Aquad is a proprietary Computer assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) that supports content analysis of open data in qualitative research in psychology, education, sociology, philosophy, medicine, ethnography, politics,etc. Open data are usually collected through observation, introspection, narratives, discussion groups, interviews, etc.
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Aquad was developed in Germany in 1987 by Günter L. Huber, professor at the Department of Educational Psychology at the Institute of Educational Science at the University of Tübingen, to make up for limited manpower at content analysis in a research project.
Aquad provides tools as:
Data could be analysed as written text, audio, photo, or video. Initially, Computer assisted qualitative data analysis software analysed only verbal texts. The observation, introspection, narratives, discussion groups, interviews, etc. were transcribed and CAQDAS only analysed the transcription (linguistics).
Data could be directly analysed on the screen (one-step) or outside (two-steps). One-step allows to code on the screen with digitalised data. Two-steps allows to enter codes on the screen keeping the documents as realia on the desk or in other means as cameras, TV, etc. For instance, two-steps allows to analyse recordings, diaries, incunabula, or objects without transcribing, taking photos, or scanning them.
Aquad allows comparison of cases/files by "logical minimization". It applies Boolean method of qualitative comparison by Ragin (1989) and detects critical features to identify types of cases.
Real available version is AQUAD Six that includes examples of analyses of written text, audio, photo, and video. . A demo version and a manual (Huber & Gürtler, 2004) are also available on the website. Aquad is available in German, English, and Spanish.