6.1. Imports and Exports
Project menu
- Exports
- Imports
This is an option under the Project Menu > Exports.
A codebook is a list of your codes. Each code memo should detail the reasons for the purpose of each code. The codebook can be exported to a text file. The codebook also shows the frequency of the codes used (from all coders). As codes and categories are put in a tree like structure the double minus ‘–‘ indicates the subordinate codes and categories within a category.
Import a codebook as a plain text (.txt) file or as a .csv file. Use two greater than symbols to separate category and code.
Use the tab to then add a memo.
code1
category1>>category2>>code2 memo
category1>>code3
category3>>code4
The categories and codes are in the first column. Any code memos are in the second column.
code1
category1>>category2>>code2
category3>>code3
The Rotterdam Exchange Format Initiative (REFI) is an open standard for exporting and importing codebooks and projects from and to different computer-aided qualitative data analysis software. The website for the exchange initiative is www.qdasoftware.org
Currently, QualCoder is able to export and import a codebook.
Exportation of a project and importation of a project are functional. I am not yet prepared to guarantee it meets the full REFI-QDA standard - particularly some Audio/Video aspects. Some experimentation has been performed with Nvivo, Atlas.ti, Quirkos and MAXQDA REFI_QDA project files. Importation into MAXQDA seems to require and additional line ending character regarding text coding - this is an option in the REFI-QDA project export from QualCoder. Import into Atlas.ti shifted codings by a character after each line ending, and has not yet been resolved. Importation of attributes from QualCoder does not work for Atlas.ti, MAXQDA, case attributes were not imported into Quirkos.
Features such as sets and graphs cannot be imported as this functionality is not within QualCoder. Other data formats are not preserved, for example date or boolean would be converted to text data.
For audio and video, importation of transcriptions and syncpoints is untested. Importation/linking of relative linked files has not been tested.
To import, close any currently opened project first. Then choose a new QualCoder project name, then select the qdpx import file.
If no coded data is visible, you may need to change the current coder's name in Settings.Try the drop down coder name box.
This is now old (Feb 2021), but a user tested the importation of a REFI-QDA project file generated by QualCoder and imported into MAXQDA, Quirkos, Atlas.ti. Only text and Images were tested. A PDF of the test results is here: Testing importation of REFI-QDA Project files into Atlas, MAXQDA, Quirkos PDF
Projects made with RQDA (http://rqda.r-forge.r-project.org/) can be directly imported. All data except for file categories are imported.
Close any opened project. Then in the Main Menu under Project click on RQDA Project import. You will be asked to create a new project- so enter a name. Then you will be asked to select the RQDA project file. QualCoder will then import the data.
If no coded data is visible, you may need to change the current coder's name in Settings. Try the drop down coder name box.
This requires a CSV or Excel (xlsx format) file. You can try importing the survey.csv file in the Examples folder.
Survey files in a CSV format, are comma delimited, another delimiter can be chosen. For tab-delimited files type ta, tb, or tab in the Delimiter box so that QualCoder knows the csv file is tab delimited. **The first row must contain the headings for attributes. The first column must contain the unique identifiers for each survey respondent. **
QualCoder will determine if the other columns (attributes) are Numeric or Character. QualCoder cannot determine if an attribute is qualitative data. You must right-click and change the field type from character to qualitative for those fields that need to be qualitative.
When you click on the OK button, the cases and their attributes will be added. In version 3.6 and up there is a Check Box option to import qualitative data from all rows as a single text file: The qualitative column will be converted to a file which will be named with the column name plus the current date and time. Each respondent's row will be prepended with [the unique id] so that you can identify each respondent. Also, the text for each respondent will be automatically linked to the corresponding case. In version 3.5 and earlier this is the default option.
The second (default) option in QualCoder 3.6 and up, is that each qualitative response for each row, will be stored in its own text file entry in the qualcoder database.
Import a bibliography. This must be in RIS formatted plain text. The file can have endings of .txt or .ris
In the menu, go to Manage > Manage references. Press the import button: This has the icon of arrow on top of a document.
Select the file.
The Action Log tab will show how many references were imported.
Once imported, go to the menu: Files and Cases > Manage references.
In here you can link (and unlink) references to files. You can manually edit an imported reference. You can delete a reference.
Once this is imported and files are linked to references, go to the Manage Files screen. In here there will be four new attribute columns: Ref_Authors, Ref_Title, Ref_Type, Ref_Year
Files link to references will have details in those columns.
This is useful for updating text files such as blog post extract that change over time. Update a text file while attempting to keep the existing coded text segments. Select the text file that needs to be replaced and select the replacement file. Click the cogs button to run the update. This function works by finding the identical matching text in the replacement file, as it parses through the file text. It may produce erroneous coded segments.
Select a QualCoder project to merge (source project) into the currently opened project (destination project), then click the Run merge projects, cogs button. Before performing the merge, make a backup of the destination project.
Caution: If each project to be merged has the same coder name, e.g. 'default' then these will merge as such, and you will not be able to separate out which coder performed their own coding. This may or may not be an important consideration to your final merged project.
The following occurs:
- Copies unmatched files from source project folders to destination project folders.
- Adds new (unmatched) source categories to destination database.
- Adds new (unmatched) source code names to destination database.
- Adds journals and stored_sql to destination database, only if they have names that do not match existing destination names.
- Adds text codings, text annotations, image codings, A/V codings to destination database.
- Adds cases and case_text (links from cases to text file segments and images and A/V).
- Add attributes for files and cases.
- Adds attribute values. Existing destination attribute values are not over-written, unless they are blank.
Considerations before merging:
Ideally, everyone would have the same identical files within the project. Ideally using the same set of code names - but this could be worked around later if merging or renaming codes occurred in the collated project. Coder names - would need to be unique for each coder. So, when collated the individual coders work can be identified. Alternatively, coder names could be the same, providing they each worked on unique files to code. But that all depends on your end goals really. If you had a need to collate all under one coder name.
Warnings when merging:
The main warning is if the source project and destination project contain the same text file. If the source project text file has been edited, and may be longer or shorter, then the imported text coding positions and annotations will be incorrect. This is because the original destination project text file text stored in the database is not replaced with the edited text file from the source project.
