Analysing Qualitative Data Using MAXQDA

This two-day training course provides an introduction to using MAXQDA for the analysis of qualitative data. It is designed for postgraduate researchers who want to develop a practical and methodologically informed approach to computer-assisted qualitative data analysis.

The course begins with the fundamentals of working in MAXQDA, including setting up a project, organising materials, and developing an initial coding framework. From there, it explores how MAXQDA can support different analytic strategies, with particular attention to thematic analysis and qualitative content analysis.

Participants will gain hands-on experience of coding, retrieving coded segments, refining code structures, and using variables to support comparison across cases or groups. The course will also demonstrate how qualitative survey data can be imported and explored within MAXQDA, highlighting tools that are useful for mixed methods and large-scale qualitative datasets.

Throughout the training, we will reflect on wider methodological debates about the role of digital tools in qualitative research. In particular, the course includes guided discussion of generative AI in qualitative analysis, with an opportunity to critically evaluate MAXQDA’s ‘AI Assist’ features.

The training is interactive and participants are encouraged to bring along analysis questions or challenges from their own research for collaborative discussion. Trial licences of MAXQDA will be provided (if needed).

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Set up a MAXQDA project and undertake a basic thematic analysis through systematic coding and retrieval

• Understand how qualitative content analysis can be supported through structured coding frameworks and the use of variables

• Import qualitative survey data into MAXQDA and explore tools relevant to mixed methods research

• Critically assess the potential and limitations of AI-supported features in qualitative data analysis

Date & Time:

The course will take place in person at the GIGA in Hamburg on 7–8 May 2026.

• Day 1: 10:00–17:00

• Day 2: 10:00–16:00

Please note that this course is open to external participants, subject to available spaces.

About the Lecturer

Dr Katy Wheeler is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Essex and has been a MAXQDA professional trainer since 2017. She has extensive experience analysing a wide range of qualitative materials, including interview data, documents, and qualitative survey responses.

Her recent work addresses the implications of generative AI for qualitative research, advocating for technological reflexivity when using digital tools for analysis. Her research interests lie in sustainability and consumption, and she is the author of Fair Trade and the Citizen-Consumer: Shopping for Justice (2012) and Recycling and Consumption Work: Social and moral economies (2015). She is also co-author of How to do Qualitative Interviewing (with Morgan Brett, 2022).