deactivate Incl. subcodes – the code including all its subcodes
are activated or if it is activated, it is deactivated together with the subcodes.
Activate/Deactivate – only the code itself, without its subcodes, is activated.
New Code – creates a new subcode for the selected code.
Delete Code (and Subcodes) – the selected code is deleted. In the alternative view of
the “Code System” as Table, several codes can be deleted simultaneously. When a
code is deleted, every association to coded segments will be deleted. Subcodes will
also be deleted. The removal of codes from a code system can be visualized as the
cutting of branches from a tree: when a branch (code) is cut, all attached subcodes
and subcodes of subcodes are also cut off.

Rename Code – allows you to create a new name for the code.
(Color Selection) – allows to set a color for the code.
Memo – creates a memo for the clicked code. If a memo already exists, it is opened.
Add Code to … > Code Favorites – the selected code is included in the "Code
Favorites" window, which enables a fast coding process for a few selected codes.
Add Code to … > Code set – the selected code is included in a new or existing code
set..
Subcodes > Sort – sorts all subcodes of the current code by alphabetical order or by
code frequency.
Subcodes > Copy/Paste – copies all subcodes so that they can be pasted into another
code.
Move Activated Codes Here – inserts all activated codes as subcodes of the chosen
code. Subcodes of activated codes will keep their position as subcodes as long as they
are not activated. This function is only visible if at least one code is actually activated.
Duplicate Code with Coded Segments - Creates a copy of the code below the clicked
code, including the associated encoded segments.
Copy Coded Segments – copies all coded segments for the selected code, so that they
can be copied into a different code. After choosing this option, right-click on the code
that you would like to paste these coded segments into and select Paste Coded
Segments (from Code 'xyz')
Move Coded Segments – cuts the coded segments from the current code, so you can
insert them in a different code. After selecting this option, right-click on the code
where you want to move the coded segments to and select Paste Coded Segments

(from Code 'xyz').
Coded Segments – opens the Overview of Coded Segments with all coded segments
coded with the current code, offering an overview of the text and image segments
assigned with the code.
Documents – opens the Overview of Documents with all of the selected documents in
which the code was used.
Variables – opens the Data Editor with all code variables of the code and its subcodes.
Summaries – lists all summaries in the entire project in table form in the Overview of
Summaries.
Linked Memos - all memos that have links with this code are displayed.
Crosstab - opens the mixed methods Crosstab function to compare the frequencies of
the clicked code for groupings of documents.
Subcode Statistics - opens the Subcode Statistics dialog box to create a frequency table
or chart of the subcode frequencies of the clicked code.
Code Model > ... - creates a new code model in MAXMaps with the selected code at
the center.
Intersections – All codes that overlap with this code are displayed in a pop-up list, with
the most common overlapping codes topping the list. Clicking on an entry in the list
displays the corresponding segments that contain overlaps in the "Retrieved
Segments" window.
Transform into a Document Variable – creates a numerical document variable with the
name of the current code in the variable list. The number of times the code appears in
each document is entered as the variable value for each document.
Transform into a Categorical Document Variable – creates a new string variable whose
value for each document is the subcode that appears most often in that document
(only works for codes that have subcodes).

Subcode Statistics – opens a "statistics for subcodes" dialog window for creating a
frequency table or a chart of the subcode frequencies of the selected code.
Crosstab – opens the mixed methods "Crosstabs" function, which can be used to
compare the code frequencies for groups of documents.
Properties – opens the properties menu, where a color, alias name, and keyboard
shortcut can be assigned or changed for a selected code.
"Retrieved Segments" Window
Toolbar
The following commonly-used functions are available in the toolbar at the top of the
“Retrieved Segments” window:
Display origin - displays the document from which the segment originates for each
segment, supplemented by the position within the document.
Display favorite variables - shows the variables belonging to the document and
their values that are marked as favorites in the list of document variables for each
document or coded segment, depending on the sort order.
Display comments of coded segments - displays the column with comments on the
coded segments.
Overview of retrieved segments – shows overview of all retrieved segments in
table form. Overview will be displayed in a new window.
Smart Coding Tool – opens the displayed retrieved segments in the Smart Coding
Tool, where the assignments of codes can be customized.
Code Relations Browser – opens the Code Relations Browser for the displayed
retrieved segments, which visualizes overlapping codes.

Word cloud – creates a word cloud of the words most often used in the displayed
retrieved segments.
Code retrieved segments – all coded segments that are currently in the
“Retrieved Segments” can be coded additionally with an existing code.
Code retrieved segments with a new code – all coded segments that are currently
in the “Retrieved Segments” can be coded additionally with a new code.
Print retrieved segments – prints segments along with indications of their origins.
Open as Word document - creates a text document in Word DOCX format and
opens the document with the program associated with that format.
Open as Excel table – opens the retrieved segments in an Excel document.
Open as HTML table – opens the retrieved segments in your standard browser.
Export retrieved segments – the segments can be exported in text format RTF
(text format), or as tables in XLS or HTML format. Memos attached to coded
segments, other codes assigned to the segment, as well as tooltip variables, can be
included in the exported material.
Display search toolbar – allowing for searches within the retrieved segments.
Settings - opens a dialog with locally settings options (see below).
Undock window
Maximize window
Hide window
Local Settings
When you click on the gear symbol in the "Retrieved Segments" window, the
following menu will appear with local settings:

Settings for the Retrieved Segments window
Ordered by Document System – the segments in the “Retrieved Segments” window
will be sorted in order of the “Document System.”
Ordered by Code System – the segments in the “Retrieved Segments” window will be
sorted in order of the “Code System.”
Ordered by Weight Score (ascending/descending) – sorts retrieved segments according
to the weight assigned to them.
Include Subcodes – automatically includes all subcodes in the retrieval for each code
activated in the “Code System.”
Use Weight Filter – displays only those retrieved segments that are within a certain
weight range.
Edit Weight Filter – opens a window where you can change the range of weight scores
included in the “Retrieved Segments” window.

Dislpay weight - displays the weight of the coded segments in the code name. The
weight is only displayed when the origin information is displayed.
List View - This is the default view for the "List of Coded Segments".
Classic View - Switches to the view of previous versions of MAXQDA.
Table View - Switches to a tabular list of coded segments.
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 Segments” window
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.
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.
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.
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 interactive! 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 Complex
Coding Query.
Managing Table Overviews
MAXQDA lets you open several table overviews that list project data such as coded
segments, memos or variables. In the Reports tab you can find many of these, the
contents of which always refer to the whole project:
Overview in the 'Reports' tab
Overviews 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:

Table view of an example project’s document variables
The heading of each column has the name of each variable, although the standard
MAXQDA system fields are written in a different font color:
Document group – the name of the Document group in which the document isq
found
Document name – the name of the documentq
Creation date – the date on which the document was importedq
Number of coded segments – the number of coded segments in the documentq
Number of memos – the number of memos in the documentq
Author – the user that was logged in when the document was importedq
Adjusting column width and position
The width of each column can be changed by clicking and dragging the border
between the columns. Double-clicking on the column header border to the right of
the column resizes the column 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.
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
Tip: Tables can be sorted very easily. Just click on the column header of the column
that you want to sort the rows by.
Sorting tables
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 inside 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.
Please note: Tables in MAXQDA contain both editable (blue) and un-editable (black)
columns. The system variables, 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 different 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 a 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 button. 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 Segments, 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 a detailed display
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.

Detailed view of the “Overview of Coded Segments”
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 in the toolbar 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 icon can only be clicked when at least one document is activated.
Only activated codes – Displays only the rows in which activated codes appear. The
icon can only be clicked when at least one code is activated.
Switch on Filter – Turns the filter for the columns on and off. The icon 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.
Reset all filters – 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 location. This exported file is also no longer connected to your
project file.
Searching in table overviews
To search through a table, click the icon
in the header of the overview. Another toolbar will then appear where you can enter a
search term.
Searching in a table overview
Highlight rows with hits – Highlights the rows in which the search term appears.
Choose search columns – Allows you to select the columns in which to search.
Find & replace – Allows you to enter a term to replace hits. Only hits that the user
has permission to change will be replaced. In the Data Editor for Document Variables
shown above, the values of the user variables with blue headers can be adjusted, for
example, but not the document names or the number of coded segments.
Tip:If you want to restrict the search to a single column, right-click the column header
and select the option Search. MAXQDA automatically selects only the clicked column
for the search.

Restrict search to one column
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”:
Right-click on the heading of the column you wish to filter, and select the Set Filterq
option. (If a filter is already set for the column, this option is called Edit Filter.)
Set filter by column
Set the desired filter options in the window that appears.q

Filter window
In all four input fields, you can define criteria to filter. The following criteria are
available:
Containsq
Doesn’t containq
Starts withq
Greater than or Lesser than (applies to both numbers and the alphabet)q
Earlier than and Later than (available only in columns containing a date)q
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 account.
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 Switch on
Filter
icon, to toggle 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
icon.
Please 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 defined a filter and reopen the project at a later
time, you can turn on the filter by simply clicking the Filter icon.
General Preferences
Click on the gear symbol in the upper right-hand side of the MAXQDA window to
open a window in which you can adjust several MAXQDA settings.
Open preferences

Preferences Window
The following settings can be changed:
“General” settings
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).
Default weight
Every code assignment receives a weight. The default weight score for newly-coded
segments is 0, but can be changed here.
Autosave documents in Edit Mode and memos
Here you can specify the amount of time after which the project is saved automatically
during editing of documents and memos.
Confirm delete
If you deactivate this option, MAXQDA no longer asks for confirmation when deleting
code assignments, codes, documents, memos etc., but deletes this data directly. You

can then only restore them using the Undo function.
”User interface” settings
Interface language
Here you can set the language of the menus, dialogs, and windows of MAXQDA.
Large font
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.
Reset user settings
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.
”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.
”Automatic project backups” settings
Backup projects automatically
If the option is activated, MAXQDA checks each time a project is opened, when it was
last saved by MAXQDA and creates a backup of the project upon request.
Time interval [days]
Sets the number of days after which MAXQDA will start the next backup of the
project.

Folder for backup copies
Here you can specify the folder in which you would like MAXQDA to save backup
copies of your project.

02 - Importing Data 86
02 - Importing Data
Supported Data Types
The following table provides an overview of what data types you can import into
MAXQDA:
Data Format Examples and Notes
Texts, transcripts,
Transcripts with time
stamps and associated
media files,
Focus group transcripts.
Word (DOC/X)
OpenOffice (ODT)
Rich Text (RTF)
Text (TXT)
Interview transcripts, field notes,
observation logs.
Time stamps allow the
synchronization of transcript and
sound.
Speakers in group discussions are
automatically coded
Documents PDF Academic journals, literature,
news articles
Tables Excel (XLS/X) Spreadsheet with survey result
Images PNG, TIF, JPG, GIF, SVG,
BMP
Photo diaries, advertisement
images
Audio files MP3, WAV etc. Recorded interviews (these can be
transcribed and synchronized with
the transcript)
Video files MP4, AVI, MPG, MOV
etc.
Recordings of group interactions,
YouTube videos
Data can be transcribed and
synchronized with the transcript.
Video and audio can be coded
directly.
Surveys, questionnaires Excel (XLX/S)
SPSS (SAV)
Direct import from
SurveyMonkey
Exported data matrices from the
open-source software LimeSurvey
Pre-structured texts and
tables
Same as for texts and
tables
Exports from the online data
collection tool kernwert.de can be
coded automatically during the
import

Websites Downloads from the
MAXQDA Web
Collector (free
extension for Chrome
browser)
Company presentations, news
articles
Tweets Direct import of Tweets Social media analysis of trending
topics
YouTube comments Direct import from
YouTube
Social media analysis of trending
topics
Video file subtitles SRT Film analysis
Bibliographic Data RIS, TXT For literature reviews
MAXApp-Projects XML, ZIP Fieldwork
Important: In Windows, ODT documents can only be imported in MAXQDA if
Microsoft Office (2003 or later) is 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.
You can also create new texts or spreadsheets in an opened project at any time, into
which you can paste content from the clipboard.
Analyzing texts in any language (Unicode supported)
The fact that MAXQDA supports Unicode makes it possible not only to import and
analyze documents in any script, from Japanese to Cyrillic to Arabic, but also to create
codes and variables in these languages. The support for Unicode text is available in
every MAXQDA function.
Unicode is an international standard with the goal of standardizing all known
languages and characters. 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. In MAXQDA, even codes and variable names can be created with “foreign”
characters, and searches and in-vivo coding are possible with any language.

Import and Group your Data
Importing data via the Import tab
The Import tab provides numerous functions for importing different data types. When
you create a new project, the tab is automatically opened so that you can start
importing data directly:
Importing data via the Import Tab
How to import standard data such as texts, PDF documents, tables, images or audio /
video files:
Go to the Import tab and click on the appropriate icon for your data type on the1.
left, e.g. Transcripts to import interview transcripts and Texts, PDFs, Tables to
import Word files, PDF documents or Excel files.
A dialog window will appear, in which you can select the files to be imported. Press2.
Ctrl (Windows) or cmd (Mac) to select multiple files at the same time.
After making your selection, the files are inserted into the open MAXQDA project and
displayed in the "Document System" window. The following image shows that seven
texts ("Kim", "George", etc.) have been added.
Display of documents in your Document System after import
By default, all inserted texts, PDF documents, tables and images are saved in the
project file. This means that you can modify or delete the source file with no effect on

the file in the project. Conversely, if you make changes to a file in MAXQDA, e.g.
improving typing errors, without changing the source file. Exceptions are audio and
video files, they are not stored in the project because of their size but in a special
folder for external files. The same applies to PDF documents and images that exceed
an adjustable file size. For more information, see "External Files".
When inserted, MAXQDA takes the filename as a document name, it can be modified
later, avoiding duplication. Depending on the type of document, the documents are
given different symbols.
Note: Using the other icons on the tab, special data types, such as focus group
transcripts, survey data, or data from Twitter can be imported. The specifics of these
imports are described in detail in their own sections.
Ordering the documents in document groups
Once you’ve imported your documents you’re ready to start your analysis. 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. Rather than
using folders, MAXQDA uses document groups. They work just like folders do on your
computer – you can name them and drag documents into them.
Document groups keep your Document System organized
There are two ways to create a new document group:
Click the New Document Group icon in the "Document System" toolbar.q
Right-click on the root folder in the “Document System“ and select New Documentq
Group from the context menu.

MAXQDA then creates a new document group at the top of the "Document System"
and automatically assigns a name and number. To give the document group a
meaningful name, click on it with the right mouse button and select Rename.
Alternatively, click the name once with the mouse button to select the line, and then
click the name again.
Suitable names for document groups are e.g. the data types (individual interviews,
group discussions, document analyses, etc.) or differentiation criteria resulting from
the sampling (first survey wave, second survey wave, ecclesiastical organizations,
public-law organizations, etc.).
Please note: Document groups can only be created at the top level. You can’t create a
document group within a document group.
The assignment of documents to document groups can be changed at any time by
clicking on the document symbol in the "Document System" with the mouse and,
holding down the left mouse button, moving it to where you want to assign the
document. You do not have to specify the document group to which it is to be
assigned when importing the document.
Moving and sorting documents
Moving individual documents
You can arrange the order of the documents in the "Document System". Just click
and drag the document to the desired position.
Moving multiple documents
You can select multiple separate documents by holding down the Alt key (Windows)
or option key ⌥ (Mac) and then move this selection while holding down the mouse
button. To select a range of documents, first click on one document and then click on
a second document while holding down the Shift key ⇧. This then selects all the
documents between these clicked documents.
Moving multiple documents by activating them
To move multiple documents at once, first activate these documents by, for example,
holding down the Ctrl key (Windows) or the cmd key (Mac) and then clicking on them.
Now click on a document group with the right mouse button and select Move
Activated Documents Here.

Move all activated documents to a document group at once
Sorting documents
To sort the documents in a document group, choose Sort Documents from the context
menu of the document group and then the required sorting order in the drop-down
menu. Sort criteria include Document Name, Last Edit, and Text Length (only text,
table, and PDF documents are taken into account).
To sort document groups by their names, right-click on the root folder of the
documents, and choose Sort in Ascending Order to sort them from A - Z or Sort in
Descending Order for the reverse order.
Please note: You will often be working with documents or document groups whose
names consist of numbers or whose names contain numbers, e.g. Interview 1,
Interview 2, Interview 3. In the case of more than ten documents or document groups,
it is recommended to use double-digit numbers for their description, so that the
documents are sorted according to the order of numbers, e.g. Interview01,
Interview02, ..., Interview48. In the case of more than 100 documents or document
groups, corresponding three-digit designations should be used, e.g. Interview001,
Interview002 etc.
More data import options
You can import documents not only from Import tab but also through several other

functions:
Click the Import Documents icon on the toolbar of the "Document System".q
Or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+D (Windows) or cmd+D (Mac).q
Or click on the root folder in the "Document System" with the right mouse buttonq
and select Import Documents.
Or, right-click the document group to which the document is to be assigned. Fromq
the context menu, choose Import Documents.
Import documents via the context menu in the document group
As described above, a dialog window opens in which you can select which file to
import.
Please note: The imported documents are imported into the selected document group,
i.e. marked in blue. If no document group or root folder is selected in the "Document
System", MAXQDA inserts the new documents at the top of the document "tree".
Importing documents via drag and drop
Files can be imported via drag and drop: Select one or several documents in the
Windows Explorer or Mac Finder and simply drag the documents into the "Document
System" with the mouse. Then drop the documents in the desired position.

Tip: To import the documents of a whole folder into MAXQDA, drag the folder from
the Windows Explorer or Mac Finder to the "Documents System". MAXQDA then
creates a new document group with the same name of the file folder at the top of the
document “tree” and imports all documents that MAXQDA can import. If the folder
contains subfolders, these are also created as separate document groups.
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 can be created via activation. You can activate a document by right-
clicking on it and selecting Activate from the context menu. You can see that a
document has been activated, because it turns red and a red arrow appears just to the
left of the document symbol.
Tip: For quick, easy activation, left-click on the document symbol. You can also
activate all documents in a document group at once by clicking on the folder icon.
After activating all the documents that you want to create a set out of, you can create
that set as follows:
Right-click on the word Sets at the bottom of the “Document System”.1.
Select New set.2.
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 appropriate. Document sets are manipulated like
document groups; you can activate all the documents in a document set at the same
time and use all the options for working with document groups (Codes, Memos,
Variables, Links, etc.).
Modifying document sets at a later stage
Individual documents can be deleted from a document set: Right-click on a set and
select Remove document from set. Or drag and drop documents to move them from
set to set.

