Human versus Computer-Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Ratings: Spiritual Content in Dream Reports and Diary Entries

Abstract

Three computer-aided qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) were compared to each other and to a hand-coded method for analyzing spiritual content in 49 dream journals and 11 diary entries. The CAQDAS ratings demonstrated strong convergence with each other, despite using different assumptions; the hand-coded ratings were less correlated with the CAQDAS than the CAQDAS were to each other. The pattern of convergence and divergence of the ratings (hand coded vs. CAQDAS) and traits (dream vs. diary) was compared in a multitrait multimethod matrix, interpreted as supportive of the validity of both methods. However, all three CAQDAS uncovered material missed by the hand-coded method, suggesting their relative advantage, even when applied to content as ambiguous as spiritual categories.

Acknowledgments

This paper is partially based on the first author's dissertation (Marshall, 2005), supervised by Friedman, and additional details on the study can be found there.

Notes

Note. ksc = Kwalitan spiritual characters. kss = Kwalitan spiritual subjects. kso = Kwalitan spiritual objects. msc = MAXqDA spiritual characters. mss = MAXqDA spiritual subjects. mso = MAXqDA spiritual objects. asc = ATlAS/ti spiritual characters. ass = ATlAS/ti spiritual subjects. aso = ATlAS/ti spiritual objects.

**p < .01 level (2-tailed).

Note. ksc = Kwalitan spiritual characters. kss = Kwalitan spiritual subjects. kso = Kwalitan spiritual objects. msc = MAXqDA spiritual characters. mss = MAXqDA spiritual subjects. mso = MAXqDA spiritual objects. asc = ATlAS/ti spiritual characters. ass = ATlAS/ti spiritual subjects. aso = ATlAS/ti spiritual objects.

**p < .01 level (2-tailed).

Note. SC = spiritual characters. SS = spiritual subjects. SO = spiritual objects.

**p < .01 level (2-tailed).

Note. hsc = hand-coded spiritual characters. hss = hand-coded spiritual subjects. hso = hand-coded spiritual objects. ksc = Kwalitan spiritual characters. kss = Kwalitan spiritual subjects. kso = Kwalitan spiritual objects. msc = MAXqDA spiritual characters. mss = MAXqDA spiritual subjects. mso = MAXqDA spiritual objects. asc = ATlAS/ti spiritual characters. ass = ATlAS/ti spiritual subjects. aso = ATlAS/ti spiritual objects. Statistics not reported due to qualitative analysis.

Note. hsc = hand-coded spiritual characters. hss = hand-coded spiritual subjects. hso = hand-coded spiritual objects. ksc = Kwalitan spiritual characters. kss = Kwalitan spiritual subjects. kso = Kwalitan spiritual objects. msc = MAXqDA spiritual characters. mss = MAXqDA spiritual subjects. mso = MAXqDA spiritual objects. asc = ATlAS/ti spiritual characters. ass = ATlAS/ti spiritual subjects. aso = ATlAS/ti spiritual objects. Statistics not reported due to qualitative analysis.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Janis Marshall

Janis Marshall received her Ph.D. in psychology at Saybrook University. She worked for many years with Jeffrey Mishlove, Ph.D., and his acclaimed weekly television program, Thinking Allowed. Currently, she is writing a children's fantasy story of an insect and faery haven inside the moon prior to animal life on earth.

Harris L. Friedman

Harris L. Friedman, Ph.D., recently retired as Research Professor of Psychology at University of Florida and Professor Emeritus at Saybrook University, and is a consulting and clinical psychologist. He received his doctorate from Georgia State University in clinical psychology. He has over 100 professional publications, mainly in the area of transpersonal psychology and organizational change. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, and serves as Senior Editor of the International Journal of Transpersonal Studies (transpersonalstudies.com) and Associate Editor of The Humanistic Psychologist. His most recent books, both coedited with Stanley Krippner in 2010, are Mysterious Minds and Debating Psychic Experiences. He is now coediting several forthcoming volumes, including The Wiley–Blackwell Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology, The Praeger Handbook of Social Justice and Psychology (Volumes 1 & 2), and Advances in Parapsychological Research (Volume 9).