Memos in Dedoose

Memos in qualitative research are often a source of data. In Dedoose, memos are a powerful tool that allow you to document and organize your thinking throughout a project. Memos are a great tool to track and organize notes related to code development, analysis, team notes, code questions, reflexive notes, and more. You can think of memos as post-it notes that can attach to different pieces of data in your study.

There are various ways to create memos depending on their function and purpose for your project. Several options are listed below: 

Create and link a memo to an excerpt (highly recommended) 

Creating memos while you are actively analyzing your data helps capture your early insights and thinking throughout your project. For example, if I analyze an answer to a survey question that relates or is in contradiction to my conceptual framework, I may want to memo on my thoughts to revisit later. 

Creating and linking memos to excerpts are also a powerful tool for bridging the gap between analysis and writing. Excerpts and memos can be exported together, allowing you to see your thoughts and insights side-by-side the piece of data. 

Create and link a memo to a code

There may be instances where you want to memo on a code's meaning that goes beyond the code definition. Creating and linking a memo to a code allows you to track the use and meaning of a code overtime. For example, if my research team decided to weight a code later on in the study, we could create and link a memo to that code detailing our change and rationale for doing so. 

Create and link memo to a piece of media 

Creating and linking a memo to a piece of media allows you to log notes and thoughts as they relate to that specific piece of media. For example, perhaps each research team member writes a reflective memo after analyzing a document. They could do so by linking the memo directly to the piece of media.