Tip: You can drag a document (or a number of documents) into a set at any time.
Drop the document(s) into the desired set and MAXQDA will insert it/them directly at
the top of the set.
Document sets are very practical when you want to analyze a certain selection of
documents. Forming a document set is also an easy way to save the result of a
complex variable activation process.
Document variables generated automatically during the import process
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.
You would like to know which variables? Then click on Variables ("System Fields") in
the context menu of the document to see these internal variables. MAXQDA will
display the number of coded segments and memos available for this document in the
columns Coded Segments and Memos.
Overview of Variables for a newly imported document
Some information will appear at the cursor if you hover the mouse over a document
name in the "Document System" window and wait a moment.
Create New Text or Table Documents
MAXQDA lets you not only import and export texts and tables, but also create them,
for example for ethnographic descriptions of researched items.
Create new text documents
There are several ways to create a new text document:
Click the New Text Document icon in the toolbar of the "Document System", orq

go to the Import tab and click the Create Document icon, orq
press the key combination Ctrl+T (Windows) or cmd+T (Mac), orq
right-click on the root folder of your documents in the "Document System" andq
select New Text Document to insert a text at the top of the document list, or
click on a document group with the right mouse button and select New Textq
Document to create a text at the top of the selected document group.
Creating a new document via the context menu of a document group
MAXQDA will automatically assign the document a name in the form of “Document
nn,” where nn is a consecutive number. Of course, you can always change the name
later. After creating a new document, 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.
Create new tables
To create a new table, go to the Import tab and click on the text (not the icon) Create
Document. Then click New Table Document in the menu that appears. You can freely
select the number of rows and columns.

Select the number of columns and rows when you create a new table
Please note: When creating a new table, no new columns can be added later.
Convert text document into a table
You can convert a text document automatically into a table document, i.e. to
paraphrase the text in another column:
Open a text document by double-clicking on it in the “Document System“.1.
Then go to the Import tab and click on Convert Text > Insert Displayed Text as a2.
Table Document
A dialog box will appear, in which you can specify the number of columns.3.
Choose the number of columns
Please note: The original text will be preserved in the conversion to a table.
A new table document appears in the "Document System", which you can recognize
by the symbol and which will bear the same name as the source document. Each
paragraph of the source text appears in a separate line of the new table. If you have
selected more than one column for the table, the text appears only in the first column.

The original text will appear only in the first column
As this picture shows, this conversion function makes it easy to paraphrase and
summarize texts in MAXQDA. When you activate Edit mode, you can paraphrase the
texts in the empty columns of the newly created table.
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 document 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.”
With MAXQDA you can connect audio or video files to their transcriptions 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.
For this reason, MAXQDA does not save audio and video files in the project file and
imported PDF and image files only up to a certain size (default setting 5 Megabytes).
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 project file.

The threshold for the file size can be set in the overall MAXQDA preferences.
Preferences can be opened by clicking on the gear wheel on the upper right corner of
the MAXQDA Main Menu.
Open settings
Edit settings for saved files
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: [MAXQDA 2020 Files]MAXQDA_Externalsq
for Windows normal license installations: [My documents]MAXQDA_Externalsq
for Mac normal license installations: [My documents]/MAXQDA_Externalsq
Please note: All your external documents will be saved in a global external folder. If
you wish to save externals 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 confirmation, 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 imported into the “Document System”?
You are informed that the file is saved externally and is not embedded in the project.q
The document is added to the list in the “Document System” just as it would be if itq
were a smaller file.
The document is visualized with the PDF or image icon as is the case with smallerq
files.
The document is copied into the “MAXQDA_Externals” folder unless you haveq
chosen to have external files saved elsewhere. The original document remains in its
original location.
What happens to a document in the “Document System” when it is
linked to a media (audio/video) file?
The location of the original file is saved in the Properties menu of the document.q
The original media file is never saved as part of MAXQDA project file, even if it isq
smaller than the maximum file size.
The media file is copied into the folder for external files. The original documentq
remains in its original location.
When importing a text file with timestamps, MAXQDA also looks through the file forq
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 external files folder is used. This file is then loaded. In other
words, the original file can be moved or deleted 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 automatically replaces the older file with the
same exact name.

What happens when you change the external files folder for a project that
already has external 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 location 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.
Can you import an externally saved document into the project file at a later time?
Yes, you can. To do this, right-click a document in the "Document System" and select
Properties. Then click Embed document.
Can you store a document outside the project file at a later stage, that is, save it in the
folder for external files?
Yes, you can do this, too. To do this, right-click a document in the "Document
System" and select Properties. Then click Store documents externally.
To store several documents outside the project file, go to Home > External Files > Store
Documents in Folder for External Files. A dialog box will appear listing all documents
stored in the MAXQDA project file. Here you select all the documents that you want to
store externally.

Function for storing files externally
How do you transfer external files from one computer to another?
To share the project with team members and colleagues, including the external files,
follow these steps:
Send the MAXQDA (MX20) project file.1.
Bundle all external files by clicking on External Files > Bundle External Data Files in2.
the Home tab. MAXQDA then compresses all external files associated with the
current project into a Zip archive, which is named after your project (e.g.
“Projectname.mx20.zip”) and saved in the same place as your project file.
Transfer this newly created Zip file.3.
Procedure on the receiving end:
Open the MX20 project file.1.
Click External Files > Unpack Bundled Data Files in the Home tab and select the Zip2.
archive in the Windows dialog box that appears. MAXQDA then unpacks the
archive and moves the linked files to your external files folder. If you saved the zip
archive in the same folder as the project file, MAXQDA automatically accesses the
archive and unzips the files on request.
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 folder, the file in the external files folder will be opened.
Text Documents
Importing texts
You can import texts into MAXQDA, as described here:
by clicking the Import Documents icon in the "Document System", orq
by clicking the Texts, PDFs, Tables icon in the Import tab.q

If you want to import text documents into MAXQDA you should briefly think about
how to prepare them for the import. If you want to analyze certain sections of text as
a single unit, for example, it makes sense to put them together in the same paragraph.
MAXQDA enters a new paragraph number after each hard return. This makes it easier
to then 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.q
All fonts and text sizes are carried over.q
Paragraph formatting (e.g. right-justified, line height) is also carried over.q
The text can contain tables, pictures, graphics, etc.q
If objects like graphics are imported or not can be determined in the localq
preferences of the "Document System", which you can open by clicking on the gear
symbol at the top right of the window.
In-text tables
As listed above, MAXQDA can import tables included in text documents, and you can
code parts or whole cells of these tables in MAXQDA. The only limitation here is that
the size of the table can no longer be changed once it has been imported.
Please note:As a rule, we recommend that you use tables in text documents only
sparingly. This not only increases your analysis options (e.g. automatic coding at
paragraph level), but also increases the performance of the display. We particularly
advise against importing interviews in a table structure in which each response is
contained in a separate row.
Links to websites embedded in texts
Documents imported into MAXQDA can also have links to websites (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
Please 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.
You can find more notes and advice in Links in MAXQDA.
PDF Documents
Importing PDF documents
You can import PDF documents into MAXQDA, as described here:
by clicking the Import Documents icon in the "Document System", orq
by clicking on the Texts, PDFs, Tables icon on the Importq
Text from a PDF document as a separate text document
After a PDF document has been imported into a MAXQDA project, you can extract the
text from the PDF document. Images and formatting are ignored, only the plain text is
inserted as a new text document in the "Document System".
Click on a PDF document in the "Document System" and select the function Insert
PDF Text as New Document. The new text appears directly below the clicked
document.

Tip: With many PDF texts, the conversion makes it possible to search within
paragraphs when conducting a lexical search.
Working with PDF documents
There are some special considerations when working with PDF documents, as the PDF
format was not conceived for text editing but rather as a layout format for printing,
and hence are much bigger files than simple text documents.
Tip: PDF documents may contain pages in both portrait and landscape orientation.
MAXQDA displays all of the pages in a PDF document in the same page orientation as
the first page. If your document contains mixed page orientations, it might be
necessary to rotate them into the same orientation before importing the document in
MAXQDA.
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
externally saved data. You can customize the maximum file size as well as the location
for externally saved files through MAXQDA’s preferences, which you can access via the
gear symbol in the top right corner of MAXQDA.
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.

Coding text and image segments
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 regard 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
segments 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 recognition process, must carried out with a suitable program before the import
into MAXQDA. This process makes it possible to mark and code the text in MAXQDA
later, otherwise it would only be possible to mark images.
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 through the "Document Browser"
As soon as a PDF document is displayed in the Document Browser, several clickable
icons will appear 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).
Tip: MAXQDA does not support editable PDF form fields. To display content from PDF
forms, save your PDF document via a PDF printer as a new PDF file that contains the
contents of the form fields as pure text.
Image Documents
Importing images
You can import Images into MAXQDA, as described here:
by clicking the Import Documents icon in the "Documents System", orq

by clicking on the Images icon on the Import tab.q
Working with images
When working with images, there are a few special aspects to consider that are
described in this section.
Saving image documents outside MAXQDA projects
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 external 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 via the MAXQDA preferences, which you can access
by clicking on the gear symbol in the top right of your window.
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 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.
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 segments always returns a result of 0.
Rotating and zooming into 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 clockwise (images imported from digital cameras and mobile
phones should automatically be correctly rotated by MAXQDA provided the correct
information has been saved in the image).

Audio and Video
You can import audio and video files into MAXQDA, as described here:
by clicking on the Audios or Videos icon on the Import tab.q
There are some special considerations regarding audio and video files.
MAXQDA supports the the following formats as standard:
Audio Windows: MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC, M4A
Mac: MP3, WAV, AAC, CAF, M4A
Video MP4, MOV, MPG, AVI, M4V, 3GP, 3GGP
Windows: additionally WMV
For video, a MP4 file with the video codec H.264 / AVC is recommended.
Audio and video files are generally not imported directly into a MAXQDA. Instead,
they are stored in the MAXQDA Externals folder and linked to a text document in
which you can, if necessary, save a transcript.
When importing an audio or video file, MAXQDA creates a new text document with
the name of the media file and assigns the newly added document the inserted media
file. The media file itself is stored in the MAXQDA external folder. If a file with the
same name already exists in the Externals folder, MAXQDA asks if the existing file
should be overwritten. You can adjust the location of the external address in the
MAXQDA settings. The settings are called up via the gear wheel at the upper right
edge of the window.
In the "Document System", you will recognize a text document with the associated
media file by the additional symbol displayed in addition to the document symbol: a
musical note for audio files and a video camera for video files.

Audio and video files in the „Document System“
Assigning audio/video files to a text document
You can also assign a media file to an existing text document. To do this, right-click on
the document in the "Documents System" and select Properties. Here a link to a
media file can be assigned or changed at any time.
To do this more quickly you can right-click on the document and choose Link
Audio/Video file.
Assigning an audio/video file to a document.
Play and edit audio and video files
Audio and video files can be played and edited in MAXQDA's "Multimedia Browser".
For detailed information, see Analyzing Videos.
Table Documents
Importing table documents
You can import Excel documents into MAXQDA, as described here:

by clicking on the Texts, PDFs, Tables icon in the Import tab.q
What happens when a Excel spreadsheet document is imported into a MAXQDA
project?
The first worksheet in the Excel workbook will be imported.q
Hidden columns in Excel will also be imported.q
The columns are numbered according to their order, whereby the contents of theq
first row will be used as the column header.
The entries in the first line of the table are used as headings.q
The row order will remain the same when imported.q
The font will be standardized.q
Importing table documents into the “Document System“
Please note: Excel spreadsheets that use Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) to
integrate embedded objects such as Word documents, PowerPoint slides, etc., can
have a significant impact on performance, so we advise against using them. Instead,
external links are much better suited for linking tables with objects outside the
MAXQDA project..
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 into 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.
Please note: When importing, the columns are numbered according to their order in
the Excel document. The number is at the beginning of each column heading and
cannot be changed post-import.
During the import, the first line of the imported document is copied as the column
header. You can adjust this heading by right-clicking on a column and selecting Edit
Entry:
Modify column header
When you import a table each column will be assigned a type automatically:
Textq
Numericq
Date/Timeq
To change a column type, open the drop-down menu “Type.”
Please 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. Alternatively, 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.
A row in the table corresponds to exactly one paragraph. Within a cell, there is no
differentiation between paragraphs.

Editing 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 top right corner of the “Document Browser”.
Tip: To insert a paragraph within a cell, hold down the Alt key (Windows) / option key
(Mac) and press Return.
Coding table documents
Any text segment of any cell can be coded. First, double-click on the cell in order to
select the contents. 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
Please 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 documents. 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. Retrieval 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. You
can assign a memo to a table document like this:
Right-click a selected text section in a cell and select Insert Memo for Selection toq
compose a memo for the text section.
Right-click on a cell and select Insert Memo.q
Double-click in the memo column to the left of the table to create a memo to theq
first character of the first cell at the click position height.
Adding memos to a table document
When you click on a memo symbol, MAXQDA will indicate to which text or cell this
memo is assigned.
Please 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 column.
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.
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 Project > Print > Displayed Document from the main
menu. Alternatively, you can right-click on the document in the “Document System”
and select Export Document.
Transcripts
Transcribing recordings is easy with MAXQDA, because MAXQDA provides all the
standard transcription functions, such as automatic speaker exchange, autocompletes
with defined shortcuts and timestamps for synchronizing transcriptions with audio or
video files. All the functions for transcribing in MAXQDA are described here.
MAXQDA also lets you import transcripts created with specialized transcription
software, including f4/5 transcript, Inqscribe or Transcriber Pro. This is usually the case
when a professional service provider has transcribed your recordings. The transcripts
created with such software usually contain timestamps corresponding to certain audio
or video files. MAXQDA automatically includes these timestamps. Most transcription
programs create their transcripts in Rich Text Format (RTF), a format for text
documents that can be imported directly into MAXQDA without conversion.
When creating transcripts, it’s a good idea to insert a timestamp at the end of

paragraphs least as well as at easily misunderstood points within a paragraph. A
transcript then looks like this:
I: So, Robert. Could you please describe your current living situation for me?
#00:00:10.5#
B: Sure. Uhm, at the moment I am living with my parents. In my old room in the
basement. I did have a room in the dorms at college but I am taking a semester off
and wasn't sure where I'd end up going. I am looking for an internship at the coast,
so I'll probably find a place with a roommate there soon. #00:00:30.1#
Example transcript with timestamps at the end of paragraphs
Importing transcripts without timestamps
If your transcripts do not contain time stamps, you can import them via Import >
Transcripts > Transcripts without Timestamps. Alternatively, you can simply drag the
transcript from Windows Explorer or Mac Finder to the "Document System".
Importing transcripts with timestamps
Importing transcripts combined with their corresponding audio or video files:
Ensure that you have the appropriate audio or video recordings for all transcripts1.
that you want to import. You can use the transcripts and the media files in the
same folder and under the same name.
In MAXQDA, go to the Import tab and select the function Transcripts2.
Select Import of Transcripts with Timestamps
In the drop-down menu, select the entry of the transcription software that was3.
used to create the transcript. Select Transcript with Timestamps if you do not know
the software used.
A dialog window will appear in which you can select a transcript for the import. If4.
you press Ctrl (Windows) or Cmd (Mac), you can also select several transcripts.
Click Open and MAXQDA will search the file for timestamps and ask for the5.
associated media files. Select them in the dialog window that opens, and click
Open. If you don’t want to link any media files to the transcript, click Cancel.
MAXQDA will ask if you want to import the transcript without a media file and if
you want to keep the timestamps in the text.

Importing transcripts from AmberScript
AmberScript is an online transcription app with automatic speech recognition. To
import a transcript from AmberScript:
Edit the transcript online1.
Export the transcript in JSON format. Make sure to activate the options to include2.
time stamps and speakers.
In MAXQDA go to the Import tab and choose Transcripts > From Amberscript3.
(.json)
Importing transcripts from f4x Spracherkennung
f4x Spracherkennung is an online transcription app with automatic speech recognition.
To import a transcript from f4x Spracherkennung:
Edit the transcript with f47f5 transcript1.
Export the transcript in RTF format.2.
In MAXQDA go to the Import tab and choose Transcripts > From f4/f5 transcript3.
Importing transcripts from Temi
Temi is an online transcription app with automatic speech recognition. To import a
transcript from Temi:
Export the transcript in DOCX format.2.
In MAXQDA go to the Import tab and choose Transcripts > From Temi (.docx)3.
Importing transcripts from Trint
Trint is an online transcription app with automatic speech recognition. To import a
transcript from Trint:
Export the transcript in XML format.2.
In MAXQDA go to the Import tab and choose Transcripts > From Trint (.xml)3.
What happens when you import a transcript?
MAXQDA creates a new text document with the transcript.q
The audio or video file is copied into the folder for external files and assigned to theq
transcript.

