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QualCoder is free, open source software for qualitative data analysis. With QualCoder you can code text and images, write journal notes and memos. You can categorise codes into a tree-like hierarchical categorisation scheme. Coding for audio and video is under development and requires the VLC media player. Reports can be generated for text coding and for coder comparison using the Cohen’s Kappa statistic. A graph displaying codes and categories can be generated to visualise the coding hierarchy. Most reports can be exported at html, open document text (ODT) or as plain text files. QualCoder is written in python 3 using Qt for the graphical interface. A Sqlite database is used to store the coding data. There is also a wordpress site for QualCoder at https://qualcoder.wordpress.com/.
Firstly, QualCoder is free. You do not need to pay for a commercial software license. QualCoder is easy to use and contains the core functionalities required for qualitative analysis. You use Linux. QualCoder has been developed on Linux and also works on Windows. There are many Free Open Source Software (FOSS) supporters who are willing to use and support FLOSS development.
Download the latest QualCoder from GitHub: https://github.com/ccbogel/QualCoder. Unzip the folder. The main program code is in the QualCoder folder. The Examples folder contains some example files which can be loaded into a test QualCoder project. There are an install.sh and a QualCoder.desktop file which are used to create a Linux Launcher.
Microsoft Windows
You will need to download and install Python 3. Then install PyQt5, lxml and Pillow modules. A Python 3 release can be obtained here: https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/. Finally, you need to have the VLC media player installed. You can get this from the Windows Store or from their website: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html Once a Python 3 release is installed you should be able to install the modules PyQT5, lxml and Pillow using the following commands in the Windows Command prompt (The prompt is under Windows System):
python -m pip install pyqt5
python -m pip install lxml
python -m pip install Pillow
Linux
I have created a QualCoder.deb package for easy install on Debian/Ubuntu systems. (It may not always install well depending on your system).
If you want to install manually, follow these instructions to create a program launcher: Go to your downloads folder. Make the install.sh script executable. The example script below assumes you are in your home directory. Open a terminal and type the following to install QualCoder:
cd Downloads/QualCoder
Run the install.sh file. The install process will ask for your permission to install QualCoder into the /usr/share directory. It will also download the additional python modules.
./install.sh
The install.sh script will also install the pyqt5sudo apt install vlc qtwayland5, lxml and Pillow modules as well as the VLC media player. If you do not use the install script, you need to run these commands to install the modules:
sudo apt install python3-pyqt5
sudo apt install python3-lxml
sudo apt install python3-pil
sudo apt install vlc qtwayland5
sudo apt install qpdf
MacOS
Install Python3 and VLC. Install the Python dependencies using pip:
pip install pyqt5 lxml pillow six
There is no desktop icon launch right now for QualCoder. Open a new Terminal window in the directory and launch with python qualcoder.py.
If you have successfully installed the debian package or sucessfully run the install.sh script there will be a program launcher. Double-click to start.
Alternatively, using the terminal, move to the inner QualCoder folder and open the qualcoder.py file:
python3 qualcoder.py
In Windows create a shortcut to the qualcoder.py file and double click to open. Alternatively, using the command prompt, move to the directory and open the qualcoder.py file:
python3 qualcoder.py
There is no desktop icon launch right now for QualCoder. Open a new Terminal window in the directory and launch with python qualcoder.py.
QualCoder does make a backup of a project when the project is first opened. I recommend that you make a backup before doing any substantial changes, such as reorganising codes and categories.
Edition April 2019 Author: Colin Curtain ccbogel@hotmail.com
Copyright Notice The MIT License (MIT) Copyright (c) 2019 Colin Curtain Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
