4 Tools and Technology
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the chapter, learners will:
- Understand the multiple factors that influence how data is collected and effectively analyzed
- Evaluate a variety of data collection and analysis software considering multiple project based factors
- Develop a general knowledge of widely available data collection and analysis software applications and their features
Introduction
This chapter provides an overview of some of the different softwares and technologies available and commonly used for data collection, analysis, and sharing. It is intended to provide guidance in software selection rather than in-depth support in using a specific software. Once you’ve decided on one or more applications to use for your data collection project, we recommend seeking out more in-depth tutorial resources.
Factors for Consideration
There are several options to consider that will influence how you collect your data and what tools you use to do so. Here are some key factors you should consider:
- What platforms are already in use at your institution? A platform that is already familiar reduces the training burden and improves the likelihood that it is integrated into existing institutional systems.
- What is the skill level of the individuals collecting and analyzing the data? Some tools have a steep learning curve and many statistical analysis tools require coding experience.
- Is there funding available for software subscriptions or training?
- What functionality is essential for collecting the type of data you consider most necessary?
- Who needs to be able to enter and access data?
- Where is the data stored? How is user privacy protected?
- How easily can the proposed platform export data for reporting?
Types of Data Software
For Data Collection
Surveys are consistently the most popular method of data in the Open Education community. Below are some various forms survey collection software.
Google Forms
- A user-friendly tool that is easy for beginners
- Comes free with Google suite account
- Built-in visual analytics
- Easy export to tools like Excel and Google Sheets
- Ease of use means not a lot of templates and question types
- Free account means there is little to no user support
Skill level: Beginner
Price: Free with personal plan; Monthly rate per user with Business Plan
Data storage: Cloud; U.S. servers
Microsoft Forms
- Another user-friendly software
- Comes free with a Microsoft Suite account but cannot be purchased individually
- Built-in visual analytics
- Does not have conditional logic
Skill level: Beginner
Price: Free with Microsoft account
Data Storage: Cloud; U.S. servers
Jotform
- Thousands of templates to build from
- Many widget integrations such as PDF embedder, Adobe Sign, QR Codes
- Utilizes Google Analytics and has a visual report builder and easy data download (CSV, Excel, and PDF)
- Less functionality with free plan and advanced features can be complicated for beginners
Skill level: Beginner/Intermediate
Price: Free (five-form limit); Monthly plans (billed annually) based on number of forms
Data Storage: Cloud; U.S. Servers or Canada (Enterprise subscription only)
Survey Monkey
- Well known and well liked user-friendly platform
- Robust functionality but only with paid subscription plans
- Question bank you can select common questions from
- Unlimited number of surveys with free plan
- Up to 10 questions
- Maximum of 100 responses with surcharge for additional
- No export to Excel with free plan
Skill level: Beginner
Price: Free (100 response max on survey); Monthly team plans (billed annually) based on user number; Monthly individual plans (billed annually); Enterprise plans.
Data Storage: Cloud; Canadian servers
Qualtrics XM
- Well respected and robust platform used by academic institutions around the world
- Utilizes machine learning and AI
- Highly customizable
- Robust analysis tools that can manage and review both quantitative and qualitative responses
- May not be suitable for smaller-scale projects
- Expensive
Skill level: Beginner/Intermediate
Price: Available upon request
Data Storage: Cloud; Canadian Servers (with paid plan)
LimeSurvey
- An open-source application distributed under a GNU General Public License
- Cloud-based free version is very versatile but only allows 25 response per month
- Downloadable version that can be used with institutional server
- Some learning curve with survey design interface
Skill level: Intermediate
Price: Free; Basic plan billed monthly; Advanced plans with monthly rate (billed annually)
Data Storage: Cloud; Canadian servers
For Data Analysis
Software designed for data analysis comes in many forms with a variety of features, interfaces and learning curves. Deciding which software is best for analyzing your data is a matter of budget, ability, scope, and, ultimately, your preference. Prior to committing to any new software, it is recommended that you test out various data analysis applications through their free trials. Rely on the factors for consideration listed at the start of this chapter when exploring various functions and to inform your final choice.
The below is an overview of some select software suited for qualitative data analysis, followed by software suited for quantitative data analysis. Please note programs have functionality that can work with both quantitative and qualitative datasets, and are listed twice.