Text documents with the associated media file can be recognized by their specialq
symbols in the "Document System": a musical note for audio files and a
video camera for video files.
MAXQDA converts the timestamps in the transcript to internal MAXQDA timestamps
and entries in the timestamp table and simultaneously removes them from the text for
better readability. The chronology of the timestamps is checked in the text:
Timestamps that refer to an earlier time than those previous to them are removed.
Tip: If you do not assign an audio or video file during import, you can do this later by
right-clicking on the document name and selecting the Properties option. However,
this is only possible if you do not leave the time stamps in the text during import,
because only then will they be converted into MAXQDA-internal time stamps.
Timestamp display in MAXQDA
Texts that already contain timestamps when imported can, if necessary, be subdivided
more precisely with further timestamps. For more information, see the Transcription
section.
Supported timestamp formats
MAXQDA automatically recognizes the following timestamp formats in a transcript:
Software Timestamp format
easytranscript, f4 & f5transcript #hh:mm:ss-x#
HyperTRANSCRIBE [hh:mm:ss.xxx]
Inqscribe, Transcriva [hh:mm:ss.xx]
Transana (h:mm:ss.xx)
Transcribe [hh:mm:ss]
Transcriber Pro hh:mm:ss
If you are using a different transcription software, you may be able to customize the
timestamps by finding and replacing digits in the program with one of formats that

can be imported:
Note: If you import any text document that contains timestamps in one of the formats
listed above, MAXQDA will automatically detect the timestamps and ask you for the
associated media file.
Focus Group Transcripts
MAXQDA offers a variety of functions for the analysis of focus groups. To use these
analytical tools, it is necessary to import focus group transcripts using the focus group
import function. If you are transcribing a focus group interview in MAXQDA or if you
have already imported a transcript, you can also convert the text into a focus group
transcript later. When importing a focus group transcript or converting a text into a
focus group transcript, all speech contributions are coded with the respective speaker
name, which makes it easy to differentiate between individual speakers in the analysis.
To import a focus group transcript to MAXQDA, select Focus Group Transcripts in the
Import tab and choose your transcript format from the drop down menu. Linking the
focus group transcript to an audio or video file and working with time stamps works
just like importing a regular transcript.
Import focus group transcripts
Each contribution begins in a new paragraph. At the beginning of each contributionq
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 speakers, up to the point where the next speaker is indicated.
MAXQDA will tolerate a space that is accidentally set before a name or in front of aq
colon, and treats the associated names to be identical.
The names of the speakers that appear before the colon can be a maximum of 63q
characters in length.
Sections of text at the beginning of the transcript (in which no colon occurs withinq
63 characters) will not be coded. This provides the opportunity for you to include a
title and general information about the focus group for easy recognition.
Timestamps originating from the transcription software F4 or F5 will be treated asq

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 speakers as an example:
Moderator: Well good morning to everyone – thank everyone for being here. We’ve
been chatting and I’ve already outlined what we were hoping for this discussion in
your packs. We know you come from a variety of employment backgrounds and we
are hoping to guide the discussion and get your opinions about along various topics
connected to the various current financial crises and general economic downturn. To
start with though we just want to find out what things are prominent – most
occupying your minds.
We need to ensure that we’ve covered the important things during discussion. So
perhaps if we could go round the room – you say what matters – roughly in the
context of what this discussion is all about. Just to assist the transcriber eventually, if
you could just say your name when you start talking after a while … it won’t go in the
transcript itself.
Moderator: How do you feel now about your job and how secure do you feel? What
changes have you experienced in this regard? Please do talk about relationships at
work and morale if it’s relevant to you.
Lucas: It has changed now where I work. It’s an international firm. Hope you don’t
mind me not saying what type of work it is. You are really gagged and your jobs on
the line if it gets out. We’re under the cosh basically. In the last couple of years two
other big parts of the company have shut up shop or move to the Far East.
Moderator: So do these other closures affect morale?
Lucas: Well … it’s more like it’s a great weapon to use when they want you to work
extra time for no money. The stress – there’s just no morale at all. You get the
impression that HR are lining you up for the sack. It’s because of employment laws
now – they’ve got more leeway to discipline you if you are off sick for instance. Half
the time people are off sick because of stress
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 System” 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 speakers of are listed individually,
with the number at the end of the line indicating the number of contributions. The
speakers are attached to their transcripts. If you move the document, the speakers will
move with it. Only the order of speakers can be adjusted with the mouse. Like other
documents, focus groups documents can be assigned to a document group or set.
MAXQDA view after importing a focus group transcript
In the “Code System” you will see a very similar listing: At the bottom of the Code
System a code with the name of the imported data will appear, with the speakers
listed as subcodes, and the same symbol as in the “Document System”. Speaker
codes and the speakers in the document are attached: If you change the order of the
speakers 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 corresponding
code and its subcodes will be deleted from the “Code System”.
Tip: You can choose to place focus group speaker codes at the top of the Code
System, in the "Code System" window settings.
The fact that the speakers are available both in the "Document System" and in the
"Code System” opens up extensive possibilities for the analysis, as the speakers can be
activated as independent codes and as document subsets. More information:
Analyzing Focus Groups Data.
Tip: After importing the transcript you should check the names of the speakers for
typographical errors. This will avoid frustration later, in the case that the same person
appears twice under different names because the name was written or spelled
differently. Since the speaker 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 speakers. The top-level codes can be
moved within the same Code System, but the speaker 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 speakers may be useful for other types of
documents in which multiple individuals interact, for example forum discussions or
comments on YouTube videos.
Converting an already imported text into a focus group transcript
Sometimes you realize that it would have been better to import a text as a focus group
transcript into MAXQDA after you have already imported and coded it as a normal text
document. Or you have transcribed an interview with several participants in MAXQDA
and would like to code all of the speakers and their contributions automatically. In
both cases you can use the function Convert Text>Insert Displayed Text as a Focus
Group Transcript, which is available in the Import Tab. First, open the relevant
document and then start the function. MAXQDA will insert a copy of the text as a
focus group document:
The speakers contributions will be coded automatically and corresponding codes forq
each speaker will be created in the „Code System“ window.
MAXQDA will copy all existing coding information and memos into the newlyq
created document, also the variable values and the summaries.
A linked media file will be linked to the new document, too.q
The links in or on the document will not be transferred.q
Survey Data from Excel
Importing survey data and other structured data from Excel spreadsheets
With MAXQDA you can import structured documents from an Excel spreadsheet in
XLS/S format, during which individual table cells will be automatically coded. In
addition, variable values can be assigned to the individual texts. This is particularly
useful when importing (online) surveys with standardized and open answers.
How should the Excel table be structured?
When imported into MAXQDA, each row of the table becomes a new document,

wherein the contents 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
ID
[Document
Name]
Positive Feedback
[Open Question 1]
Negative
Feedback
[Open
Question 2]
Age
[Variable
1]
Pre-knowledge
[Variable 2]
Group A Person 1 Great conference!
The catering
was a bit tight
22 high
Group A Person 2
Best keynote I have
heard in a long time
25 medium
Group B Person 3
I especially enjoyed
the pre-conference
workshop
none 21 medium
Group B Person 4
Great job - keep
going!
Please make
workshops
longer in the
future
31 low
Each row of the table contains a case, and the columns "Open Question 1" and
"Open Question 2" contain the respondent’s responses to the respective questions.
The "Variable" columns contains standardized information for each case in the form
of variables. 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”.
Please 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 process. However, at least one column is
required, which contains the document name.
Starting the import process
To import Survey data from an Excel file, go to the Import tab and select the Survey
data> Import data from Excel spreadsheet function. You can also import documents
from an Excel spreadsheet on the Import tab from Excel spreadsheets. In principle,
however, both calls lead to the same result.

Import Excel files
Selecting import settings
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.
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 automatically 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 survey data, 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 software.
In the middle section, you can select the columns to be imported as coded text or as
variables.
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.
Please note: When the dialog box opens, MAXQDA will have marked all the columns
in the Excel table which vary a lot as coded text, since these are most likely to be
responses to open questions.
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 content 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 therefore 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 example, data from different points in time in a longitudinal study can be added to
the original document. Existing variable entries in existing documents will be updated.
Empty variable values in the Excel table are ignored when importing.
Please note: For documents whose name appears repeatedly in a document group, the
text will be added to the first document of the same name.

Selecting other settings for importing 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 assigns 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, decimal, 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 during the import.
Imported texts in MAXQDA
After importing the table from the example into an empty MAXQDA project, it will
appear as follows:
Imported texts in MAXQDA
When importing, MAXQDA proceeds as follows:
Document groups that do not yet exist will be created.q
The headings of the code columns will run from left to right and will be insertedq
from top to bottom in the code system as new code names, as long as they do not
yet exist. All text segments 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 theq
variable value from the variable column.
In the section "Categorize Survey Data" you will find information on how to analyze
the imported survey data in MAXQDA.
Survey Data from
SurveyMonkey
Which import options does MAXQDA offer for
SurveyMonkey data?
With MAXQDA you can import survey data directly from
SurveyMonkey into an open MAXQDA project in order to
analyze the data with all MAXQDA tools. The use of
another software such as Excel for export and import is
no longer required. While importing the data every case
of the online survey becomes a MAXQDA document.
You can code the answers of the open-ended questions
automatically with the question text. Additionally, you
can transform the standardized information into
document variables.
Please note: In order to use this MAXQDA tool access to
your own SurveyMonkey account is required. Not all
SurveyMonkey plans allow access to the data by third-
party applications like MAXQDA. Please check the
website of SurveyMonkey, if your plan allows to export
data (at present at least an EXTRA- or PREMIUM plan is
necessary).
Starting the import process
To start the data import, proceed as described below:
1. Select Documents > Import data from SurveyMonkeyq
in the main menu.
2. You will be redirected to the login page fromq
SurveyMonkey in your Internet browser. Fill in your

login data and click Login.
Login page for SurveyMonkey in the Internet browser
Please note: If it is the first time you connect with
SurveyMonkey a window might appear asking for free
access through your firewall. Please confirm that
MAXQDA is allowed to contact the Internet. Otherwise
the import is not possible.
3. Another SurveyMonkey window opens and you areq
asked to authorize MAXQDA to get data from
SurveyMonkey.
Authorization of SurveyMonkey in your browser window
Please note: MAXQDA uses the connection to

SurveyMonkey only for importing the survey data. When
you close MAXQDA the authorization from
SurveyMonkey for MAXQDA is cancelled meaning you
must reauthorize the import of further data from
SurveyMonkey each time you restart MAXQDA.
Importing data
After a successful authorization of SurveyMonkeyq
MAXQDA loads an overview of your surveys and
displays the dialog below. In this window you can select
the survey you want to import
This dialog window allows you to select a survey you want to import
Via the selection at the bottom you can chooseq
whether you want to import every case or a random
sample of the cases. After doing that click Continue.
A new dialog window appears. Here you can choose onq
the top which question shall be applied as document
name. In order to guarantee a unified definition of the
documents the case-ID is selected by default. In general
it is advised to keep this selection.

Tweaking the settings for the import
In the center of the window you can choose the columns
to import as coded text or as a variable. If you tick both
marks MAXQDA imports the content of this column as
both, a coded text and a variable. This can be useful if
you want to read the information of the variable directly
in the text (e.g. how old a person is or whether she has
kids). By doing that you can avoid receiving this
information only via the tooltip or the data editor of the
document variables.
If you don’t place a tick mark on a column MAXQDA
ignores this column for the import.
The selection at the bottom allows you to set the option
Code empty answers. If you mark this option, MAXQDA
imports and codes cells without content as empty
paragraphs. Otherwise empty cells would not be coded.
After clicking OK the data will be imported:

A new document group labelled with the name of theq
survey will be created.
Every imported case in this document group will beq
imported into an own document.
For each question that had been ticked in the columnq
to import as a “code” a new code will be created in the
“Code System” window
The imported documents contain answers to thoseq
questions that are selected automatically in the column
“Code”. The answers are coded automatically with the
particular question code. This gives you the opportunity
to get an overview of every answer of a question just
by using the Coding Query functions in MAXQDA.
Data from SurveyMonkey after the MAXQDA import
Information about the single question survey types
The question types from SurveyMonkey are imported into
the MAXQDA project as described in the following table.
You can determine whether an answer will be imported
as an automatically coded answer to an open-ended
question or/and as a document variable in the dialog that
is shown before starting the import (see above).
Question type Standard import in MAXQDA
Multiple Choice
1 variable
‘Other’ answer: automatically
coded text
Dropdown
1 variable
coded text
Star Rating 1 variable

Matrix/
Rating Scale
1 variable per item
coded text
Matrix of Dropdown
Menus
1 variable per answer cell
coded text
Ranking 1 variable per rank
Net Promoter® Score 1 variable
Slider 1 variable
Single Textbox Automatically coded text
Multiple Textboxes
Automatically coded text per
textbox
Comment Box Automatically coded text
Contact information 1 variable per box
Date/time 1 variable
Twitter Data
MAXQDA’s Twitter analysis features
MAXQDA allows you to import data directly from Twitter
into an open project and to analyze it using MAXQDA’s
usual functions as well as the specific analysis tool.
With a complex search, you can search for tweets on
Twitter according to specific hashtags, usernames or
terms, and then import them into a MAXQDA project.
The function’s special feature is that it can code your
Twitter data automatically with up to 100 author names
and up to 100 hashtags during import (and, if necessary,
later). This automatic preparation can save a lot of time,
which you can then use for your actual analysis.
Researchers who analyze social media data can use
MAXQDA to answer the following questions, among
others:
What did a user, user group or company post at aq
certain time? What were other users reaction to its
content?
Which are the most common words used in theq
tweets?
How many followers do the people tweeting aboutq

particular topics have and what is the reach of
individual tweets?
On which weekdays and at what times were tweets onq
certain topics written?
Please note: To use this function, you need your own
Twitter account.
Import Twitter data
To import twitter data, go to Import > Twitter Data.
Importing Twitter data
The following dialog window will appear:
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.
Please 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 account 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 be-come
available.

Search window for importing Twitter data
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 entered, 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 somewhere 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.)
Please 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.
Please note: Imports are 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 several
columns, each named in the top line:
Date/Time
The time when the tweet was
sent
Tweet Text of the tweets
Hashtags
All hashtags that occur in the
tweet
Type
Marks whether a tweet is a
retweet or a reply
Reply
Lists the Twittername to which
tweet was replied
Author und real name
Twittername and real name of
the author
Author location
Location entered by the Twitter
user himself - not necessarily the
location from which the tweet
was sent (may be empty)
Author timezone
Time zone according to user
(may be empty)
Author URL
Author's website (may be
empty)
Author description Self-description of the author
Followers
Number of followers of the
author (the higher the range of
a tweet)
Follows
Number of people who follow
the author
Tweets Number of tweets

Profile verified by
twitter
Specifies whether the author's
profile has been verified by
Twitter
Profile created
Specifies how long the author
has been registered on Twitter
with their profile
Retweets
Number of times the tweet has
been retweeted
Likes Number of likes for the tweet
Language
Language in which the tweet
was written (automatically
recognized by Twitter)
Device
Device or software from which
the tweet was sent
Tweet-Coordinates
Geoposition from which the
tweet was sent (often empty)
YouTube Data
What YouTube data analysis options does
MAXQDA offer?
YouTube videos are often commented on by viewers,
and sometimes their comments sections even turn into
forums for extensive debates, for instance in the case of
videos on political topics. These comments can be very
interesting to researchers working in diverse disciplines in
the social sciences, as well as in market or opinion
research.
MAXQDA allows you to import comments posted on a
YouTube video into an open MAXQDA project and have
them coded automatically. Additionally, you can import
any transcripts or subtitles provided with the videos,
which means you don't have to transcribe them
manually.
You can analyze the imported data using MAXQDA's
wide range of tools, including thematic coding, word
frequency analysis, and visualization tools. These tools
allow you to answer questions including, but not limited

to, the following:
What is the content of the comments posted on theq
selected videos?
Which words are used most frequently in theseq
comments?
How have viewers rated the selected video?q
Which comments are replied to most frequently andq
which not at all?
How do users communicate with each other?q
What is said in a video or in certain scenes?q
Importing YouTube data
To import YouTube data into your MAXQDA project, first
open the YouTube video in your browser (e.g. in
Chrome, Firefox or Safari) and copy the complete link
from the URL bar to the clipboard.
Copy the complete YoutTube link
Go to Import > YouTube Data in MAXQDA.
Start import from YouTube
You will then see the following dialog box. If you have
saved a link for a YouTube video to the clipboard,
MAXQDA automatically enters it in the first field and
retrieves the corresponding video information. If you
already have the dialog box open, you can paste a link
from the clipboard into the field at any time and then
click the button Retrieve video information.

Dialog box for importing YoutTube data
In the upper area of the dialog box, MAXQDA will display
how many comments and how many transcripts or
subtitles assigned to the video are available to download.
Please note: YouTube does not allow you to download
transcripts/subtitles for all videos, even if subtitles are
displayed on the YouTube page of the video.
In the lower area of the dialog box, select whether you
want to import the comments and transcript or just one
of the two. The following options are available for
importing comments:
Import only top level comments – If you choose this
option, the replies to comments are ignored.
Autocode comments – If you select this option, each
comment is automatically coded with a code. The code
indicates how many replies were made to the comment.
You should leave this option activated to give you easy
access to the texts of comments later.
To import the transcripts, you can select or deselect all
the available languages listed in the dialog box. The
following options are also available:

Include times in transcript – If you select this option, the
corresponding times in the video times are added at the
beginning of each line of the transcript. This is useful if
you don't need to match the video to the transcript (in
that case the times are displayed as MAXQDA
timestamps at the beginning of each line).
Link existing video file to transcript – If you have
downloaded the YouTube video, you can link it directly
to the transcript. To do this, simply tick this option and
select the video file by clicking on the three dots.
Please note: You can link video files to their transcript at
any time later: MAXQDA saves the corresponding times
during import and displays them later as timestamps.
Imported comments in MAXQDA
The following displays an example of the view in
MAXQDA after you have imported YouTube comments:
Imported YouTube comments in MAXQDA
What happens when you import comments from
YouTube?
Comments are compiled in table documents, 1,000q
comments at a time, in the "Document System". These
table documents are labeled with a YouTube icon.
These table documents are stored in a document groupq
whose name contains the video title and the import
time. The corresponding document group memo

contains more information about the video, such as the
publication date and the number of likes.
A new code named "Autocode <Video Name andq
Import Time>" is added to the "Code System".
This code contains the subcode "Comment at top levelq
with...", where as many subcodes are added to the
code as there are different frequencies of replies to a
comment. All comments are coded with the code
according to their number of replies.
The second subcode is the code "Reply to comment".q
All replies are coded with this code.
To later display all the comments at the top level in the
"Code System" to aid your analysis, you can do the
following:
Activate all the documents containing the comments1.
of one (or more) videos.
Activate the code "Comment at top level with..."2.
including all subcodes.
The table document with the imported YouTube
comments contains the following columns:
Nr. – Consecutive numbering, where the answers to aq
comment are numbered starting at 1 for easy
identification:
0001 = oldest comment
0001-01 = first reply to oldest comment
0002 = second-oldest comment
0002-35 = 35th reply to second-oldest comment
Comment – The comment textq
Author – Name of the comment authorq
Author URL – Link to the author's profileq
Top level – Indicates whether the comment is a topq
level comment (i.e. not a reply). The cell will either
contain the word "yes" or <empty>.
Replies – Number of responses to a top-level comment.q
Always 0, if it is not a top-level comment, that is, a
reply.
Likes – Number of likes given to the commentq
Published – Date the comment was postedq

Updated – Date the comment was updated, ifq
applicable
Please note: The YouTube comments import function is
limited to the 10,000 most recent comments per video.
Imported YouTube transcripts
Here you can see a YouTube transcript once it has been
imported into MAXQDA:
Imported YouTube transcript in MAXQDA
The transcript text is displayed in the "Document
Browser". In the example, a video file has been assigned
to it such that timestamps can be seen in the column
next to the paragraphs. Clicking on a timestamp plays
the video at the corresponding position.
Subtitle Data (SRT)
Videos often come accompanied by text files that contain
the spoken words of a video combined with the
corresponding playback times such that the texts can be
displayed as subtitles to the video. Very often the SRT
format is used for these text files, which can be
generated for YouTube videos, for example, using
various software tools.
You can import these text files in SRT format into
MAXQDA. Start the import as usual via Import > Texts,
PDFs, Tables or right-click on a folder in the "Document
System" and select Import Document(s). Then select an
SRT file in the file dialog box.

MAXQDA imports the file and asks you for the
corresponding video file.
Imported SRT data in MAXQDA's Document Browser
The timestamps in the SRT file are converted into
MAXQDA timestamps. Clicking on a timestamp plays the
video file at the corresponding playback position.
If you have downloaded an SRT file assigned to a
YouTube video, this file may have been created
automatically. YouTube identifies places in these files
that were not easily recognized by the automatic system
in a light gray and gray font. This color coding is adopted
by MAXQDA during the import. Please note that such
automatically generated transcripts have no punctuation
either, that is, without commas, full stops, or other
punctuation.
Web Pages
With the MAXQDA Web Collector, you can save web
pages in your browser and then import them into
MAXQDA as a PDF, image or text. Additionally, you can
also directly import websites that are available in HTML
format as MAXQDA texts.
Please note: If you use the direct import of web pages in
HTML format, web pages are imported as text
documents (and not as web pages). The layout can
change a lot during the import, which is why the version
of the import with the Web Collector from MAXQDA is
clearly preferable. The direct HTML import is particularly
suitable for simply structured and laid out data.

