Adding new variables

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You can add new variables to both the “List of document variables” and “List of code variables”:

  1. Select List of document variables or code variables from the Variables drop-down menu
  2. Click on the New variable  icon in the toolbar.
Creating a new variable with the icon in the toolbar

The following window will appear:

Defining a new variable

You can now insert a name for the variable and choose its type. There are five different types of variables to be chosen from:

  • Text
  • Integer
  • Floating point (number)
  • Date/time
  • Boolean (true/false)

When creating an integer variable, you also have the option of defining whether it is a metric or a categorical variable. The variable for age, for example, can be handled in various ways: if you want to enter the age in years, you are dealing with a metric variable, for which you may want to establish a mean. If you have defined ages into categories (e.g. 1 = under 18, 2 = 18-30, 3 = 31-50, 4 = 51+), then you are dealing with a categorical variable, for which you would not want to find a mean value.

You can also select what value should be inserted automatically for those cases where there is a missing value. This is especially important if you are planning to later export the data to a statistics program.

Tip: To avoid confusion, it is recommended that you do not create two variables with the same name. Statistics programs do not allow for this, which could cause problems later if you attempt to export data from MAXQDA to that program.

If you are planning to later export the data to such a program, it is recommended that you choose integer as your variable type if you aren’t sure which to use. SPSS can now automatically transform a string into a numerical variable, though, which allows you to create a more user-friendly string variable. For example, it is easier to avoid confusion, when you see “Gender = Male” rather than “Gender = 0.”

Note: Document variables are created for the entire project, which means you cannot create different variables for each document group.

The number of variables is not limited; you may add new variables or remove them whenever you’d like. However, MAXQDA is not designed to be a statistical program, but rather a program for qualitative data analysis and mixed methods approaches, where working with more than 100 attributes is rather unusual.

When creating a name for your variable, it is important that you think ahead. MAXQDA lets you create a name with up to 63 characters, and there aren’t any syntax rules, meaning you can use several words with spaces and special symbols.

Tip: If you are planning on exporting your variables later to another program, though, you should check on this other program’s requirements. Many statistics programs are more restrictive; SYSTAT/MYStat, for example, only allows for variable names with eight or fewer characters, as was the case with earlier versions of SPSS. The variable names are also often used in MAXQDA’s visual tools (usually as column headers), so long variable names can also take up more space than you would want them to.

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