Building a Codebook

Learn how to create, edit, organize and import coding categories for qualitative research in Academly.

A codebook defines the categories used to analyze qualitative data. Academly provides a structured workspace for creating, editing and organizing these categories.

What this section is about

A clear coding scheme makes qualitative analysis more consistent. Each category should describe what belongs in that category and provide enough guidance for you to apply it consistently across your material.

When you should use a codebook

When you are preparing qualitative data for coding
When you need to define coding categories
When you want to use categories created in Research Setup
When you want to edit or reorganize an existing coding scheme
When you need to import or export categories using CSV

How to create a codebook

Open Codebook

Go to Qualitative Research and open the Codebook area.

Create a codebook

Enter a title for the codebook and create it.

Add categories

Create categories and add the information needed to describe how each category should be used.

Review the category definitions

Check the name, definition, coding rule and anchor example for each category.

Organize the codebook

Edit, reorder or remove categories as your coding scheme develops.

Save your changes

Make sure the current codebook structure is saved before you begin coding interviews.

Using categories from Research Setup

If you created categories during Research Setup, you can use them as a starting point instead of building the entire codebook manually.

Category fields

Name: The name of the category
Definition: What the category represents
Coding Rule: Guidance for deciding when the category should be applied
Anchor Example: An example that demonstrates the intended meaning of the category

Importing and exporting

Export your current codebook as a CSV file
Import categories from a compatible CSV file
Keep an exported copy before making major changes to an established codebook

CSV structure

A codebook CSV can contain the columns Category, Definition, Coding Rule and Anchor Example.

Important notes

Use clear category definitions and review whether categories overlap unnecessarily. Anchor examples can help improve consistency during coding. Keep a backup before making major structural changes to an existing codebook.

Related sections

Research Setup
Auto-Coding
Analysis & Summaries