MAXQDA

Teamwork

03.01.2018, 12:03

We are a research group starting to work with MAXQDA and I need some help on how to better set our working environment in relation to two issues 1) teamwork 2) backup.
Here I write about teamwork
We have a MAXQDA12 analytic pro version, that runs on a remote windows server provided by our university. We work from different laptops but every time we start to work on our MAXQDA project, we always enter into the server, and then, we open Maxqda. That is to say that each team member always works on the shared platform and not on his/her personal computer.
Given this, I guess that we should not worry about the synchronization and teamwork options, since we always work on the same project file (the only limitation is that just up to 2 people can use the software at the same time). But I am not sure, I do not find a specific entry on this in the user guide. The explanation provided in the user guide seems to be related to a different situation, when people use desktop versions of the program on their personal laptops and then try to merge the projects etc. Could you please help me with this?
Thank you very much

Version: MAXQDA 12
System: Windows 7
daniela cherubini
 
Posts: 13
Joined: 03.01.2018, 11:45

Re: Teamwork

03.01.2018, 14:11

Dear Daniela,
welcome to the MAXQDA forum! I'm afraid there is a misunderstanding regarding the network-aspect of your working environment. MAXQDA projects are stored in a project file (with the ending .mx12) which can be saved on a local network or on cloud storage. You can access it from your laptops, and you can even open them from there, which we DO NOT recommend, ESPECIALLY WITH CLOUD SERVICES*, but when you do so, I'm almost certain that you will be using your laptop. You could run MAXQDA via remote control but I can hardly see any advantage in such a procedure and I think it's unlikely that you system is set up like that. It's much more likely that you use a network license, which is something completly different and has nothing to do with teamwork, project files etc.

So to make it short, the most important point here is that you can not open a MAXQDA project file simultaneously from multiple laptops at once (I believe that almost never works, also not with other programs like Word etc., right?). But that's really not a problem. Simply follow the following steps to ensure a nice workflow as well as a safe backup-routine:

1) Find the most recent .mx12-project file saved on your network folder

2) Copy it to a folder on your local hard drive (e.g. Desktop/YourProject). Then copy it again in the same folder and rename it (press F2 to do this fast) like that: YEARMONTHDAY_PROJECTNAME_INITALS_VERSION. (Example for a second working session started today: 170103_ExampleProject_DC_v2.mx12)

3) After you're done, copy it back to the network folder. That way, you’ll have all the project files on multiple hard drives, which is a very good thing in case one of them encounters a problem.

4) When you want to merge your project file with that from your colleagues, you can simply add the initials behind each other to make it clear it’s a merged project file

5) If you simply want to transfer the coded segments from one person to another without comparing them, you can right-click on a document, select „Teamwork Export“, and then open the new (teamwork) project file and select „Teamwork Import“. You can read all about teamwork here:

https://www.maxqda.com/help-max12/teamwork/can-maxqda-support-teamwork

6) If you are interested in intercoder agreement, then you will want to import one and the same document multiple times to compare the different codings from your colleagues and yourself. Then simply (re)import the document in question again to have it a second (or third..) time (one time for each coder), and do the teamwork-import again. That way, you can easily compare how you and your colleagues coded in the same way or differently. You can read all about intercoder agreement here:

https://www.maxqda.com/help-max12/intercoder-agreement/problem-intercoder-agreement-qualitative-research

I hope this helps! If not, or in case of any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask again!

Kind regards,
Andreas

* I explained the whole cloud-sync-issue in detail here:
https://www.maxqda.com/en/support/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=979&p=2520&hilit=cloud#p2520
(Just an fyi for other people reading this as well.)
Andreas V.
 

Re: Teamwork

09.01.2018, 17:19

Dear Andreas
thanks for your answer.
Things are getting clearer, little by little, thank you.
Well, so I understand that different people of our research group cannot work simoultaneously at the same MAXQDA project. Given this, we are figuring out the best way to organize our workflow.
We have all our materials stored in a Windows server that the IT service of our university set up to this aim. We will use it also as a shared platform for our MAXQDA projects. We understood the importance of backup and have learnt how to do that.
I think that the best way for us, is to split up our project into smaller ones, so that different people of our research group can work on different projects at the same time. For instance, now our project EQUAL contains 9 groups of documents, one for each country involved in the study. we could split it into 9 different project - or better, into 3 projects: one with documents from european countries, one on asian countries, one from latin american countries. Each researcher will work just on one of these project. Then periodically, or at the end of the analysis, we will use the function "merge project" to come back having just one big project with all countries. What do you think about that, would it be a good solution?
I will study the function merge and learn how to use it.
Last question: is there any function for splitting an already existing project? We already upload all documents into the EQUAL project, we have not already started with coding. Is it possible to split the project into 3 or do we have to start again from the beginning (create 3 new projects, upload again all documents)?
thank you very much for the support
bests
daniela cherubini
 
Posts: 13
Joined: 03.01.2018, 11:45

Re: Teamwork

11.01.2018, 10:49

"(...) Then periodically, or at the end of the analysis, we will use the function "merge project" to come back having just one big project with all countries. What do you think about that, would it be a good solution?"

Yes, I think that's sounds like a good solution! The merge project function will then "import" the missing document group/documents with all the codes/coded segments/memos/summaries etc.

"Is it possible to split the project into 3 or do we have to start again from the beginning (create 3 new projects, upload again all documents)?"

Yes, that also sounds like a good idea! The fastest way to do that would be to save the project you want to split two times ("Save Project as" in the "Home"-tab), and then delete all but one document group in every project file.

If you need to delete documents that are not already grouped, the "Data editor for document variables" in the variables tab will allow you to mark multiple documents via shift, or target them using the filter that are intergrated in the first column (e.g. Document Name, creation date etc.).
Andreas V.
 

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