Visualizations

Visualizations support the iterative nature of qualitative research and can help you at each stage of the research process.

• Get started—set out and review initial ideas, hunches or theories related to your research question.
• Research design and data collection—show how you arrived at your approach to data collection and analysis.
• Data analysis (coding)—encourage deep thought by helping you build your knowledge about your research topic and gain a greater understanding of your project items.
• Final write-up—include visualizations in your memos to document your findings, and export image files to include in your report or presentation.

Charts, hierarchy charts, comparison and explore diagrams, and cluster analysis diagrams and sociograms, present selected data contained within projects in a variety of graphical formats. Maps are more interactive, allowing you to visualize your ideas Maps.

Visualization	Description	Example
Charts	Present or explore your project and coding.
Hierarchy charts	See patterns in your coding or view the attribute values of cases and files.
Comparison diagrams	See what two project items have in common and where they differ.
Explore diagrams	Show all the items connected to a single project item.
Cluster analysis diagrams	Find patterns in your project by seeing similarities and difference between files or codes.
Sociograms	Analyze social networks by displaying them as a diagram.
Mind maps	Brainstorm your ideas and visualize your thoughts.
Concept maps	Define concepts and think through their connections.
Project maps	Display the items and links in your project.