MAXQDA makes it possible for you to create “Post-It”-like notes with your ideas, comments, etc. and to attach them to document segments, documents, document groups, images, or codes. These notes are called memos in MAXQDA. These memos can have various functions: they are commonly used, for example, as an integral part of Glaser and Strauss’s Grounded Theory analysis method. You can also differentiate between various types of memos within MAXQDA that then have different roles in your analysis. It is important to recognize the difference between memos and the qualitative data: documents are analyzed and coded, but they are usually not changed radically once the analysis has begun – most typographical errors have been eliminated.

Memos, on the other hand, are a dynamic form of text. They are created by the user and can be modified and integrated at any time during the analysis process.

In MAXQDA memos can be attached to

• documents
• document groups
• audio and video files
• codes.

There is also the option of creating a “free memo,” which is not attached to anything other than the project. These free memos also come out of Grounded Theory, which has memos without any concrete connection to a part of the data.