Saving web pages with the MAXQDA Web
Collector
The MAXQDA Web Collector is an add-on for the
Internet browser „Google Chrome“. It allows you to save
entire websites and import the files as pdf, picture, or
text documents into MAXQDA. Among other things, this
tool is useful to compare websites from various
organizations, or to collect and edit content from
websites for analysis with MAXQDA.
Installing the MAXQDA Web Collector
In order to work with the MAXQDA Web Collector the
installation of the Internet browser “Google Chrome” is
required. As soon as “Chrome” is installed on your
computer you can start the installation of the “MAXQDA
Web Collector”:
Open „Google Chrome“.1.
Search the Chrome Web Store for „Web Collector for2.
MAXQDA“.
In order to add the add-on to your browser click „+3.
Add“.
After a successful installation you can see a tiny4.
MAXQDA icon top-right in your browser window:
MAXQDA icon to open the MAXQDA Web Collector in „Google Chrome“
If you want to open the Web Collector just click on the
MAXQDA icon:

MAXQDA Web Collector
The Web Collector offers three modes:
Entire web pages can be saved. The layout remainsq
optimally maintained.
Web pages can be saved in a simplified version. Theq
website will be reduced to text and pivotal pictures.
Selected segments can be saved in order to transferq
only a chosen section of a website.
Saving entire web pages
If your research is based on the analysis of every visible
item of the website it is recommended to safe the entire
website in order to import it to your MAXQDA project as
true to the original as possible. For doing that proceed as
described below:
Open the website you want to safe in Google1.
Chrome.
When the website is fully loaded open the Web2.
Collector by clicking the tiny MAXQDA icon.
Make sure the tab „Web Page“ is open.3.
Note: In case the pictures are not displayed after you
switched to the tab “Simplified Web Page” and back,
please reload the website in the browser.
Assign a name to the document. This name will later1.
be inherited into the MAXQDA project.
If required, you can fill in a text in the “Document2.

Memo” box. This text will later be connected to the
imported document as a document memo.
Click Collect.3.
The MAXQDA Web Collector informs you about the
progress and saves the website in the selected download
folder of your browser. By default, it is the download
folder of the logged in user. The web page is saved in a
format that was specially developed for a further
processing in MAXQDA.
Please note: Time for saving can vary depending on the
scope and complexity of the website.
Websites that are saved this way can be imported into
MAXQDA as a pdf or picture document.
Saving simplified web pages
In case the focus of your website analysis lies on text you
can safe it as “simplified” website. The website will be
reduced to text and pivotal pictures which can be
compared to the read mode of your smartphone. This is
particularly useful for big newspapers and magazines. In
order to import a “simplified” website proceed as
described below:
Open the website you want to safe in Google1.
Chrome.
When the website is fully loaded open the Web2.
Collector by clicking the tiny MAXQDA icon.
Click on the “Simplified Web Page“ Tab. The web3.
page will then be displayed in a reduced window.
Please note: Some websites cannot be simplified for
technical reasons. You will be informed if this is the case
via a message in the Web Collector window.
If required adjust further options such as font type,4.
font size, and margin. This is particularly important if
you want to import the website as a pdf document
later.
Assign a name to the document. This name will later5.

be inherited in the MAXQDA project.
If required, you can fill in a text in the “Document6.
Memo” box. This text will later be connected to the
imported document as a document memo.
Click7.
The MAXQDA Web Collector informs you about the
progress und saves the website in the selected download
folder of your browser. By default, it is download folder
of the logged in user. Websites that has been saved this
way can be imported into MAXQDA as a pdf or text
document.
Saving segments of a web page
In case you are only interested in a certain segment of a
website there is a possibility to save single units of a
website.
Highlight the segment you are interested in with yourq
mouse.
Right-click the highlighted segment and choose Collectq
selection.
The highlighted segment will be downloaded
immediately. It will be saved in your selected download
folder.
Segments that have been saved this way can be imported
into MAXQDA as a pdf or text document.
Copyright notice: the MAXQDA Web Collector uses
“Single File”, a Chrome extension created by Gildas
Lormeau.
Importing web pages into MAXQDA with the
Web Collector
You can import a saved web page into your MAXQDA
project by following these steps:
Open the MAXQDA project you want to import the1.
saved websites in.

Mark a document group in the “list of documents” in2.
order to import the website in a selected document
group.
Select Import > Web Collector Data in the main menu.3.
Import Web Collector data from the Import tab
The following dialog window will appear:
Dialog window for the import of documents that have been saved with the Web Collector
If you open the dialog for the first time MAXQDA1.
selects the standard folder for downloads and displays
it at the top of the box. Every single website located in
this folder will be listed in the center of the dialog. By
clicking the three dots … you can choose any other
folder to import saved websites from the MAXQDA
Web Collector.
Select every website you want to import with the2.
mouse. It will be highlighted green.
Tip: Double click a row to open the downloaded file in
the Internet browser. This allows you to check single
websites for their content.
Two options are provided at the bottom of the dialog:3.
first, you can select whether websites should be
imported as pdf or picture documents. Second, you
can select whether simplified websites or segments

should be imported as pdf or text documents.
In order to start the import, click Import selected files.
The time for import can vary depending on the scope
and format of the selected document. A progress bar
informs you about the import progress of each
document.
In case you selected pdf or picture format and you want
to import big files, MAXQDA asks you whether you want
to import them as externally saved files or in the project
(see External Files).
Please note: The main layout will be adopted in the
import process. The website’s changed print layout won’t
be intentionally not imported. Deviations from the
website’s original layout might occur especially as far as
complex websites are concerned.
Direct imports from wep pages in HTML-Format
You can also import an HTML file directly into1.
MAXQDA. To do this, go to the Import tab and select
In the dialog box that appears, select the HTML file.
MAXQDA imports the file as a text document and2.
includes images, if they were linked correctly in the
HTML file.
Please note: If you use the direct import of web pages in
HTML format, web pages are imported as text
documents (and not as web pages). The layout can
change a lot during the import, which is why the version
of the import with the Web Collector from MAXQDA is
clearly preferable. The direct HTML import is particularly
suitable for simply structured and laid out data.
Bibliographic Data (Endnote,
Zotero etc.)

What type of literature can be imported into
MAXQDA?
MAXQDA offers the possibility to import bibliographic
data from literature management programs such as
Endnote, Mendeley, Citavi and Zotero in order to
conduct literature reviews or to review the state of
research in literature. Such programs are mainly used in
the scientific field for literature work, which means that
they primarily serve the administration of literature
references and the creation of literature lists and support
the creation of scientific texts. Similar to MAXQDA, the
literature management programs work with projects,
which are containers containing all collected
bibliographic information. The units of the projects
consist of literature references (author, title, etc.), for
which digital versions of the full texts in PDF format are
often stored as attachments.
MAXQDA is compatible with all literature management
programs that are able to export their literature
databases in RIS format, which is a standard format for
bibliographic information. With the following programs it
is possible to import the assigned full texts into MAXQDA
in addition to the literature references:
Endnoteq
Mendeleyq
Zoteroq
When importing into MAXQDA, each literature entry
becomes its own text document. If full texts are
imported, MAXQDA automatically connects them to the
literature entries using the document link. The individual
information in the literature entries is automatically
coded for later analysis so that, for example, all titles or
abstracts can be compiled and searched. The
attachements can be automatically coded during the
import with the keywords assigned to them and the
notes for a literature entry can be saved as a document
memo with the corresponding appendix.

Literature import in MAXQDA
Remarks on the RIS format
RIS is the short form for "Research Information System
Format". RIS files are simple text files in which all
exported literature entries are listed one after the other.
The RIS files contain so called " tags ", which consist of
two letters and are followed by the corresponding
information. Important tags are for example:
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 -
Importing literature data from Endnote,
Mendeley or Zotero
Before importing literature data into MAXQDA, you must
export the desired data from your literature management
program in the RIS format.
Export from Endnote
Export options Endnote
Select the literature entries you want to export.1.
Select File > Export... from the main menu.2.
Enter a file name and select a directory.3.
Set the file type to "Text Only" and the output style to4.
"RefMan (RIS) Export" as shown in the following
picture. If this output style is not available, open the
selection list and select "Select Another Style..." at the
top, where you can search for the output style.
Click Save5.
Export from Zotero

Export options Zotero
Right-click on a collection and choose Export1.
Collection... Alternatively, choose File > Export
Library... from the main menu to export the entire
library.
In the appearing dialog select "RIS" as format.2.
If you want to export the notes and the associated3.
files (especially the full texts), make sure to check the
corresponding boxes for Export Notes and Export Files.
After clicking OK, assign a file name and select a4.
directory.
Click Save5.
Starting the Import in MAXQDA
After you have exported the desired data, select Import >
Reference Manager Data > Import from
Endnote/Mendeley/Zotero in MAXQDA. The following
dialog appears:
Import literature from Endnote

Click Select File... to select the exported file in RIS format.
This file has either the extension RIS (Mendeley / Zotero)
or TXT (Endnote).
MAXQDA analyzes the file and shows you various
options for importing it. First you can choose if you want
to import the references as well as the attachments (full
texts) or only one of them.
Tip: MAXQDA checks by author, year, title and
publication type which bibliographical references and
which attachments already exist in the project file and
indicates in brackets how much new data is added by the
import. MAXQDA only imports new entries so that no
duplicates are created.
For the import of attachements the following options are
available:
Only PDF files - Select this option to ignore all other file
formats such as Word documents when importing
appendices.
Autocode keywords - By setting this option, a small area
with all keywords contained in the literature reference is
coded at the beginning of each attachment. This makes
it easy to select full texts based on the keywords assigned
to them. Please note that the keywords contained in a
literature reference do not necessarily have to match the
keywords actually assigned in the text by the authors.
Add notes as document memos - If this option is
enabled, all notes for a literature reference are added as
document memos in the "Document System". The tag
N1 of the RIS format is evaluated for the notes.
Store attachments in folder for external files - If this
option is disabled, all PDF and image files will be copied
to the MAXQDA project file. This is usually recommended
if there are only a few or small attachments. If this option
is enabled, PDF and image files will be saved in the
External Files folder, so the project file itself will remain
very small. Here you can find more information about

externally stored files.
If you want to import attachments from Endnote, you
have to click on Select file... at the bottom of the dialog
to tell MAXQDA where the Endnote library from which
you exported the data is located in your file system. This
is necessary for MAXQDA to know where the
attachements are located. The Endnote library has the file
extension ENL.
By clicking OK the import process is started.
Import bibliographic data from other programs
If you neither use Endnote, Mendeley nor Zotero, you
can still import a RIS file with bibliographic information.
Export all desired references from your program in RIS
format.
Tip: You can also export search results in RIS format from
an online journal or catalogue, for example to analyse
how the thematic focus of a journal's titles has changed
over the years.
Switch to the tab Import in MAXQDA and select the
entry Reference Manager Data > Import Bibliographic
Data from RIS File. A short explanation window will
appear and then a selection dialog which lists only files
with the endings RIS or TXT. Select the exported file and
confirm your selection with OK.
Please note: When using this import option, no
attachments (full texts) are imported.
What happens during the import?
A document group "REFERENCES" is created in theq
"Document System".
All literature entries are added to the newly createdq
document group as individual text documents. The
entries are sorted alphabetically and marked with their

own symbols.
The document name consists of the surnames and firstq
names of the authors as well as the year. In the case of
two authors these are linked with "&", in the case of
three or more authors only the first author is
mentioned and "et al." is added.
In the "Code System" a code "REFERENCES" with theq
two subcodes "RIS" and "KEYWORDS" is generated.
The code "RIS" contains all RIS tags used in the import
file as subcodes, e.g. "Type of reference" or
"Abstract". The code "KEYWORDS" contains all
keywords assigned in the literature references as
subcodes.
When importing, all references are automatically codedq
by coding each text section with the corresponding RIS
code.
Each keyword in the literature reference is coded withq
the corresponding keyword in the code system.
DOI links are inserted into the text as hyperlinks, so thatq
you can access the online version of a publication
directly if required.
If attachements are imported, the following will also
happen:
A document group "REFERENCES > ATTACHMENTS" isq
created in the "Document System".
All attachments are imported into this document groupq
as separate documents.
The documents retain their file names and are sorted inq
alphabetical ascending order of their references. The
sorting of the document names is therefore not
necessarily alphabetical and the same document names
may occur, e.g. if there are several documents with
"Table of Contents".
And in case references and attachments are imported:
In addition, document links are created, which link theq
literature reference with the corresponding
attachments, so that you can jump back and forth
between literature reference and full text with a single

click. In the literature reference, the document link can
be found in the "Link to PDF (L1)" section (the name
comes from the RIS format and also applies if it is a file
format other than PDF). In the appendix, the document
link is placed at the beginning of the document.
Adopting selected information as variables
The following variables are automatically assigned to
each newly created document when importing literature
data, including attachments if imported.
RIS_Type (Type of reference) – Text variableq
RIS_Author (First author) – Text variableq
RIS_Title (Title) – Text variableq
RIS_Reference-ID (Identification number of the entry inq
the literature database, is only exported by a few
programs, e.g. Endnote) – Integer
RIS_Year (Year of publication) – Integerq
The variables are created as system variables and cannot
be changed by the user.
Analyzing literature data in MAXQDA
After the import and the automatic pre-coding, the
bibliographic data and the corresponding full texts are
available in MAXQDA like normal documents. This means
that they can be searched, coded, linked and assigned
memos and are available for further analysis. Of course,
the Visual Tools and all other functions such as the
graphics and statistics functions can also be used. By

importing the variable values, for example, only
documents of a certain type can be selected for analyses,
such as journal articles or anthology articles, or only
publications from a certain year.
Some initial ideas for the analysis:
Right-click on a keyword in the code system and selectq
the function Activate Documents Containing this Code.
MAXQDA will then activate all literature entries and
attachments to which this keyword has been assigned.
Double click on "RIS > Abstract" to open all abstractsq
in the "Coded segments" overview. Start the Smart
Coding Tool by clicking on the symbol bearing the
same name in the toolbar to encode and systematize
the abstracts.
Activate the document group "REFERENCES" andq
activate the code "RIS > Title" to list all titles in the
"Retrieved Segments" window. Click on the Word
Cloud icon to start an analysis of the (most common)
words in the title.
Exporting bibliographic data in RIS format
Bibliographic data from a MAXQDA project can be
exported in RIS format for import into a reference
management program, for example. The export function
can be found in the Reports tab. Click on the Export icon
and select the Bibliographic Data as RIS File entry from
the menu.
After you have specified a saving directory, all documents
of the project that contain literature references (indicated
with a book symbol) are exported to a RIS file with UTF-8
encoding.

Structured Documents
(Preprocessor)
What are structured texts?
Often you may wish to import documents that are
structured and pre-coded. Examples for this kind of
document include:
Forms: Here you would like to code each section withq
its respective heading for the field in the form.
Questionnaires filled in by the respondents in aq
structured text file: Here you may wish to code the
answers with their respective questions or instructions.
Asynchronous online discussions: that you haveq
retrieved with online tools and already tagged.
The problem is similar in each case: before the actual
analysis has begun certain text sections have already
been allotted to specific form fields or similar. And you
would like to save yourself the effort of manually coding
each. To solve this problem, MAXQDA has the
preprocessor that allows you to split a text file into
several text documents during its import and to code
labeled text areas with one or more codes.
Import structured data with the preprocessor
The preprocessor lets you 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 follows:
#TEXT textname this is the content of the 1st text...
#TEXTtextname this is the content of the 2nd text...
#TEXT textname...
Every document must start with the “#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 automatic 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.
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 dedication 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.

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 going to the Import tab and
selecting Structured Text.
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 Preprocessor 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 example, 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
…
Important: It is important to remember that “CODE” 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:

#CODE CodenameSubcodename
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: 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:
#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.…
For a preliminary encoding of keywords from various text
excerpts, the following rules apply:
When the keywords #CODE or #ENDCODE appearq
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 newq
#CODE# command comes before an #ENDCODE#
command, the previous code is automatically closed.
Tip: To assign several codes to a text part you can
combine the codes with two “&&” characters, e.g.
#CODEFirst code && Second code && Third code
Mark participants of a focus group
If you use the tag #SPEAKER inside a text section,

MAXQDA will import the text as a focus group transcript
and will code the text after the tag with a speaker code.
The tag #ENDSPEAKER closes the speaker coding. The
tag may be inserted within a sentence, but then a # has
to be added after the name of the speaker.
#TEXTFocus group 1
#SPEAKERModerator
A warmly welcome to our session …
#ENDSPEAKER
#SPEAKERParticipant 1
#CODETheme 1
I have the following opinion
#ENDCODE
#ENDSPEAKER
This function is very interesting for exporting data that
have been collected online with the tool
http://www.kernwert.com.
MAXApp Projects
MAXApp is a free app for iOS and Android that allows
you to collect data from fieldwork (photos, sound
recordings, videos, texts). The data can then be exported
later via Dropbox or by a connection to a computer and
then imported into an open MAXQDA project. The
documents are imported into a new document group,
including their respective memos, codings, emoticodes
and geographic data, if available.
Exporting projects from MAXApp
Open the project you want to export in MAXApp.
Android
Export the project via Dropbox or via the memory of the
device. For the last option you need to connect your

device with a USB cable to your computer.
For detailed information about exporting projects from
MAXApp for Android, please refer to this link.
iOS
Export the project via Dropbox or via iTunes. For iTunes
export you need to connect your device with your
computer first.].
For detailed information about exporting projects from
MAXApp for iOS, please refer to this link.
Importing projects into MAXQDA
To import data from a MAXApp project into an open
MAXQDA project, follow these steps:
Go to the Import tab and click the MAXApp Project1.
A dialog window will appear in which you can select2.
either a ZIP file or an XML file. Open the folder where
the exported MAXApp project is saved. For a Dropbox
exports, a folder for MAXApp projects will have been
saved in your dropbox.
Open the ZIP or XML file inside the folder that is3.
labeled with the project name and choose Open.
Import the MAXApp project4.
The documents will be imported into your project and
placed in a new document group that is named exactly
like your MAXApp project.

03 - Viewing and Editing Data 167
03 - Viewing and Editing Data
View 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,” orq
right-click on the document in the “Document System” and choose Open document.q
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.
You can now begin to work with the document in the “Document Browser”. You can
code document or picture segments, attach memos, link segments, insert external
links, edit text, or add new text.
"Document Browser" setup
The "Document Browser" window has the following setup:

“Document Browser“ window setup
The window title displays the name of the open project and on the right there are
some icons for controlling the display, for printing, for exporting and for searching.
The coding bar is located directly underneath it, with which you can code the
document. Coded segments in the document are visualized in the gray side area with
so-called "coding strips". In the memo column, you can attach yellow memos with
notes on the data.
For texts, as shown in the example, there is a column with paragraph numbers
immediately to the left of the text, and each paragraph that is not empty receives a
consecutive number in MAXQDA. You can use these numbers as sources for citations
from the material.
Opening and viewing two documents windows
In MAXQDA's Document Browser you can only open and edit one document. But you
can still open 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.
Open document in 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 secondq
document browser, while the original document or section remains displayed. This
allows you to view both linked document sections at the same time. You can find
further information on document links here.
Coding and coding stripes
The drop-down “Code” toolbar is always displayed in the first document browser.q
The second document browser will display its own Code toolbar.
If the same document is displayed in both the document browsers, newly addedq
codes are displayed 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 eachq
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” window and Overview
of Coded Segments
Clicking on the source data in the "Retrieved Segments" window always brings upq
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 byq
clicking the Edit button, to make changes to the document. Please note that
only one of the two open documents can be in Edit mode at a time.
Please note: If the same document is open in both MAXQDA document browsers, it is
not possible to edit the document.
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 Document Browser with the left mouse button, then release.
In the local preferences of the "Document System" window, you can set that
documents are opened in a new tab by default. To do this, click on the gear in the
upper right corner of the toolbar and select the option Open documents in tabs.

