Qualitative Data Analysis Program (QDAP) About CAT

The Coding Analysis Toolkit: Overview

The Coding Analysis Toolkit (or “CAT”) was developed in the summer of 2007. The system consists of a web-based suite of tools custom built from the ground-up to facilitate efficient and effective analysis of text datasets that have been coded using either an internal coding module or the commercial-off-the-shelf package ATLAS.ti (http://www.atlasti.com). We have a narrated slide show on "The Origin of CAT" (updated 04/14/08) and a step-by-step tutorial (updated 03/26/08) on "Loading and Coding Raw Data". For ATLAS users, there is a merge HUs tutorial.

CAT was designed to use keystrokes and automation to clarify and speed-up the coding, validation, or consensus adjudication process. Special attention was paid during the design process to the need to minimize the role of the computer mouse, thereby streamlining the physical and mental tasks in the coding and analysis process. We anticipate that CAT will open new avenues for researchers interested in measuring and accurately reporting coder validity and reliability, as well as for those practicing consensus-based adjudication.

News: The Coding Analysis Toolkit received the "Best Research Software" award for 2008 from the Information Technology & Politics section of the American Political Science Association.

Download: sample raw data to code in CAT or prepare you own data
News: Watch a July 2, 2008 Screencast presentation on "New CAT Features"
Recent: QDAP Director announces CAT will be released as open source software under a GPL within one year.
Beta test: A new blog scraping tool (the Blog Analysis Toolkit) that creates archives of CAT-ready blog posts.

QDAP
"the smart way to code text"