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70 QDA Miner User’s Manual
new category is listed at the top level of the codebook. To create a subcategory underneath another one,
type its full path separating each level by a backslash. For example, typing Topics\Economy will
create a subcategory Economy under the Topics main category. If this top-level category does not exist,
the program will create both this category and its subcategory and then add the specified code into this
subcategory. To store a new subcategory into an existing path, one may also type this new category name
and then click the
button, which will display the tree view of the codebook categories. From that,
select the parent category under which this new category will be stored. Selecting any existing category
from this tree view automatically inserts the full path before the new category name in the edit box.
The maximum number of levels a codebook can contain is set to 4 by default for every new project.
Since the last level can only contain codes, the actual maximum level of a subcategory is equal to this
maximum minus 1. To increase or decrease the maximum number of levels allowed in a project
codebook, run the PROPERTIES command from the PROJECT menu, and set the Maximum Levels in
the Codebook option to a number between 2 and 8.
When a code is assigned to a text segment, a bracket appears in the MARGIN of the document to
indicate the beginning and end of the code along with the code name. The COLOR option can be used
to select the color of this bracket and of its associated label.
The DESCRIPTION option allows you to enter a definition or a detailed description of the code. You
can use this section to specify coding instructions for the coders, along with examples or non-examples,
and related codes that may be used in place of or in conjunction with this code.
The KEYWORDS section allows you to enter words, word patterns, or phrases that are characteristic of
the code. QDA Miner may then search text for any of those items using the KEYWORD RETRIEVAL
command and retrieve sentences, paragraphs or documents containing any of those items (see Keyword
Retrieval on page 111). The following rules should be followed when entering keywords:
ɷ
Each item must be entered on a separate line.
ɷ
The underline character is used to join words of a phrase. Since space characters are not allowed in
keyword entries, they are automatically transformed into underline characters.
ɷ
Wildcards such as * and ? are supported. For example, the following entry REPORT* will match
words like REPORT, REPORTS, REPORTERS, while the word pattern EXP?RT will match both
EXPERT and EXPORT.
The SHORTCUT option at the bottom of the dialog box allows you to assign a keyboard shortcut to a
code. This shortcut can be used to quickly assign code to whole paragraphs in the main editor without the
need to highlight the paragraph and select the desired code in the codebook. To assign a shortcut, move
to the shortcut edit box and type either a letter or a numeric character. If the typed character has already
been assigned to another code, an error message will indicate which code has already received this
shortcut assignment.
To use the shortcut, move the editing cursor in the main editor until it is located in the paragraph you
want to code. Then press and hold down the CTRL and the SHIFT keys along with the character that has
been assigned to the code. The same key combination can also be used in hit tables produced by the
various retrieval functions of QDA Miner to code text associated with a specific hit.