Open documents in tabs
Edit Text Documents and Tables
Text documents and tables can’t be modified after you open them in the "Document
Browser”, to prevent unintentional changes to the document during your analysis.
However, you can open a document in Edit Mode at any time, which allows you to
adapt the text, for example, to correct a typo or error. You also need to activate Edit
Mode to create a new text in MAXQDA.
To turn on Edit Mode:
Click on the Edit Mode icon in the Document Browser toolbar as in the image below.q
Alternatively, you can also use the shortcuts Strg+E (Windows) or cmd+option/alt+Eq
(Mac).
Turn Edit Mode on/off
For text documents, the usual text formatting functions such as font size and size are
available in Edit Mode. A separate formatting toolbar will appear below the coding
toolbar.
Formatting toolbar for text documents
You can edit both the content and presentation of texts in table documents.

Note: It is not possible to edit contents of a PDF, an image, an audio file or a video file
within MAXQDA.
Saving text edits
The changes made in Edit Mode are transferred to the MAXQDA project file when the
Edit mode is closed. The modified text is saved every 5 minutes as you go. You can set
this backup interval in the global settings of MAXQDA, which can be opened via the
gear symbol on the top right of your MAXQDA window.
Set the interval for Autosave in Edit Mode
Undoing text changes
You can undo changes made in Edit Mode- this works in the same way as in Word.
For example, if you delete or reinsert a text passage, you can undo all these steps. You
can do this either by right-clicking the context menu in the "Document Browser" and
selecting the Undo Text Changes option.
Alternatively, you click on the symbol in the toolbar:
With the 'Undo All Text Changes' option, you can undo all the changes made since
you last opened Edit Mode with one click.
Line Numbers in Text Documents
By default, when importing a text into MAXQDA, all paragraphs are sequentially
numbered so that you can use them to cite the data material. This is sufficient in most
cases for the accuracy of the citation. However, sometimes it is desirable to use line

numbering instead of paragraph numbering for the citation.
Therefore, MAXQDA allows you to switch back and forth between paragraph and line
numbering: Right-click in the text and select Convert to Line Numbered Text.
Option for converting paragraph numbered text to line numbered text
In the following dialog box, the desired width of the text can be set in characters, e.g.
60 characters, 80 characters, etc.
Set max. line length
The result is a line-numbered text with a fixed number of characters per line and a
paragraph mark at the end of the line.

Text with line numbers
You can switch back to a paragraph numbered text at all times. To do this, right-click
in the text and select Convert to Paragraph Numbered Text.
Please note: MAXQDA uses soft returns (Shift+Return) for line numbering. When
switching back to paragraph numbering, these are replaced by regular paragraphs
(Returns). If a text contains soft returns before the conversion to line numbering, the
paragraph numbering can be different than before the line numbering. MAXQDA
informs you before converting to line numbering if a text contains soft line breaks.
Rename and Delete 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.

Context menu for a document
The Document Properties Window
If you right-click on a document in the “Document System” or "Data Editor for
Document Variables" 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 and Image files.
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. To import an externally stored document into the MAXQDA project file, click on
the Embed external document button.
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 – To create a link to a file that is accessible from your computer and
contains, for example, additional information about the interviewee or image, click in
the line for the external links and then click the three points at the end of the line.
Assign a Color to a Document
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. For example, you can use
color attributes to indicate the processing status of a document or to make other
features, such as the interviewer or the location, visible.
To assign a color, right-click on the document and select Color from the context menu
that appears.

Choose a color in the context menu
Click on one of the standard colors it will be displayed on the document symbol. Click
the icons to the right of the color squares to select your own colors.
Note: If you select MAXQDA's default color blue, no colored square will appear on the
document icon.
The color attributes of the documents are listed by default in the first column of the
"Data editor for document variables" and the "Document overview". Since each
column can be used as a sorting criterion, overviews can also be sorted according to
color. Documents with the same color will then be listed one after the other regardless

of the document group to which they are assigned.
MAXMaps, MAXQDA's tool for concept maps and modelling, also includes the color
attributes of the documents: The document symbol is displayed in its color.

04 - Codes 179
04 - Codes
The "Code System"
Codes have a hierarchical structure, meaning you can create multiple subcodes,
followed by subcodes 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.
MAXQDA’s “Code System” has the following characteristics:
A code is a text with a maximum of 63 characters consisting of one or more words.q
A code can contain empty spaces and special characters.
The number of codes in unlimited.q
The hierarchical structure can contain up to ten levels.q
Codes can be assigned a color.q
The so-called color codes play a special role. They are like text markers and changeq
the background color of the marked text.
emoticodes also play a specific role. An emoticon symbol appears in the “Codeq
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 aq
focus group. These codes can be identified by this icon . These codes can perform
special functions.
Working with coded segments (of text, images and videos) and the “Code System” is
a central aspect of computer-supported 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 expand or close the sub-
categories by clicking this button.

04 - Codes 180
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.
Using MAXMaps you can build a network structure of codes to be used during the
coding process, 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 following frequently-used functions for codes can be selected in the toolbar at the
top of the "Code System" window:
Reset activations – resets current code activations.
Display codes in activated documents only- reduces the display in the “Code
System” window to codes that have been assigned to at least one of the activated
documents.

04 - Codes 181
New code – adds new code into the code system.
Display search toolbar – allows you to search for a specific code.
Settings - opens a dialog with locally relevant options (see below).
Undock window
Maximize window
Hide window
In addition to using the toolbar to access functions in the “Code System,” you can
also use the context menus that appear when you right-click on various icons in the
window (e.g. on a code or the “Code System” icon, etc.).
Codes and Coding in MAXQDA
Coding parts (or "segments") of a document is one of the core functions of
MAXQDA. Coding is the process of assigning one or more codes to a segment that
you have selected with your mouse in the "Document Browser". This process allows
you to, for example, conduct a systematic qualitative content analysis.
So, what is a "code", exactly? Libraries have always used keyword catalogs, and
researchers in the social sciences should also be familiar with the use of “categories”,
for example from the grounded theory approach or from content analyses. Other
synonyms are "keyword" or "label". What the code represents depends on the task
and the given situation. Broadly speaking, however, a code is a tool for identifying the
content of a document, perhaps classifying it, and making it easier to find it again.
Codes create order – this can be illustrated by the example of the keyword catalog.
These catalogs help you find the right book and at the same time provide an overview
of the topics on which the library has many or just a few books. Of course, how useful
such a catalog is will depend on the complexity and usability of the index system and
on the accuracy of the keywords used.
In technical terms, a code in MAXQDA is a text of up to 63 characters. Codes are like
card index boxes that contain index cards to which text passages, parts of images, or
video segments are attached and on which a category name is written at the top. The
name of a code is like a label that acts as a tab in the index box. This label can be
easily changed without affecting the structure of the index box or the index cards
themselves.

04 - Codes 182
Create a New Code
The word “Code System” at the top of the list represents the root of your system of
codes (or hierarchical "Code Tree"). You can gradually build up a system of categories
from this point.
Adding codes at the top level of your "Code System"
In order to insert a code at the top level, click on the green plus sign that appears
when you move the mouse over the first line of the code system:
Creating a new code using the green plus sign
Alternatively, you can use the following options to create a new code at the top level:
If no code exists in the "Code System! or if the first line is marked with the word1.
"Code System", you can click on the New code icon in the toolbar of the "Code
System". The Alt+N (Windows) or cmd+option+N keyboard shortcut (Mac) will also
generate a new code at the top level.
Right-click the word "Code System" in the top line and select New Code from the2.
context menu.
No matter which way you choose, the following dialog box for code definition will
always appear:

04 - Codes 183
Dialog box to enter a new code
Type the name of the new code into the text field in the upper part of the window
(MAXQDA allows a length of 63 characters for a code name). You can select a color
attribute for the new code below.
If you select the option Use as the default color for new codes, all newly created codes
in the project will use this chosen Color. Of course, you can change this default color
each time you create a new code using this dialog.
Click OK to create the new code and close the window. If on the other hand, you click
on Add Code, the window remains open and you can define further codes at the top
level.
Adding subcodes
If you want to define subcodes, click on the green plus sign that appears when you
move the mouse over the desired parent code:

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Creating a new subcode using the green plus sign at the parent code
Alternatively, you can right-click a code and select New Code from the context menu.
You can also create a new code using the Alt+N (Windows) or cmd+option+N
keyboard shortcut (Mac) or the New code icon in the toolbar. Note, however, that
the blue focus must be on the code for which you want to create a subcode.
If a check mark is placed in the option Use color of parent code when defining
subcodes, the color of the upper code is assigned to this newly defined subcode. In
the text field "Code memo" you can enter a comment to this code, e.g. the definition
of the code. After closing the dialog box, you can - if you have entered something in
the field "Code memo" - recognize the symbol for a code memo next to the newly
defined code.
Newly added subcodes with memo symbol
Please note: Newly defined codes are always inserted at the top of the category system
in the "Code System" window. This applies to all levels of the hierarchy. If you prefer
to insert subcodes at the end of existing subcodes instead, the option Insert new
subcodes at the bottom can be selected in the local settings for the "Code System".
The local settings can be accessed by clicking on the Gear icon in the "Code System"
toolbar.

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Settings for the “Code System” window
Import Codes and Code Memos from Excel
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 option+⇧+7.
To start the import, select the function Import Codes and Memos from Excel
Spreadsheet from the Codes tab.
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:

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Unless they already exist in the MAXQDA project, five codes are created:1.
"Codename 1" and "Codename 2" are created at the top level. "Codename 1" is
assigned the subcode "Subcode 1.1" and "Codename 2" is assigned the subcode
"Subcode 2.1", which in turn is assigned the subcode "Subcode 2.1.1".
In addition, each newly inserted code is assigned the corresponding text from the2.
second column as a code memo.
Code names and subcode names are each shortened to 63 characters.3.
Edit Code Properties
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),q
Assign or adjust a Code Alias (max. 255 characters),q
Modify the code color,q
Assign a keyboard shortcut.q
Since the number of characters for a code is limited to 63, longer code designations
can be assigned as code aliases. For example, they may be exported instead of the
code names when using the Smart Publisher.
Assigning a color to a code
A color attribute can be assigned to each code or subcode. To do this, right-click on a

04 - Codes 187
code and click on one of the default colors in the context menu. The icons on the
right-hand side of the context menu allow you to define your own colors and list the
colors already used in the project.
Select a color for a code in this context menu
Tip: If you change the color of a parent code, MAXQDA asks if you want to apply the
Color to all the subcodes as well.
The color is visualized in the "Document Browser" and in visualizations created with
the Visual Tools. In the "Document Browser" the coding stripes are displayed in the
corresponding code color. This makes it easy to identify which segments are assigned
to a code.
Codes of various colors in the Code System
The color is also seen in the bottom right of the icon next to each code in the “Code
System”.

04 - Codes 188
Differently colored Codes
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 Document Portrait is based completely on the colors of the codes that are assigned
to a particular document. 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 regard 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.

04 - Codes 189
Adding 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 automatically 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
“Properties”. This will open a window where you can enter a code alias, among other
options.
Creating a Code Alias in the “Code Properties” Window
Alternatively, you can click Code Alias Table in the Codes tab, 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
Edit the "Code System"
Moving codes
Changing the structure of the category system is not difficult. All codes can be moved

04 - Codes 190
with the mouse and the drag-and-drop function.
In the following example, the “Code System” contains four codes (A, B, C 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 green
background. Code B is then added as a subcode of Code A.
Move multiple codes
You can select multiple separate codes while holding down the Alt (Windows) or
option ⌥ (Mac) key and then move your selection while holding down the mouse
button. To select a range of codes, first click on a code and then click on a second
code while holding down the Shift key ⇧. This will then also select all codes between
the clicked codes.
Sorting subcodes
Subcode can be sorted in ascending and descending order by name and by frequency,
by right-clicking the parent code and selecting Subcodes... > Sort from the context
menu.
Adding 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:

04 - Codes 191
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:
Create a new code at the top level of the hierarchy ("new" in the example above).1.
Drag Code B to "new" and release it; it will be inserted as a subcode.2.
Do the same with Code D.3.
Creating a new code to hold to former codes as subcodes
Dividing a code into subcodes
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
into two or more subcodes. For example, imagine you have created a code named
“Family” and have assigned document segments, in which an interviewee talks about
his family, to this code. Then imagine that it becomes necessary to differentiate
between “Mother”, “Father”, and “Siblings”.

04 - Codes 192
This differentiation of a category does not work automatically, but requires that each
segment previously coded under "Family" is re-read by the researchers and assigned
to one of the three new subcategories. This can be done particularly conveniently in
the Smart Coding Tool, which was specifically designed for this purpose.
Codes can be divided as follows:
Activate all documents and the code “Family.”1.
Create three subcodes for “Family”: “Mother,” “Father,” and “Siblings.” Only the2.
code to be differentiated, in this case "Family", should still be activated, but not the
three new subcategories, in order to be able to carry out the reassignment
conveniently.
Splitting up a code
Start with the first segment in the "Retrieved Segments" window and decide to3.
which of the three subcodes this segment is to be assigned.
Click on the coding strip to the left of the segment and move it to the selected4.
subcode while holding down the left mouse button. During this process, the
segment is moved to the selected subcode, i.e. the coding with the parent code is
deleted immediately.
Tip: If you hold down the Ctrl key (Windows) or the command ⌘ key (Mac) during this
operation, the encoding is copied from the source code to the target code and
remains in the parent code.
This is how you can work with all segments, so you continue in the same manner for

04 - Codes 193
the second. When you get to the end of the list, all segments will have been re-
classified - they have been assigned to one of the three codes in question.
Alternatively, you can click on the document name below a segment in the "Retrieved
Segments" window in step 4 to display the segment in the "Document Browser".
There you can code as usual, i.e. by clicking and dragging with the mouse and
assigning the desired subcode. With this procedure, however, the old codings in the
upper code are still retained, i.e. all segments still have the assignments to the code
"Family".
However, this is normally not the intention - the old encodings of the parent code
must be removed. You can double-click on the parent code to list its encodings in the
"Overview of Coded Segments", select all encodings and then remove them by
clicking on the delete symbol in the toolbar.
Merging Codes
It is often necessary to combine two or more codes that capture something similar in
the data material into a single code.
Merging two codes with the mouse
For two codes, this can be done very easily via drag & drop: Click on the code you
want to merge with another code and drag it to the highlighted word "Merge" that
appears to the right of the target code and release the mouse cursor on that word.

04 - Codes 194
Merging codes using the mouse
As soon as you release the mouse button on the word " Merge ", MAXQDA moves all
encodings of the source code into the target code and deletes the source code. In the
example, the coded segments of Code C are added to the segments already existing in
Code D. The code C is then deleted.
To indicate that the segments of another code were inserted into a code by fusion, a
plus sign in brackets "(+)" is added after the target code.
Please note: If you merge a code that has subcodes with another code, the subcodes
are attached to the target code. It is not possible to merge a parent code with one of
its subcodes.
Merging multiple codes using the context menu
You can also merge several codes at once at any time:
To select all codes you want to merge, hold down the Alt (Windows) or the option1.
⌥ (Mac) key and click on each code with the mouse button.
After that, right-click on the code into which all other codes are to be merged.2.
Select Merge Codes from the context menu that appears.3.
Code Memo behavior during mergers
In MAXQDA each code can have only one code memo, so the question arises what
happens with the code memos of the codes that are being merged:
If only one of the merged codes has a memo, it is attached to the remaining targetq
code.

04 - Codes 195
If several codes have a memo, MAXQDA asks whether the memo texts should beq
combined at the target code or whether the memos should be converted into free
memos. Free memos are not directly assigned to any element in MAXQDA and can
be displayed e.g. via the Memos tab.
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 subcodes “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 follow these steps:
Right-click on the code and select Subcodes... > Copy from the context menu.1.
Click on any other code and select Subcodes... > Paste from the context menu.2.
MAXQDA then adds the copied sub-codes in the same order as the original code. The
newly inserted sub-codes keep the Color previously assigned to them.
Delete Codes
Deleting a code from the “Code System” is somewhat like cutting off a branch from a
tree. By deleting that code, you are also deleting any subcodes, which are like smaller
branches attached to the bigger one you cut off. At the same time, all coded
segments that had been created with those codes are deleted.
The easiest way to delete codes is to go directly to the "Code System": Click on the
red X that appears as soon as you move the mouse over the line of the code to be
deleted.

04 - Codes 196
Delete code using the delete icon in the Code System
You can also right-click on the code to be deleted and select Delete Code or Delete
Code Incl. Subcodes from the context menu. Alternatively, you can also select a code
with the left mouse button and then press the Del key (Windows) or the Delete key
(Mac).
Deleting several codes at once
If you want to delete more than one code at a time, it is necessary to switch to the1.
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 holding2.
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”.

04 - Codes 197
Create Code Sets
With MAXQDA it is possible to store temporary combinations of codes as code sets.
This allows you to group the same codes in different ways or to make frequently used
codes available for coding. The code sets only contain references to existing codes, so
removing 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.

04 - Codes 198
Overview of Codes
It might be of interest to take a look at how many times each code was assigned to
individual, multiple, or all documents. Next to the visual display of the Code Matrix
Browser you can also open the Overview of Codes, which you can found in several
places in the program:
In the Reports tab,q
In the context menu at the root of the “Document System”,q
In the context menu of a Document Group or Document Set, orq
In the context menu of an individual document.q

04 - Codes 199
Open the Overview of Codes in the context menu of a Document Group
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.
Please note: When the “Overview of Codes” is opened in the Reports tabit contains
also codes to which no coded segment is assigned. Otherwise, only codes to which at
least one coded segment is assigned in the relevant document will be displayed.

