why we use the acronym CAQDAS

Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (UK networking project)-CAQDAS 

Several acronyms are used for a group of dedicated software programs that qualitative researchers use to assist them in conducting their analysis. Some writers use QDAS for these programs, which stands for Qualitative Data Analysis Software (e.g., Bazeley & Jackson, 2013; di Gregorio & Davidson, 2008). We prefer not to use this acronym because it can be misunderstood to mean software that performs analysis, which none of the writers who use the acronym intend it to mean. Other writers use CAQDAS, which stands for Computer- Assisted Qualitative Data AnalysiS (e.g., Friese, 2014; Paulus, Lester, & Dempster, 2014). We also prefer to use CAQDAS, the original term for this software, because of its historical roots and more general use and acceptance in the fi eld. The acronym CAQDAS was fi rst coined by Raymond Lee and Nigel Fielding in their 1991 book Using Computers in Qualitative Research, which was published following the fi rst conference on qualitative software that they convened in 1989, the Surrey Research Methods Conference (Fielding & Lee, 1991). This conference brought together pioneers in the fi eld to discuss the issues for the fi rst time. Their debates revealed that use of computers for qualitative analysis was a thorny issue, and Lee and Fielding wanted to refl ect this in the acronym, so they intentionally designed the acronym CAQDAS to evoke a big thorny plant— the cactus. Another reason for the acronym is that at the same time other technology- based methodological innovations, such as CAPI (Computer- Assisted Personal Interviewing) and CATI (ComputerAssisted Telephone Interviewing) were using “computer- assisted” in their acronyms, so Lee and Fielding felt it made sense to follow this trend. In 1994 Fielding and Lee went on to establish the CAQDAS Networking Project (CNP) at the University of Surrey, UK, which became an internationally reputed and independent source for practical support, training, information, and debate in the use of these technologies. The establishment of the CNP had the effect of ‘fi xing’ the acronym. Originally the second S stood for ‘software,’ but in response to suggestions that it is illogical to have both the term “computer- assisted” and “software” in the same acronym, over time the second S has come to refer to the second S in AnalysiS, and this is now the way the CNP uses the acronym. For more information about CNP and the origins of the CAQDAS acronym, see www.surrey.ac.uk/sociology/research/researchcentres/caqdas/ support/choosing/caqdas_defi nition.htm