Qualitative data analysis software

Having finished the data collection for my current project, I’m ready to begin the next phase of focused analysis.  This puts me squarely in the market for qualitative data analysis (QDA) software.  In past projects I used SuperHyperQual, which was a good starter tool, easy to learn and effective for straightforward coding & tagging in a small data set.  Now I’m looking for something a bit more powerful.  I need a tool that accommodates a wide variety of data formats, since my data set includes audio recordings, field notes, interview transcripts, news articles, opinion posts, manuals, and screenshots of online interactions.  The main functionality I need is organizational; the tool should be able to help me archive, code, and link my materials.  It should allow for multiple tags and codes attached to the same piece of data, and if it could generate summaries/reports in multiple formats that would be a big plus.

And if it’s not asking too much, it should be relatively easy to learn, and (here’s the deal-clincher) Mac-compatible.

Given this, what qualitative data analysis software package should I invest in?

This site has a nice overview of  a number of popular QDA programs, some of which can be used on a Mac.  See this site, too.  Once I’ve tested some of them out, I’ll report back here.

In the meantime, what QDA software do you recommend, and why?