Supported Data Types

The following table provides an overview of what data types you can import into MAXQDA:

Data Format Examples Notes
Texts
Transcripts
Transcripts with time stamps and associated media files
Focus group transcripts
  • .doc/x
  • .odt
  • .rtf
  • .txt
  • Interview transcripts
  • Field notes
  • Observations logs
  • Time stamps enable the synchronization of transcripts with audio
  • Speakers in group discussions are automatically coded
MAXQDA Transcription
  • .aac
  • .flac
  • .m4a
  • .mp3
  • .mp4
  • .wav
  • .ogg (only in Chrome)
  • Recorded interviews
  • YouTube videos
  • Recorded group interactions
Details on automatic transcription:
Documents
  • .pdf
  • Academic journals
  • News articles
Tables
  • .xls/x
  • Spreadsheets
Images
  • .png
  • .tif
  • .jpg
  • .gif
  • .svg
  • .bmp
  • Photo diaries
  • Advertisment photos
Audio files
  • .mp3
  • .wav
  • .uvm
  • Recorded interviews
  • Can be transcribed manually and synchronized with the transcript
Videodateien
  • .mp4
  • .avi
  • .mpg
  • .mov
  • .uvm
  • Recorded interviews
  • YouTube videos
  • Recorded group interactions
  • Can be transcribed manually and synchronized with the transcript
  • Can be coded directly
Video files subtitles
  • .srt
  • Film analysis
Surveys
Questionnaires
  • .xlx/s
  • .sav (SPSS)
  • Direct import from SurveyMonkey
  • Exported data matrices from LimeSurvey (open-source software)
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
  • Company presentations
  • News articles
Tweets
  • Direct import of Tweets
  • Social media analysis
YouTube comments
  • Direct import from YouTube
  • Social media analysis
Bibliographic Data
  • .ris
  • .txt
  • For literature reviews

 

Please note: In Windows, ODT documents can only be imported in MAXQDA if Microsoft Office (2003 or later) is installed on your computer. Otherwise, the documents can be saved in DOCX format and then be imported into MAXQDA.

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.

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