The "Categorize Survey Answers" window lets you automatically code responses to open-ended questions using a predefined dictionary. This tool is particularly useful when you're dealing with a large amount of data or when you consistently ask the same questions that need to be coded using the same category system.
To autocode responses using a dictionary, go to Analysis > Categorize Survey Responses. In the dialog box, drag a code that contains the answers to a question from the "Code System" window.
After you click OK, the interactive workspace opens:
Autocoding works in two steps:
Step 1: Create Dictionary
Choose 
Dictionary from the menu.
A dictionary is made up of categories and their search items. For example, the "<Standard>" dictionary shown above includes the category "Relationships" with the items "Son" and "mother." Following the same structure, create your own dictionary with categories and search items in the Dictionary window, then close the window.
For more information on creating, importing, and customizing dictionaries, see this section.
Step 2: Apply Dictionary
Click the Autocode with Dictionary icon in the Ribbon menu:
A menu opens where you can select which scope should be coded: the whole answer, the paragraph or sentence in which the search hit occurs, or only the search hit itself. In case of short answers, you will usually choose the option to code the entire answers.
After selecting an option, the following dialog appears:
At the top, select the dictionary to be used for autocoding.
Only in listed responses (<number of responses>) – This option ensures that only the responses currently listed in the right-hand window are searched. If you switch off the option, MAXQDA will search all answers that are currently available in the working environment (the number of available answers is shown in the first line of the code tree in the left pane).
Ignore inactive categories – It is possible to temporarily disable a category in a dictionary, to turn it off. Select this option to not include these categories in autocoding.
After clicking OK MAXQDA will autocode the responses:
- A new category is added to the code system, whose subcategories correspond to the category names from the dictionary.
- Depending on the selected context, the entire responses or only parts of them are coded with these categories. For example, in the figure, all responses containing the search item "daughter," "son," "child," as defined in the dictionary category, were coded with "Relationships."
