Using ATLAS.ti for Qualitative Data Analysis

1. Login

• Go to atlasti.com
• Log in to your ATLAS.ti Web account (the same concepts apply in the desktop app)

2. Set up your project

• Once you have entered click ‘Create a new project’  and add the information for your project
• Give a name to your project. You can also give a description and a specific color for each of your projects.
• Start adding your data to continue to your analysis.
• Every ATLAS.ti project is made up of documents — any source of information you are going to analyze.
• Add your documents by clicking ‘Add Document’.

3. Understand your Data

• Codes are tags that you will associate to the segments of information, so that you can analyze and organize all of your data.
• Memos are notebooks for recording your thoughts, ideas, and analytic insights as you read through your transcripts.
• Quotations are the actual segments of data you select as you read through your documents.

4. Analyze your Data - pinpoint qualitative insights

• Creating quotations, applying codes, and adding comments across your documents play a central role in your qualitative analysis.
• To create a quotation, highlight text relevant to your research topic.
• Apply an existing code or add a new one.
• You can also add a comment to reflect on a quotation.
• You can create quotations for single words, full sentences, or entire paragraphs.

5. Visualize your Data Analysis

• Once you have coded your data, open the Quotation Manager.
• It lists every quotation grouped by code — click any code to see a detailed list of the passages you coded with it.

That's the core ATLAS.ti workflow — documents in, codes applied, insights out.