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 | 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 |
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.
