(Part 1 of 5 from the series: 5 Steps to Mastering Qualitative Data Analysis)

All right, you’ve collected your data, installed Qualrus and turned off the cell phone. Time to analyze!

Not so fast. I know you’re anxious to get some results, but accurate analysis depends on well-organized data. Compile your raw data in a consistent, clear format before moving on.

If you’re analyzing audio interviews or focus groups, consider transcribing each source into text files. A number of companies (including Idea Works) offer reasonably-priced transcription services. Qualrus supports audio files, but working with text allows you to take full advantage of our intelligent code suggestions and QTools.

Browse through your text documents and clean up any extraneous notes, formatting errors, and spelling or grammar mistakes. Your sources should be in their final form before importing them into Qualrus.

Save your documents in Rich Text Format (save as “rtf” in Word) and group them together in the same folder. Next, we’ll import these documents into a new Qualrus project:

• Open Qualrus and start a new Project by going to File > New.
• To add your data, go to Sources > Add existing source.
• Locate your documents then click on the 1st document name, hold CTRL or SHIFT and select the rest
• Press Open to add all your sources at once

Now, save your project (File > Save). That’s it!