Qualitative data analysis

In qualitative research, your interpretation is the method. AI suggestions can help you see patterns or speed up a first pass, but you need to read the data and make the coding decisions, and describe any AI use in your methods. Check your consent forms and ethics approval before sending transcripts to any AI feature that processes data off your computer, and ask whether your university license includes a data agreement.

The three packages differ in interface, licensing and how they handle team projects, more than in what they can do. Many students simply use whichever one their university licenses and offers training for, which is a sensible choice since support and colleagues who know the tool matter a lot. If you have a free choice, try the trial versions with a few of your own transcripts and see which way of working suits your method, whether that is thematic analysis, grounded theory or framework analysis. Keep a codebook and memo your decisions as you go, so your process is clear to examiners and reviewers.