04 - Codes 200
Overview of codes for all documents (see top left) with 21 codes (see top right)
The other columns consist of:
Code – the name of the code that appears in the “Code System”q
Parent code – Here the parent code is displayed for the easier assignment of codes. Ifq
the “Parent code” column is empty, the code in this row belongs to the top level of
the code system.
Coded segments of all documents – The number of segments in the analyzedq
documents that have been coded with a particular code or subcode.
Coded segments of activated documents – Takes only activated documents intoq
account. If this column displays 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.
% Coded segments of all documents – The share of segments that have been codedq
with the particular code or subcode, in relation to the total number of coded
segments in column "All coded segments". The sum of the column is 100%.
% Coded segments of activated documents – As in the “All coded segments %”q
column, but takes only activated documents into account.
Documents – Number of documents in which the code or subcode appearsq
Code alias – Alternative name for a code with up to 255 characters, that e.g. may beq
exported in the Smart Publisher report instead of the code name itself.
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 attribute of a code from this menu.
A toolbar is displayed above the “Overview of codes” from which the following special
functions can be accessed:

04 - Codes 201
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.
Statistics – Displays the values of the columns “All coded segments” and
“Activated coded segments” as a frequency table or chart. For more Information
regarding frequency tables and Charts see Frequency Tables and Charts for Subcodes
Transfer the "Code System" to Other
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.
To export your "Code System", go to the Codes tab and select Export Code System.
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.
Please note: MAXQDA can also export and import the cross-software QDC format
(REFI QDA Codebook). You can select this format in the file dialog box when exporting
or importing.

05 - Coding 202
05 - Coding
How to code
Assigning codes to segments of texts, images or video footage in MAXQDA is known
as “coding”.
You can code a document or document segment with as many codes as you want.
The technical limit for the number of coded segments per document is so high that it
usually has no practical significance. Moreover, coded segments can overlap, intersect,
or be completely contained within other coded segments.
Selecting the segment you want to code
The process of coding can be done in many different ways, but you always start by
selecting part of a text or an image in the "Document Browser” with your mouse. You
can see an example of a selected text passage in the “Document Browser” below:
A highlighted segment of text
Please note: The smallest part of a text that can be coded is a single character. In most
cases, you would want to code at least an entire word.
Coding texts and image segments in a PDF
You can select a text in a PDF as you would in a text document.
If you want to select an image in a PDF, e.g. because you want to analyze a scanned
PDF whose text cannot be converted into a “selectable” text using OCR (character
recognition), you can use the mouse to draw a frame. To do this, you only have to
start the welection process in an area that does not contain any selectable characters.
You can adjust the selected area later by clicking the corners and dragging them to a

05 - Coding 203
suitable size.
Highlighted text (above) and highlighted image segment (below) in a PDF
Selecting segments of images
In image files, you can drag a frame with the pressed mouse button in the same way
as in PDF documents. The edges of the frame can be adjusted later by clicking and
dragging the corners.
Selecting texts in tables
To select a text in a table, double-click the cell. As soon as the cell shows an orange
frame, you can select text in this cell with the mouse. You cannot select multiple cells
at the same time.
Selecting segments of videos
Videos are analyzed and coded in a separate window, the "Multimedia Browser". In
the Coding Videos section, you'll find detailed explanations for how to code videos.
Code the selected text with your mouse
The simplest way to code in MAXQDA is to drag and drop a selected text or image

05 - Coding 204
segment onto a code with your mouse.
Move the mouse to the area of the selected segment, press the left mouse button,
and move the mouse to the desired code in the "Code System". Here, release the
mouse button and “drop” the selected segment onto the code.
Coding via drag and drop
Tip: The same segment can also be assigned consecutively to several codes.
Alternatively, you can also do the reverse, that is, drag your desired code to the
selected segment and then release the mouse button.
Please note: MAXQDA makes sure that the same code is not assigned to the same
segment multiple times. Segments assigned with the same code will therefore never
overlap; they will turn into a single, larger coded segment.
Display Coded Segments 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 14 appears after the code “Health”. This indicates
that up until this point, a total of 14 segments have been coded in this category.

05 - Coding 205
Information on the number of coded segments
When you "collapse" the subcodes of a code by clicking on the triangle symbol before
the code, the code frequencies of the subcodes are added to the frequencies of the
parent code. MAXQDA shows how many segments have been encoded with a
collapsed code including all its subcodes.
Options for displaying the frequencies in the "Code System".
For the "Code System" window, you can call up the local settings by clicking on the
gear next to the magnifying glass.

05 - Coding 206
Code System Preferences
At the top in the settings you can define the frequencies MAXQDA should output
after each code. You can choose between the following variants, each of which has a
different analytical information gain:
Selected option Analytical relevance
Coded segments in all
documents
How often was a code assigned in all documents?
This is the default option as described above, which is
always used automatically when opening a project.
Coded segments in all
activated documents
How often has a code been assigned in the currently
activated documents?
The numbers are automatically updated when you
activate or deactivate documents.
Coded segments in opened
document
How often has a code been assigned in the document
currently opened in the "Document Browser"?
Encodings in audio and video files are not taken into
account here.
Document groups
In how many document groups does a code occur?
It does not matter whether a code was assigned once or
several times in a document group.
Document sets
In how many document sets does a code occur?
several times in a document set.

05 - Coding 207
Documents
In how many documents does a code occur?
several times in a document.
If you deactivate the option Sum up frequencies of subcodes, MAXQDA always
outputs only the frequencies of the upper codes, regardless of whether the code is
collapsed or not.
Display Coded Segments in the Document
Browser
As soon as you have coded a document or image segment, a coding stripe appears in
the gray area next to the document in the “Document Browser”. Those visualizations
are called "coding stripes". Those "coding stripes" indicate where the document has
been coded. The standard is, that this visualization appears to the left of the
document. To place the "coding stripe" to the right of the document, you can select
"display coding stripes on the right" in the local settings. To view the local settings,
click on the gear next to the magnifying glass. 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.
Visualization of coding stripes on the left side of the Document Browser
You can also choose whether code names should be permanently shown in the coding
stripe column or not. By right-clicking in the gray area of the column in the document
browser, you will call up a window with various setting options. One of those options
is to Display code names.
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, the date that the segment was coded, and the last

05 - Coding 208
time it was edited.
Tooltip appearing from the coding stripe
This tooltip always displays the complete code name, with all its possibly existing
"parent codes". The permanent display next to the "coding stripe" is limited to the
lowest code level. In other words, the coding "InterestsDay-to-Day Issues" only "Day-
to-Day Issues" is displayed. The subcode can be idientified by the two preceeding dots.
If there are many coded segments, that overlap each other, 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.
Coding stripe column visualization options
By right-clicking on an empty grey space 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:

05 - Coding 209
Option menu for the visualization of coding stripes
Here you can adjust the following settings:
You can choose to only visualize activated codes.q
You can choose to visualize coded segments created by certain users.q
You can choose to only visualize coded segments of a certain color.q
You can choose whether to change the text color of the text in the document toq
match the color of the code it was coded with.
As mentioned before, you can choose whether the code name should be shown orq
not.
Finally, you can choose whether the tooltips should include the information aboutq
the author and date of creation.
Display or hide emoticodes.q
Permanently display coded Areas in imagesq

05 - Coding 210
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.
Listing codes assigned to a segment
Often it's useful to determine which codes are assigned to a specific text or image
excerpt. To do this, select a text segment or image section and select List assigned
codes in the context menu.
Display assigned Codes
This will display a menu in which all assigned codes are listed. Click on an entry in the
list to highlight the code in the “Code System.”

05 - Coding 211
List of assigned codes for a segment
Further Ways of Coding
Beyond the classic coding technique of the drag and drop, MAXQDA offers several
other ways to code a selected segment:
Coding with newly defined (free) codes: As in Grounded Theory, a segment can beq
assigned a new (free) code.
In vivo coding: In-Vivo coding: Select and highlight meaningful terms in the texts andq
automatically add them as codes in your code system while coding the text segment
with the code.
Coding with selected codes from the Quick List: Documents are targeted based onq
the occurrence of one or more pre-selected codes, and coded where applicable.
Simultaneous coding with multiple codes: A segment is coded with the activatedq
codes.
Coding with code favorites: Selected codes are displayed in a separate window, fromq
which they can be easily applied to segments to be coded.
Coding with self-defined keyboard shortcuts: Up to nine codes can be assigned theirq
own keyboard shortcut, which can be used to quickly code a marked-segment.
Coding with MAXMaps: Marked segments are dragged onto selected codes, whichq
are arranged on a “map” or diagram.
Coding with the "Open Coding Mode": After selecting a segment, a window forq
creating and assigning a new (open) code appears automatically.
Highlight coding: This works like highlighting a text passage in a book with a coloredq
text marker. In MAXQDA, five different colors can be used for color coding: red,
green, yellow, blue or magenta.
Coding with symbols and emoticons: Selected segments are coded with emoticodes,q
i.e. an emoticon or a symbol.
Coding in the "Retrieved Segments" window and "Overview of Coded Segments":q
Coded text passages can be compiled in a list. In these compiled segments you can
then select and code further text passages. For more information, see the section

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Coding in the "Retrieved Segments" window and the "Overview of Coded
Segments".
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.
Context menu with coding functions for a selected segment.
1. 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+option+W (Mac).
Alternatively, click on the selected segment with the right mouse button and choose
With new code or click the Code retrieved segments with a new code icon in the
"Document Browser" toolbar.
Coding toolbar in the Document Browser
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 System” with your mouse.
Tip: You can also define several new codes and assign them to the selected segment.
To do this, click the Additional code button in the dialog box.
2. 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 Code in-vivo symbol in the toolbar on

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the “Document Browser”, the word “global village” is added to the “Code System”
as the code for this short text segment. The shortcut Ctrl+I (Windows) or
cmd+option+I (Mac) has the same effect.
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 segment (including the word) and click Code highlighted
segment symbol (not the in-vivo coding button!). MAXQDA expands the coded
segment automatically.
3. Code with selected code in the Quick List
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 progress, the corresponding
code appears at the top of the Quick List. Click on the Code highlighted segment
immediately to the right of the Quick List 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+L (Windows) or cmd+option+L (Mac) –
this way you code with the last code you used.
4. 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.” To activate a code, you can right-click
the “Code System” and select Activate. Then right-click on the segment and choose
the option Code with activated codes.
5. 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.

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Tip: You can also drag and drop codes from the “Code System” into the open “Code
favorites” window.
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 Browser” that the segments have been coded.
Tip: You can also drag and drop a highlighted segment on a code in the code favorites
window or vice versa drag and drop a code onto a highlighted segment.
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.
Rearranging the sequence of codes or deleting codes
If you want to rearrange the sequence of the codes within the code favorites, click on
the icon Edit code favorites. Now, highlight codes with the mouse and use the arrow
up and down icons to move codes up and down. To delete a highlighted code, click
on the red X labeled Remove selected codes from code favorites at the top of the
window.
Click again on the Edit code favorites icon to continue with your coding work. If you
drag a high-lighted segment onto a code in the code favorites window the Edit Mode
will be switched off automatically.
Tip: You can remove a code from the code favorites at any time by clicking the right
mouse button in the window and selecting Remove selected codes from code
favorites. You can also remove several codes by highlighting them first.

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6. 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 Keyboard Shortcuts for Codes in the
Codes tab:
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 Remove Shortcut button.
For coding, it may be helpful to leave the keyboard shortcuts window open until you
have memorized 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.

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Creating shortcuts via the Properties menu
7. 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
MAXMaps in the Visual Tools tab to start the tool and create a new map. Use Drag &
Drop or Alt+double-click (Windows) or option+double-click (Mac) 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.

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Coding with codes in a map
Open Coding Mode
Particularly in research projects that are based on Grounded Theory, many so-called
open codes are created: In a first step, a text is reviewed line by line and identified
aspects are recorded in numerous new codes. For this case of application the mode
"Open Coding" is particularly suitable, which allows to immediately create a new code
for a marked segment, to assign it and if necessary to write a code memo as well as a
comment for the created coded segment.
Activating the Open Coding mode
Click the Open Coding Mode icon in the “Document Browser” toolbar.
Activating the open coding mode
Using the Open Coding mode
Using the open coding mode is easy - as soon as the mouse key is released after
selecting a text segment, the following dialog window appears:

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The dialog is, in principle, very similiar to the dialog for creating new codes:
Type the name of the new code in the upper dialog field of the window (max 63q
characters)
You can select a color attribute for the new code belowq
The text written in the dialog field "Code memo" is used as a memo for the newlyq
created code (which can be assessed by clicking on the memo icon in the "Code
System")
The comment on the coded segment can contain up to 255 characters (about 2-3q
sentences) and is directly assigned to the coded segment.
Tip: You can fold in and out the areas for the code memo and the comment on the
coded segment by clicking on the arrows. You can enlarge the input fields by clicking
on one of the window's corner and dragging the entire dialog larger while holding
down the mouse button.
Color Coding (Highlighting)
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 color code the passages you find particularly interesting when reading

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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
seems important.
MAXQDA also offers this functionality- The Code toolbar in the Document Browser
contains five color coding highlighters.
The Document Browser toolbar with five color options
To color code a segment of text, follow a similar process as with standard coding:
select the text segment with your mouse and click on one of the five colors in the
toolbar. The text segment will now be highlighted in that color and color coded
accordingly. A new coding stripe will be visible in the coding column next to the
document.
A section of text coded with “BLUE”
In practice, then, color coding does much more than just change the color of the text
– it is also a coding action. This means that you can later compile of the green-coded
segments and work with those that are most important. This lets you code more
specifically once this initial 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 color code. All coded segments for that code will also be deleted. In other
words, all the highlights of that color will be deleted from your documents (not the
texts themselves, just the colors assigned to them).
Color codes are identified with a specific symbol in the "Code System":

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Symbol for a color code in the “Code System“
Tip: You can change the name of a color code in the "Code System" at any time.
Emoticode: Coding with Emoticons and
Symbols
The “Emoticode” function allows you to assign symbols and emoticons to text and
image segments, 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 smileys as well as many other symbols. Each emoticon
symbol has a name, which serves as code's name.
Opening the Emoticode window
In order to code using emoticodes, you must first open the emoticode window. You
can do so by clicking the corresponding symbol in the coding toolbar in the
"Document Browser".
Activate emoticode function
After being called up, the window containing the collection of emoticons appears and
can be moved anywhere on the screen.

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The emoticode window
Please 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.
When you click on the clock icon, MAXQDA displays the most recently used symbols
and emoticons. 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.

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Add and remove symbols from favorites
Emoticode window options
Window and symbol size can be customized. Click on the Properties button at the
top of the window.

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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.
Emoticode display in the “Document Browser”
In the "Document Browser" the selected emoticon appears in the middle of the
coding stripe in place of the normal code icon. By default all new emoticodes get the
color blue, the color can be changed as usual in the "Code System" and is then also
used for the coding stripe in the "Document Browser".
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.”

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Select “Display emoticodes” to emoticodes on the coding stripe
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 restricted to emoticodes. To do so click on the settings icon in the
"Code System" window and select Display emoticodes only. This setting is
automatically reset when you open another project.

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emoticode display in the “Code System”
Emoticodes 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.

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emoticons in the retrieved segments and coded segments overview
Emoticodes in MAXMaps and other MAXQDA 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.
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 code color of the emoticon is used.
Coding Videos
The Multimedia Browser
Using the Multimedia Browser you can easily play and code audio and video files. To
open the Multimedia Browser (formerly known as "Media Player" in older MAXQDA
versions), click the Open video file or Open audio file symbol in the "Document
Browser" toolbar.

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Open the Multimedia Browser in the Document Browser
The Symbol is only displayed when there is a media file attached to the opened
document.
The Multimedia Browser looks like this:
The Multimedia Browser window
Detailed instructions on coding videos in the "Multimedia Browser" can be found in
the chapter "Code Videos Directly".

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Delete Coded Segments
MAXQDA offers the option of deleting single or multiple codes simultaneously, from
several locations.
Please note: If you delete a code from the Code System, the code is removed from all
coded segments in all documents.
Delete coded segments from “Document Browser”
Move the mouse over the coding stripe or over the code name.1.
Right-click and select Delete.2.
Right click on Coding Strip or Codename to delete a coding in the “Document Browser” windows
Delete coded segments from “Retrieved Segments” window
Right-click anywhere on a coded segment or on the coding strip.1.
Select Delete.2.
Deleting a coded segment in the “Retrieved Segments” window

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Delete coded segments from “Overview of coded segments” or
“Retrieved Segments” in table view
Right-click on a row or select multiple rows while holding down the Ctrl key1.
(Windows) or cmd key (Mac) to simultaneously delete multiple coded segments.
Select Delete.2.
Delete most recent coded segments with "Undo Code" icon
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 to
remove the coding.
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. This
can especially helpful to remove codes created with one of MAXQDAs automatic
coding functions.

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Undo function in the “Code” toolbar
The most recent coded segments are shown at the top of the list. By clicking on the
third coding, only this one will be removed again, the two codings listed above will be
retained.
Please note: If only the size of a coded segment is changed, this action does not
appear as a new entry at the top of the list.
Modify Coded Segments
There are various ways to modify coded segments:
By assigning a new code.q
By assigning another code in the place of an existing code.q
By modifying the segment boundaries, meaning enlarging or reducing the codedq
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.

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This is easiest if you click on the coding stripe of this segment with the left mouse
button. The segment will be highlighted again and you can assign a code in the usual
way.
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 done in several ways:
Assign the correct new code as additional code, e.g. by first clicking on the codingq
strip to mark the segment and then dragging the segment onto the new code with
the mouse. Then delete the previous coding by right-clicking on the coding strip and
selecting Delete.
A faster way is to drag the coding stripe directly onto the new code while holdingq
down the Ctrl key (Windows) or cmd key (Mac).
If the coded segment is shown in the "Retrieved Segments" window, this procedureq
can also be abbreviated: drag the coding stripe next to the relevant segment to
another code (without holding down a key).
The new code will automatically be assigned to the coded segment. If the other codeq
is not activated, it may be that the coded segment was removed from the “Retrieved
Segments” window.
A coded segment can be moved from the table view or the “Overview of Codedq
Segments” to a different code in the same manner. Simply drag the line to another
code.
Click and drag to move the coded segment to the desired code
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

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because it is out of context. Segment boundaries can be adjusted in the following
way:
Select the segment by clicking on the corresponding coding stripe or code name in1.
the “Document Browser”. The segment is now highlighted in the original
document.
The segment boundaries can now be redefined as usual using the mouse. Then2.
encode the segment again with the same code. Alternatively, you can right-click the
coding stripe and select Recode with highlighted segment.
MAXQDA automatically adjusts to the newly defined segment boundaries.
Changing the size of the coded segment
Please note: Existing coded image segments in image or PDF documents will only be
adjusted when the newly selected area either completely includes the existing segment
or when the newly selected area is completely inside the area of the existing coded
segment.
While the "Recode" function always adjusts the segment borders to the current
highlighted area, you can also expand the segment boundaries with the new
highlights:
Highlight a passage that overlaps with the beginning or the end of an existing1.
segment.
Right-click on the coding stripe and choose the entry Extend with highlighted2.
segment.
Move or Copy all Coded Segments of a
Code
The Modify Coded Segments section has already described how you can move or copy
individual coded segments.

