Computer assistance and the evolution of qualitative data analysis

The aim of the paper is to examine the emergence of computer assistance in qualitativeresearch and to describe its impact on research practices. The use of data analysisprograms is approached from methodological frameworks ofbasic and structured qualitativeapproaches. Computer use is also examined from the viewpoint of concreteoperations of data analysis. Particularly the new features, which software packages areclaimed to have brought to data analysis, are discussed in the paper.It is argued that computer assisted techniques provide possibilities fr developing theoften impressionistic qualitative data analysis procedures into something more integrated,explicit and systematic. However, it is also emphasised that analysis programsthemselves do not represent any methodological approaches. By offering a special toolkitfr data processing, computer assistance should be understood only as an attempt toenhance analytic practices in qualitative research