Qualitative Data Analysis Software
NVivo
- One of the most popular qualitative analysis software tools for academic research on the market
- Relatively easy to learn with automated transcription and coding, plenty of tutorials and guides to help
- A variety of features to analyze text, PDF, survey, audio, video, and graphic file
- Can be pricey
Skill level: Beginner/Intermediate
Price: Free Trial; One-time fee, plus additional costs for add-ons (one-time and subscriptions)
Data storage: Local
Atlas.ti
- Features AI coding to help with workflow
- Powerful system that can support and analyze large amount of textual and multimedia data
- Working as a team with the software can be difficult to navigate
- Some learning curve on coding features
Skill level: Beginner/Intermediate
Price: Free trial; Monthly, annual or 3 year subscription
Data storage: Local
MaxQDA
- Mixed method data analysis tool supporting both quantitative and qualitative analysis
- Supports a number of languages and utilizes AI for audio transcription
- Useful for social media research such as X (formerly Twitter)
- Collaboration tool can be tricky to use successfully
Skill level: Beginner/Intermediate
Price: Free trial; Annual, 3 year, 5 year subscriptions, plus additional costs for add-ons
Data storage: Cloud; German servers
Taguette
- Free and open software good for basic qualitative data analysis
- Supports text-based analysis including PDFs, Word Docs, HTML, RTF
- Web-based that allows for collaborative or independent work
- Can be hosted on an institutional server
- Very limited functionality
- Must have Python 3 and the Calibre ebook software installed on computer to download and install Taguette
Skill level: Intermediate
Price: Free
Data storage: Cloud; U.S. servers
Microsoft Excel
- Well-known user interface with great versatility
- Some learning to curve to develop and apply full functionality to project
- Lots of tutorials, support and methods freely available online
- No built-in or automated coding functionality, must be coded and inputted manually
- Time-consuming and can be tricky to identify workflow that fits
Skill level: Beginner
Price: Free (personal, web based); Monthly and annual subscriptions for Microsoft Office 365 package
Data storage: Local and Cloud
Google Sheets
- Popular platform that comes free with Google email
- Easily collaboration systems
- No built-in or automated coding functionality, must be coded and inputted manually
- Less advanced functionality than Excel and only cloud-based
Skill level: Beginner
Price: Free with Google account
Data storage: Cloud; U.S. servers
Quantitative Data Analysis Software
Microsoft Excel
- Well-known user interface with great versatility
- Lots of tutorials, support and methods freely available online
- Difficulty with computing and managing larger amounts of data
- Limited functionality and flexibility for complex analysis techniques
Skill level: Beginner/Intermediate
Price: Free (personal, web based); Monthly and annual subscriptions for Microsoft Office 365 package
Data storage: Local and Cloud
Google Sheets
- Popular platform that comes free with google email
- Easily collaboration systems
- Even less functionality than Excel
- Difficulty with computing and managing larger data sets
Skill level: Beginner
Price: Free with Google account
Data storage: Cloud; U.S. servers
SPSS
- Short for “Software Package for Social Sciences”
- Easier to learn than many other forms of data analysis software, requiring less coding
- Can export popular file types such as Excel, PDF, etc.
- Still flexible and powerful for analyzing larger data sets
- Widely used in academic research
Skill level: Intermediate, some coding required
Price: Free trial; Pricing available upon request
Data storage: Local
STATA
- Another popular and well-established statistical analysis tool used by academics in many disciplines
- User-friendly interface with many commands built-in
- Versatile and can create high quality graphs
- Not as strong with complex data analysis
Skill level: Intermediate, some coding required
Price: Annual, 2 year, 3 year subscriptions
Data storage: Local
R & RStudio
- R is a programming language specifically built for statistical analysis and visualization
- Widely used in data science with many tutorials, resources and cheat sheets for beginners
- High quality graphs
- Large learning curve
- May be too advanced for more basic projects
Skill level: Advanced, coding required
Price: Free, open source
Data storage: Local
For Sharing Data
For more information on data visualization visit CARL’s Data Visualization Toolkit
Many of the qualitative and quantitative software listed above have the ability to create reports and/or visualizations.
Microsoft Power BI
- Software designed and aimed for business insights
- Excellent tool for visualizing data in dashboards and creating reports
- Integration with other Microsoft products and web embed function
- Desktop version not available for Mac
Skill level: Beginner/Intermediate
Price: Free trial; Monthly subscriptions
Data storage: Local and Cloud
Tableau
- An interactive visualization software most often used for business intelligence
- Limited data preparation and aggregation tools, some datasets must be cleaned and organized before input
- Good for handling large volumes of data
- Offers many more tools than other similar platforms
Skill level: Beginner/Intermediate
Price: Free; Monthly per user (billed annually)
Data storage: Local and Cloud
Looker Studio (Formerly Google Data Studio)
- Business analytics software with strengths in reporting and visualizations
- Library of templates for dashboards and reports
- Free with Google account and web embedding functionality
- Good for collaboration
- Can suffer from lag
- Adds-on to enhance functionality can be costly
Skill level: Beginner/Intermediate
Price: Free; Monthly subscription paid per project
Data storage: Cloud; U.S. servers; Region can be set with paid plan
Software Reviews and Resources
When making this overview, the following software websites were consulted along with the software websites themselves.
- Capterra provided many helpful reviews from actual users and highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of many qualitative software types
- TechRadar is an online publication that provides many helpful comparative reviews similar software platforms
- Software for Data Analysis by University of California Irvine Libraries, gives a concise yet fulsome overview of quantitative and qualitative analysis software currently used in scholarly environments