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Moving all the 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.
To move coded segments from one code to another, follow these steps:
Right-click on a code in the “Code System.”1.
Select Move coded segments. This transfers the code references to an internal2.
clipboard. (Up to this point, nothing has really changed in the “Code System”. The
number of coded segments for this code remain the same.)
Right-click the target code and choose Move coded segments from ‘first code.’3.
MAXQDA asks you to confirm the command before executing it.

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Moving coded segments
The first code remains in the “Code System” until you delete it, but the number of its
coded segments is now zero. The contents of the clipboard have been moved to the
target code.
Possible 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.
Handling code conflics
It may happen that some of the segments which you have moved to the target code
have already been coded with this code. Suppose that you move the codings from
"Code B" to "Code A", MAXQDA proceeds as follows in the case of an overlapping
code:
The outer segment boundaries of both encodings are retained. Thus, if a segmentq
with "Code B" is from word 1 to 5 and the words 4 to 10 have already been coded
with the target code "A", the new segment ranges from word 1 to 10.
If both coded segments have a comment, the comment on the target code isq
retained. The comment on the moved code is deleted.
If only one of the two coded segments has a comment, this comment is preserved.q
The coding weights of the target code "A" are retained, regardless of the codingq
weight of the shifted code.
If several existing segments of the target code "A" are combined into one largeq
coded segments because they all lie in the segment boundaries of a "B" coded
segment, then this large segment receives the weight of the oldest "A" coded
segment. Only the comment of the oldest coded segment of "Code A" will be
taken, all other comments of code will be deleted, even if the oldest coding has no
comment. If none of the existing coded segments has a comment, the comment is
taken from "B".
Because of overlapping coded segments, the number of coded segments of the target
code after you shifted codes can, of course, be smaller. If you move 10 coded
segments from "Code B" to "Code A" with 20 coded segments and several segments
overlap, you will not see 30 but fewer segments under "Code A".
Copying all the coded segments of a code
The function “Copy coded segments” is similar to the “Moving all coded segments of

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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:
Right-click on the selected code in the “Code System”.1.
Select Copy coded segments from the context menu that appears.2.
Move the cursor to the target code to which you want to copy the coding added3.
and click on it with the right mouse button.
Select Insert coded segments from xx from the context menu that appears4.
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.”
Code Weight Scores
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.
Code weight scores weights can later be used as a sorting criterion for the codings
and in numerous analysis functions as a selection criterion, that is, the analysis then
only refers to the coded segments with a specific weight.
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 Preferences menu which you can access via the gear symbol in the top rightq

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corner of you window
In the status bar at the bottom of the screen, by clicking on the Default weight icon.q
A dialog window will appear where you can set a new default weight value. The
current value is always visible in the status bar.
Changing the default weight in the status bar
Code weight score display
The weight of a coded segment is shown in the source information below each
retrieved segment in the “Retrieved Segments” window. It is displayed behind the
code name in brackets.
Weight score
The display of weight scores in your "Retrieved Segments" can be managed in the
window settings of the "Retrieved Segments" window, which you can accessed via
the gear symbol at the top right of the window. Uncheck the option Show Weight to
hide the weight score.
The “Overview of coded segments”, available for document groups, each individual
document, and the whole project, also includes the weight scores for each coded
segment.
Adjusting the code weight
When coding, the default weight score is always set automatically. A different weight
score can either be assigned in the window "Document Browser" in the "Retireved
Segments" window or in the "Overview of Coded Segements".
Please note: How you choose to use different scales of weights is up to you. You could
make a ranking list with a highest score of 1, or a highest score of 100 for particularly

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important segments.
Assigning weight scores in the “Document Browser”
Right-click on the coding stripe for the coded segment that you would like to alter1.
the weight score for.
Select Modify weight.2.
You can then enter a number between 0 and 100.3.
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 coded segment or on the coding stripe
displayed next to it to open a 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
Assigning weight scores 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.

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Tip: You can also adjust the weight for several coded segments in the "Overview of
COded Segments". To do this, select all the coded lines whose weight you watn to
change, and by right-clicking on the segement to open the context menu, select the
change weight entry.
Code Comments
You have the option of creating a short comment for each of your coded segments.
This might be an overview of the coded segment or a comment about its significance
for your analysis. Comments are particularly useful for the category development.
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 - orq
right click on the coding stripe and select Edit comment.
In the “Retrieved Segments” window: Double-click or right click on the codedq
segment or the coding stripe displayed next to it.
A window will appear in which you can enter the comment. The comment can contain
up to 255 characters, which corresponds to approximately 2 to 3 sentences, that is,
the length of this paragraph. Use Shift + Enter (⇧ + ↵) to create a line break.

05 - Coding 239
Window for entering comments
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. If you hold the mouse
on the coding strip, the comment appears in the tooltip.
A coded segment with a comment (the circle in the middle of the coding stripe is filled)
Displaying Comments in the Sidebar of the "Document Browser"
You can display comments on coded segments right next to the data it is attached to:
right-click on the document displayed in the "Document Browser" and select Sidebar
> Comments.

05 - Coding 240
Displaying comments in Sidebar
You can adjust the width of the sidebar by dragging the border between the Sidebar
and the document to the right or to the left. Right click into the sidebar to see further
display option and to optionally also display memos at the same time.
Note: It is not possible to display comments and paraphrases at the same time. If you
select to display paraphrases, comments are automatically switched off - and vice
versa.
Hover over a comment to see coded segment and delete option
If you move the mouse over a comment in the sidebar, the corresponding segment is
highlighted in the document as shown in the figure above. Click on the red X at the
top of the comment to delete it.

05 - Coding 241
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, the overview is sorted according to this header. You an also
sarch for comments: right-click on the "Comment" column header and select Search.
Create, edit and search for comments in the “Overview of Coded Segments“
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 difference whether the code has collapsed subcodes or not – the
Overview of Documents takes into account only the code in question.

05 - Coding 242
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 Issues Emotions” 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
filtering 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 appears.

05 - Coding 243
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
Smart Coding Tool: Working with Coded
Text Segments
The Smart Coding Tool is designed for working with coded text segments and is very
well suited to performing the following tasks:
Getting an overview of the contents of a category,q
Reviewing and, if necessary, changing relevant categories,q
Customizing your categorization system(s), particularly differentiating (i.e. breakingq
down) parent-codes or aggregating codes.
The Smart Coding Tool is always used to compile coded segments and can therefore
be opened in two places. By clicking on the Smart Coding Tool icon:
in the “Retrieved Segments” window orq
the Overview of Coded Segments.q

05 - Coding 244
Opening the Smart Coding Tool from the 'Overview of retrieved segments'
The Smart Coding Tool will open immediately after you click on the icon.
The Smart Coding Tool table window
The table window is divided into two display areas. A reduced code system is displayed
in the left area. When you open the Smart Coding Tool, only the codes assigned to the
compiled coded segments will be displayed in the code system. So that the hierarchical
structure can be retained, sometimes non-activated parent codes are also displayed.
The number at the end of a code row in the system indicates how often the code
appeared in the selected documents.

05 - Coding 245
In the right area, the coded segments are listed in a table. The segments whose code is
selected in the hierarchical list on the left and highlighted in blue will always be shown
here. The code that is currently selected is displayed in the upper left corner. At the
top right, you can see how many coded segments (from how many documents) are
displayed in the table, that is, how many rows the table contains. When the Smart
Coding Tool is opened, only the documents from which the compiled coded segments
originated will be activated. Only their coded segments are displayed.
The individual columns in the table contain the following information:
Document – The source document in which the coded segment is found
Coded segments – The coded segments of text
Codes – The list of codes assigned in the area of the displayed coded segment. It
doesn't matter whether the code has only been assigned to one character of the
segment, the entire segment, or even beyond the boundaries of the segment. Only the
codes that are visible on the left in the code system are listed. So that the code name
is not listed repeatedly in the column when a code is broken down into its subcodes,
the parent code of the displayed coded segment is not displayed.
Comments – A text field that can be freely edited (max. 255 characters) to add
comments to coded segments.
Like all MAXQDA table widows, the individual areas can be adjusted: the columns can
be adjusted in width and position with the mouse, or hidden with a right-click on a
column heading. A click on the heading sorts the column in ascending order, another
click in descending order.
Please note: All other MAXQDA functions are locked while the Smart Coding Tool is
open.
Symbol toolbar
Along the top edge of the window you will see a toolbar containing the following
options:
Quit – closes the Smart Coding Tool. Alternatively, you can click the X to
close the window.
Only activated codes – restricts the display of the code system to the activated
codes only. This option is selected automatically when you open the Smart Coding
Tool. When turned off, all your codes and subcodes are displayed.

05 - Coding 246
New code – creates a new subcode in your code system. The new codes are always
displayed at the bottom as the last subcode.
Only activated documents – restricts the display of coded segments to those in
currently activated documents. The display of frequencies in the code tree is adjusted
accordingly.
Filter – applies the filters you can define by right-clicking on the column heading
and selecting Set filter.
Reset all filters – removes all filters from all columns.
Display search toolbar – lets you to enter a search term to search for text in all or
specific columns.
Display parent code – in addition to the code, the "Codes" column also displays its
parent code.
Display comments – displays the “Comments“ column.
Undo – undoes the last action in the Smart Coding Tool.
Redo – redoes the last action in the Smart Coding Tool.
Create new code
You can always add new codes to use to code selected segments:
Click on the New code1.
In the dialog window that appears, enter your new code name and, if necessary,2.
assign a code color. You can also enter a description of the new code in the "Code
Memo" text box.
Click on Add code if you want to add further codes. Click on OK to finish creating3.
new codes.
Tip: To create a new code at the top level, right-click on the root of the code hierarchy
and select New code.
Newly created codes are automatically activated so that these are displayed in the
code system.
Note: All changes to the code system using the Smart Coding Tool, including the
creation of new codes, are added directly to your overall “Code System”.

05 - Coding 247
Assign a code
To assign a code to a coded segment, click and drag the line of the code to one of the
displayed codes in the code system. The newly assigned code is then immediately
displayed in "Codes" column. To code only part of a coded segment, first double-click
on the whole coded segment text, then select the portion of text you want to code,
and drag it to one of the codes in the code system. Even if you assign the same code
to several sections of a coded segment's text, the code name will only be listed once in
the "Codes" column.
If you hold down the Ctrl key (Windows) or cmd key (Mac) while dragging-and-
dropping a whole line onto a code, the complete coded segment is moved to the
selected code. It will thus no longer be displayed.
Assigning a code to a coded segment text.
Tip: By right-clicking on a row and selecting New code, you can add a code and assign
it to the entire coded segment.
Remove assigned codes
To remove an assigned code, click the cross that appears when you move the mouse
over a code in the "Codes" column. All assigned codes are then removed from the
coded segment.
Removing an assigned code from a coded segment.

05 - Coding 248
Customize your code system
Your code system can be customized throughout the entire analysis process. You can
change the order of codes with the mouse and even insert them as sub-subcodes. By
right-clicking on a code, all the functions from the overall "Code System" are available
to customize your code system in this window:
Delete codeq
Sort subcodes (alphabetically or by category frequency)q
Change code colorq
Create or edit code memoq
Click a code in the code system to list all the segments coded with this code. This way
you always have an overview of the contents of your individual categories. The
selected code in the code system is highlighted blue. The name of the selected code is
also displayed at the top of the window.
Display all codes of a coded segment
Please note: The "Codes" column always shows which codes have been assigned to
the segment in addition to the currently selected code. This column will never show
the parent code of the selected code.
Moving or copying individual coded segments
By default, if you drag a coded segment onto a code, that code will be assigned to the

05 - Coding 249
segment in addition to other previous codes assigned to it. The segment will still be
coded with the code whose other segments are displayed in the right window.
If you hold down the Ctrl key (Windows) or cmd key (Mac), however, while dragging a
coded segment to a code, the code will be replaced. That is, the code whose segments
are currently listed in the right window is removed and the segment you dragged to a
different code disappears from that list.
This function is e.g. especially useful if you want to transfer a code from one subcode
to another subcode, because it suits it better in terms of content.
Moving or copying several coded segments
To move or copy all segments of a code to another code, right-click on a code and
select the function Move Coded Segments or Copy Coded Segments in the context
menu.
Then right-click on the target code and select the corresponding function: Move
Codded Segments from 'Code xy' or Copy Coded Segments from 'Code xy'. For more
information on this function, refer to the section Move or copy all coded segments of
a code.
Working with comments on coded segment
In the comments column you can write a comment regarding each coded segment.
The comments are stored as Coded Segment Comment for the code selected in the
code system and highlighted in blue.
In comments field, you can add comments about the coded segment texts, ideas for
new categories, and more. They are also suitable for keeping track of your analytical
procedure (i.e. "still unclear“ – "come back to this again later") or for other team
members ("please cross-check this!").
Double-click on a cell in the "Comments" column to enter a new comment or edit an
existing one.

05 - Coding 250
Entering a comment on a coded segment.
Export your display
Your current display can be exported via the usual icons at the top right of the
window. All the rows (coded segments) in the right field are always exported.
Open as Word document – Creates a temporary Word document which is opened
with the program associated with this format on your computer. To permanently save
this file, you must save it in another location on your computer.
Open as Excel spreadsheet – Creates a temporary Excel spreadsheet which is
opened with the program associated with this format on your computer. To
permanently save this file, you must save it in another location on your computer.
Export – MAXQDA creates a table (XLSX), a text document (DOCX) or a website
(HTML) after you have entered a filename and location. The exported file is opened
immediately.
Code Cloud
Code clouds are used to visualize the most frequently assigned codes as word clouds.
They are particularly suitable for exploring and illustrating the use of codes in a project.
The code cloud can represent the codes used across all the documents in a project or
only a selection of documents.

05 - Coding 251
Code Cloud
Opening the code cloud
You can generate a word cloud for a single document, for a document group, for a
document set, or for all documents in a project. Right-click on the appropriate level in
the "Document System" and select the entry Code Cloud.
Alternatively, you can also access this function via Codes > Code Cloud in the main
ribbon menu. A dialog box will appear in which you can select the required documents
and codes.
Code cloud settings
The settings for code clouds are very similar to those of word clouds and are described
in detail there. The differences are minimal:
The entire code name is always displayed and can therefore consist of several words,q
as in the example in "income down".
The Minimum Frequency option in the Start tab refers to the number of codesq

05 - Coding 252
assigned in the selected documents.
Some functions of the word cloud, such as "word frequencies", the "stop list" andq
"ignore numbers" are not available, since these do not make logical sense in the
case of a code cloud.

06 - Creative Coding 253
06 - Creative Coding
The Idea behind Creative Coding
During an open coding stage of their analysis process, 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 created based on
the relationships between codes. The function provides a large workspace 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, change their color,
and create a logical structure. Usually, however, this logical structure is the result of 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:

07 - Transcription 254
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 by
pressing the F4 or F5 keys on the keyboard or by double-tapping the Ctrl (Windows) or
⇧ (Mac) key. We would then let the song go until right before the singing begins and
insert a timestamp by clicking on the New timestamp icon in the "Document Browser"
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 versesWe 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.Listen and View Transcript and Sound at Same TimeMAXQDA 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 along to the sound playback.To start a
synchronized playback, click on the Sync Mode button in the “Document Browser"
toolbar.

Open
Sync Mode in the Document BrowserBegin by clicking the Play symbol or the
F4 key.Sync Mode works in both directions: If you change the playback position with
the slider, the transcript jumps to the corresponding text point. This also works when
you click anywhere in the media file, which in turn changes the playback position.The
"Overview of Timestamps"The Overview of Timestamps lists all timestamps in the
currently opened transcript. To open this overview, click on the icon of the same name
in the "Document Browser" toolbar.
Open the Overview of TimestampsThe Overview of Timestamps has as many rows as
there are timestamps in the document, and every row has several columns. The first
two columns contain the start and end points of that segment. 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
TimestampsThis Overview of Timestamps table and the “Comment” column both
function just like any other MAXQDA table. You sort the order of comments or search

for a comment.Tip: To search for a comment, right-click on the “Comment” column
header 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. You can use comments to organize and quickly access
certain sections. 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.Please
note: Each transcript to which a media file is assigned contains at least one timestamp
at position 0, the beginning of the document.

08 - Memos 257
08 - MemosAbout MemosMAXQDA makes it possible to create your own notes and
remarks and to attach them like post-it notes to text passages, texts, document
groups, images, audio/video clips and of course codes. In MAXQDA these remarks are
called "Memos". Such a memo can be very different things: While one memo contains
a short summary of an interview or hints for its course, another memo contains first
ideas for theory development or hints for the use of a developed category.Especially in
social science evaluation methodology it is common to work with memos and there it
is above all the research style of Grounded Theory developed by Glaser and Strauss in
which memos play a special role. But regardless of the research method chosen, it is
important to clarify the difference between the memos and the qualitative data: The
qualitative data are processed and analyzed, but are usually not significantly changed
once the evaluation and coding has begun - at best, typos are eliminated. Memos, on
the other hand, are a dynamic type of text, they are products of the users and can be
changed, supplemented, modified and integrated at any time.In MAXQDA you can
assign memos in numerous places:
„Document System“
- Documents
- Documentgroups
- Documentsets
- Root of the Document System
„Document Browser“ - Segments in texts, spreadsheets and images
„Multimedia Browser“ - Positions in audio and video files
„Code System“
- Codes
- Codesets
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
document to transform the memo into a document in the "Document System".The
LogbookThe logbook is a MAXQDA feature that lets you write a journal of sorts to
keep track of your analysis work. The term “logbook” is usually a nautical term, used
to record significant events 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 Home tab or with the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+B (Windows)
or cmd+option+B (Mac).
Opening the logbookThe logbook window is a simple RTF window with a toolbar,

08 - Memos 258
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, underline, 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.
LogbookTo 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.

09 - Links 259
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.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 interview transcript “Teresa,” linking to the
place that she lives in “New York, NY, USA” at the exact coordinates.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 Display
Geolink Bar. This bar makes it easy to differentiate between regular document links
and the geolinks.
The
orange location symbol to the left of the paragraph number visualizes a geolinkPlease
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 blue 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 geolinks.
Overview of links with geolinks indicated with the orange locator symbolInserting
geolinks as objects in MAXMapsGeolinks 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:

09 - Links 260
A
geolink inserted in MAXMapsThe 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.
Geolink along with other elements in a MAXMaps mapGeolinking for codes,
documents, memos and coded segments in MAXMapsAll 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. Double-
clicking on the ball opens Google Earth™ and takes you to the assigned location.Using
a background image with geolinks in MAXMapsGoogle 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.The Overview of LinksDocument 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. When right-clicking on a document or document group, only those links from
that document or group will be shown. Alternatively you can open the Overview of
Links from the Reports tab in the main menu.The overview contains the following

09 - Links 261
information:Anchor point (Document 1), paragraph, preview, second location
(Document 2), paragraph, preview.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 paragraph,
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 projectIn 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 GeolinksThe Overview of Links table works
like other MAXQDA tables. You can choose to sort it alphabetically 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.Exporting the Overview of LinkYou can also access the usual export functions
in the toolbar of the overview window: Open As Excel Table - A temporary table in
XLS/X format is created and displayed in the program associated with this format. To
permanently save the created file, you have to save it to a different location from
Excel. Open as HTML table - A temporary HTML table is created and displayed with
the standard browser set. To permanently save the created file, you must save it under
a different location from the default browser. Export – MAXQDA creates a table as
an Excel file (XLS/X format), as a web page (HTML format) or as a text document
(Word or RTF format) after you have assigned a file name and location. The exported
file is opened immediately.

10 - Text Search 262
Lexical search icon in the Analysis menu tabAfter selecting to do a lexical search, the
following window will appear:
The dialog
window for the lexical searchEntering a search stringWhen the dialog box first comes
up, the left pane is empty and you can just start typing to enter the word or string
(called the “search string”) that you want to find. Use the return key to enter multiple
search strings.To add additional search strings later, click "New entry". To edit an
existing search string, click on the word and change it.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 - it would lead MAXQDA to only search for
words that are placed in quotation marks.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 “wildcard” characters. You can use the following wildcard
characters:
? single chracter
l?ve finds
"love" and "live"
* multiple chracters
h*ks finds
"hanks" and "hawks"
<(...) word beginning
<(inter) finds
"interests" and "internal", but not "winter"
(...)> word end (sh)> finds "slash" and "flash", but not "ashes".
Examples:You search for the terms "public" and "citizen" within a document.

MAXQDA will then check that both of the two terms occur at least once. A row is
displayed in the results table for each document in which both terms occur at least
once.You search for the terms "public" and "citizen" within 1 paragraph. The list of
results then contains as many rows as there are paragraphs in which both search terms
occur.You search for the terms "public" and "citizen" within 2 paragraphs. For
example, if paragraph 12 contains the term "public", then "citizen" must appear in
paragraphs 11, 12 or 13. Only then will this count as a hit.As soon as you click the
Search button, the search will begin.Depending on how many documents you search
and how complex the search is, it could take some time to find all of the
results.Searching with regular expressionsIf you select the option Use regular
expressions, MAXQDA interprets the entered search terms as "regular expressions".
These are widely used in information technology and allow complex searches to be
carried out. The following table contains some examples of regular expression
searches:
Search term Explanation Example
d Number from 0 to 9
200d
finds all years from 2000 to 2009
[…]
One of the
characters in
brackets
h[oôó]tel
finds hotel, hôtel, hótel
200[0-9]
finds all years from 2000 to 2009
Class [34][a-d]
finds class 3a, class 3b to class 4d
( | )
One of the character
combinations in
brackets
M(ay|ey|ai|ei)
er finds Mayer, Meyer, Maier and Meier
The result as Maintext in Word format will appear as follows:
Document: New York/Riley (28 - 28)Search string: familyto 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.
In both cases, a dialog window will appear and let you decide how much context to
include, e.g. 1 sentence or 10 words or after the search string.

Keyword-in-Context from Search ResultsThe following image shows what the export
of a keyword-in-context search looks like. It 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.
Keyword-in-Context export (context 1 sentence)

11 - Segment Retrieval 265
Tip: You can also drag codes directly from the "Code System" to the A and B with
your mouse.The "Options" field lets you apply the following settings:Only activated
documents (number of currently activated documents) - the coding search is limited to
the currently activated documents. You can also adjust the activation in the
"Document System" when the dialog window is open.Include subcodes - when this
option is activated, not only the selected codes but also their subcodes are taken into
account. Think of this options like so: the codes in the code system are collapsed and
all coded segments of the subcodes are included in the coding search. Details on this
option can be found in the Include Subcodes in Retrieval section. This option can also
be activated in the status toolbar after you have completed your search.Apply weight
filter - if the option is activated, only the coded segments whose weight is within the
entered range are retrieved. The weight filter can also be set in the status bar after a
successful search.Only coded segments of users - if this option is activated, only the
coded segments created by the selected users are taken into account.Above the
buttons you can see how many segments have been found, i.e. for how many
segments the set conditions apply.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
assigned (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
"A" that has no overlap or intersection with a segment assigned
to the code selected in "B".
Followed by
"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
"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.)

If you now want to assemble all the coded document locations that have been
assigned a subcode of "success criteria" as well as any subcode of "ideal projection",
you could use the Complex Coding Query to search for overlaps between the two
subcodes. This approach would, however, be very cumbersome, especially if you are
dealing with still deeper code hierarchies or a large number of subcodes.MAXQDA
now offers the convenient option including subcodes in a code search. To do this,
select the Include subcodes option in the context menu. In the example, it would be
sufficient to only activate the two upper codes and choose the Include subcodes
option. Now all subcodes of the two activated codes are taken into account in the
search for overlaps.Whether the subcodes are included in the code search or not can
be recognized in the context menu itself (by the marked or unmarked checkbox).
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.
Subcode inclusion shown in the status barTip: You can also select the option directly in
the status line by clicking on the icon - this acts as a switch and changes the
setting.Include subcodes in the simple Coding QueryThe option for subcodes also
aplies to the simple search for codes: In this case it's sufficient to activate an upper

code in order to automatically display the coded segments of the non-activated
subcodes in the "Retrieved Segments" window.But, as described, the search
function's full potential can be seen in the Complex Coding Query, in which several
codes are combined with one another.

12 - Visual Tools 268
Context menu for a document displayed
on a Document MapCustomizing the displayIn the Format menu you will find several
options for interactively adjusting the appearance of the Document Map:
Adjusting the Document Map in the Format tabNumber of Codes – Displays in
brackets after the document name how many of the selected codes occur in the
document.Size Reflects Number – The more the selected codes have been assigned in
the document, the larger the circle will be symbolizing that document.Font Size
Reflects Number – The more the selected codes have been assigned in the document,
the larger the font of the document.Grid – Displays or hides a map grid – just as on
real maps – to better estimate the relative distances between documents. The grid
works with a fixed resolution of 100 pixels. Distances can therefore only be compared
within one map using the grid, not between different maps.Color: Cluster / Document
System / Uniform – Specifies how the documents are to be assigned a color. Cluster:
documents are assigned a color according to their group affiliation. You can determine
the number of clusters in the numeric field. Document System: color is taken from the
"Document System". Uniform: all document symbols are assigned the same
color.Comparing and refining clustersTo better assess the similarities of the documents
in a cluster and the differences between the clusters, the function Display > Typology
Table: Cluster is available. This opens the following window:
Typology table for comparison of individual clustersThe selected codes and variables
are listed in the first column. The other columns are made up of clusters. In the
Occurrence of Codes/Variable Values analysis mode, the number of documents in
which the code or variable value occurs is specified in the typology table. In the
Frequency of Codes/Variable Values analysis mode, the mean value and standard
deviation of the documents are displayed instead.In the example above, the first

cluster consists of seven documents, the other two of one and two documents,
respectively. The first row shows that the code "Grandparents" was assigned on
average 0.4 times in Cluster 1, three times in Cluster 2 and not at all in Cluster 3. And
from the last line it can be seen that the people in Cluster 1 are on average 20.4 years
old.Tip: The table is interactive. If you change the number of clusters in the Document
Map while the window is open, the number of columns in the typology table
automatically changes.The allocation of individual documents to clusters can also be
saved as variables so that these can be used later for grouping the data. To do so,
select Start > Save Cluster As Variables. The Data Editor for document variables will
open, to which a new column with the cluster allocation will have been
added.Exporting a Document Map and calculationsThe Start tab provides functions for
exporting and refining the map as well as its underlying calculations: Export Matrix
– Saves an Excel file with the following contents: A distance matrix, coordinates - and
a similarity matrix if the analysis mode "Occurrence of Codes/Variable Values" was
selected. Save As Map in MAXMaps – Creates a new map in MAXMaps – the tool
for Concept Maps in MAXQDA – and inserts the contents of the Document Map here.
You can edit the map later in MAXMaps. Save to Clipboard – Saves a high-
resolution image of the map to the clipboard so you can paste it directly into a report
or presentation. Export – Saves the display as an image file in PNG or SVG format.
If you select Excel (XLSX) as the export format, the same calculations are exported as
when you select the Export Matrix option.Notes on Document Map calculations and
displayThe classic multi-dimensional scaling method is used to locate the documents
on the map.For this purpose a distance matrix of the documents is calculated for the
selected analysis mode Frequency of Codes/Variables as described in the section
Similarity Analysis for Documents. If the evaluation mode Occurrence of
Codes/Variable Values is selected, the resulting similarity matrix is first converted into a
distance matrix. Since the similarity values can be a minimum of 0 and maximum of 1,
the conversion is performed by subtracting each similarity value from 1. A distance of
0 means that two documents are identical with regard to the number or frequency of
the selected codes and the considered variable values.Please note: Due to the
reduction to a maximum of two dimensions (i.e. the mapping of the document
positions onto one plane) and the viewing angle taken, two documents can appear
visually closer together than the distance matrix would suggest.The clustering of the
documents proceeds according to a hierarchical cluster analysis using the distance
matrix. Average linkage is used as the clustering method.If the option Code Size
Reflects Code Frequency is switched on, the same principle is used to determine
symbol sizes as with a Code Map.Document Comparison Chart: A Visual Comparison
of Coded TextThis 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.Please note: Only texts and table documents can
be analyzed with the Document Comparison Chart.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 documents 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
Text 1 s s s s s s s s s s
Text 2 s s s s s s
Text 3 s s s s s
Tip: The document portrait can’t be used for coded image files and PDFs.What is a
Document Portrait and what does it show?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 document. 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 displayed in the first column of the overview table will appear in the
visualization. In the overview table, 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 segments. 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).Try out the Document Portrait – right-click on a document of your choice in
the “Document System” 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
PortraitDocument 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 document that have no code assigned to them. The
other options only visualize segments of the document 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 segments.” If the
option is turned on, the colors of each assigned code are mixed together. Display
nodes as circles (on/off) - This icon lets you switch the symbols in the visualization back
and forth between squares and circles. Sorted by document - The sorting of the
coded segments visualized in the Document Portrait is determined by their occurrence
in the document. Sorted by color - The coded segments are sorted by colors, same
colors are grouped. Sorted by color frequency - In this special display option the
portrait will be “tidied up”: all symbols with same colors are stacked like in a bar chart
and the bar with the most tiles is placed left. Only the most frequent 20 colors will be
visualized.The size of the document portrait can be adjusted using the drop-down
menu from the symbol toolbar. Two square and three rectangle sizes are

available.Interactive link with the source materialThe square or circle symbols in the
Document Portrait are also directly connected to the original data, which means you
can click on any symbol to call up that coded segment in the “Document Browser.”
(This is not possible if you have chosen to mix colors for overlaps.) If you right click on
a symbol you will find the option Retrieve coded segments with this color which will
list all coded segments with the chosen color in the “Retrieved Segments”
window.Exporting the Document Portrait as an image fileThe 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.Click on the camera icon to copy the
actual view into the clipboard. Now you can open Word, PowerPoint, or other
programs and paste the image into it by choosing Ctrl+V (Windows) or cmd+V (Mac).
Codeline: The Sequential Visualization of a DocumentThe Codeline is a case-based
visual function that displays a sequential view of a document’s coded segments. The
Codeline vizualisation is available for texts, PDF documents. tables and also for videos.
The picture is quite similar to that of a score of a piece of music. For a text, the x-axis
displays its paragraphs, starting with §1 and ending with the last § of the particular
text. The y-axis displays the codes. The cells of the Codeline matrix are filled with a
colored symbol, 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 a vizual overview of a document, so for the phases of an
interview you can quickly identify which codes appear and co-occur.
Paragraph
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Code1 s s s
Code2 s s s s s
Code3 s s s s
Codeline for table and PDF documents and for audio and video filesThe Codeline
function is available for all document types that MAXQDA supports, with the
exception of images. Depending on the document type, different units will be used for
the columns:
Text Paragraphs
Table Rows
PDF Pages
Audio- und VideodateiSeconds or minutes, depending on the lenght of the document
and the place available

13 - Visual Tools (Concept Maps) 273
After the code selection has been completed, the following option dialog appears:
Code Co-Occurrence Model optionsA
preview of the model is shown on the map, taking into account the selected options.
Click the Use Model button to use the model as it is currently displayed.Code /
subcode optionsDisplay only activated - The evaluation can be limited to the currently
activated codes.Only for activated documents - If this option is enabled, only the
common occurrence of the selected codes in the currently activated documents is
taken into account during creation.X levels of subcodes - You can choose whether and
up to which level subcodes are included (0 = do not display subcodes; 1 = include only
the direct subcodes; 2 = also level 2, i.e. include the subcodes of the subcodes etc.).X
min. number of co-occurences - If the number set here is not reached, the connection
is not drawn. So only connecting lines between codes are shown, which occur
together at least as often as defined here.Code-symbol-size - You can select here
whether all codes should be displayed in the same size or whether the analysis results
should be taken into account for the code size. With the option By frequency of
overlapping coded segments, the system evaluates how often the code occurs
together with other codes, i.e. the sum of the numbers on the connecting lines is
taken into account. The option By frequency of overlapping codes evaluates how
many other codes on the map a code has relations with, i.e. how many connecting
lines a code has.Line optionsLabel lines with co-occurence frequency - If this option is
enabled, a number is displayed on the connecting lines between two codes indicating
how often the two codes occur together.Line width reflects co-occurence frequency -
Select this option to make connecting lines between codes with many relations appear

13 - Visual Tools (Concept Maps) 274
thicker than between codes that are less common.Options for codings to
considerWeight filter - By selecting a range of segment weights, the entire
representation can be limited to encodings of a specific relevance. If, for example, the
range is set to 80 to 100, only those overlaps will be taken into account for the
representation where the segment weights lie within this required range.Tip: You can
also access the model directly from the "Code System" by right-clicking on a code and
selecting Code Model > Code Co-occurence Model (Code Intersection).Options in
MAXMapsBy clicking on the Options symbol in the top right corner of the
MAXMaps window, a dialog will open where you can view and change standard
settings.
The
MAXMaps Options windowApply 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 "300px", "600px" (= standard), "1,200px" 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 internal links – when this
box is checked, internal links are visualized by a blue line between documents, as soon
as documents are inserted into a map.Display comment in tooltip of coded segment -
when this box is checked, comments to a coded segment are displayed as tooltips,
when you hover the mouse cursor on the coded segment while having the synchro
mode activated.Auto-save maps in cache [minutes] - when this box is checked, a
temporary copy of the map is saved to cache at the set intervalUse code and
document color as border - Check this option to display code and document symbols
with colored borders in their respective code/document color. If this option is
unchecked all symbols are displayed with black borders and a small color symbol.

14 - Paraphrasing 275
The individual columns of the Overview have the following meanings:Document
group, Document name, Beginning, End – Specifies the source of the paraphrased
segment.Weight – A weight can also be assigned to a paraphrase (as with codes). The
weight can be used, for example, to identify paraphrases that you are unsure about
and that you would like to look at again later, either yourself or as a team.Created /
Created by – These columns indicate when and by whom the paraphrase was
created.Area – Size of the paraphrased segment (text segments in characters, image
segments in square pixels).Coverage – Size of the paraphrased segment as a
percentage of the total size of the document.Like all overviews in MAXQDA, you can
sort the table by clicking on a column header and arrange the columns in any order by
clicking and dragging the column headers with your mouse. You can also filter,
browse and export the Overview (see Managing Table Overviews).Coding paraphrased
segmentsYou can code the listed paraphrased segments with a new code or with an
existing code. To do this, click on the corresponding icons in the toolbar: Code
paraphrased segments – codes the paraphrased segments with an existing code from
your code system. To select an existing code, you must first click on it once in the
"Code System". Code paraphrased segments with new code – codes the
paraphrased segments with a newly created code.If individual rows are selected, only
these are coded, otherwise all currently listed segments are coded with the code.

15 - Summarizing 276
Dialog window for selecting columnsClick OK, and MAXQDA will open the Summary
Explorer.The Summary Explorer columns always display the summaries associated with
the code selected on the left.Functions in the ToolbarIn Summary Explorer, the
following functions are available in the toolbar at the top left of the window:
Display codes with hierarchy – If this option is activated, the codes are displayed in a
hierarchical tree structure. The non-activated parent codes may be displayed to retain
its hierarchical structure. When the option is deactivated, the codes are displayed in a
linear list. Should you have selected the option Only activated codes when generating
the Explorer, only the activated codes will be displayed. Display origin – Displays
the source documents, locations within documents and the code weights in brackets
below the coded segments. Clicking on the displayed source document imports the
correspond-ing document into the document browser and highlights the coded
segment. Zoom out/in – Minimizes/maximizes the display of the summaries in
the columns.x of y columns – Allows you to specify how many columns should be
displayed next to each other in the window at the same time. Refresh – Reopens
the options window for the Summary Explorer, which lets you customize the columns
and included documents and codes.Exporting the Summary ExplorerThe contents of
Summary Explorer can be exported using the usual icons at the top right of the
window. All the codes selected in the Explorer's dialog window are taken into account
for the export. Open as Word document – Creates a temporary Word document
and displays it in the program to which this format has been assigned on your
computer. To save the created file permanently, you need to save it from Word to a
different location. Open as Excel table – Creates a temporary spreadsheet in Excel
format which is opened with the program associated with this format on your

15 - Summarizing 277
computer. To permanently save this file, you must save it in another location on your
computer. Export – Creates a Word file (DOCX format), an Excel file (XLSX format),
or a web page (HTML format) once you have assigned a file name and location. The
exported file is then opened immediately.Overview of SummariesThe 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 context of the listing will be noted in the
upper left corner.
Overview of SummariesThe “Document” and “Code” columns contain information on
the "node" from which the summary 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 four text segments were coded with this code, namely in
paragraphs 27, 29, 31 and 35.In the Reports tab you can open an Overview of
Summaries containing all the summaries of your open project.

16 - Comparing Cases & Groups 278
Click on OK and MAXQDA creates a crosstab. The selected groups form the columns
and the selected codes form the rows of the matrix:
Crosstab as result of a case or group comparison

17 - Variables 279
Importing document variables from Excel MAXQDA can import data from XLS/X files.
The data must be organized as follows:
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
Importing code variables from ExcelMAXQDA 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 1 Code 2 Variable value for code 2 Variable value for subcode 2
Select document
variable as favorite variableDisplay in the "Retrieved Segments".After you have marked
document variables as favorites, you can output these selected variable details in the
"Retrieved Segments". To do this, make sure that the Display favorite variables option
is selected in the window toolbar. The selected variable information then appears
directly below each document name as shown in the following figure (when sorting
the segments by document):
Display favorite variable in the Retrieved Segments windowDisplay in the "Overview of
Coded Segments"In the "Overview of retrieved segments", you can display the
favorite variables as separate columns, so that you can view the variable values of the
corresponding document for each segment. To do this, click on the Display favorite
variables icon in the toolbar of the "Overview of retrieved segments".Display variable
information on exportIf you export the "Retrieved Segments", you can also export the
associated variable values of the document for each segment. For more information,
see Print and Export Retrieved Segments.

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