Product Comparison
Intellectus Qualitative (IQ) and HyperRESEARCH (HR) are powerful qualitative data analysis tools but cater to different user needs and workflows. Main differences include IQ’s use of AI and web-based platform, while HR is desktop software with no AI features.
Both products offer an “auto-coding” feature, but the underlying technologies and functionalities differ greatly. HR’s auto-coding is based on exact word or phrase matches within the text source files, with options to expand the selection to include the sentence or paragraph containing the match. This feature is useful for quickly identifying and coding specific terms or phrases, but it lacks the contextual understanding and flexibility of IQ’s AI-powered solution.
In contrast, IQ’s auto-coding leverages Large Language Models (LLMs) to identify and code relevant segments based on their context and meaning. This AI-driven approach enables users to automate the coding process in a more intuitive and adaptive manner, as the LLMs can understand the nuances and semantics of the text beyond simple keyword matching. IQ’s auto-coding can be performed inductively, where the AI suggests both codes and relevant excerpts, or deductively, using a predefined codebook. IQ’s inductive coding also has a learning aspect, allowing users to refine their results by giving feedback to the AI.
Moreover, IQ offers an auto-thematizing feature that utilizes text embeddings and statistical analysis to automatically calculate the optimal number of themes, group codes into themes, and generate a description of each theme. This functionality further streamlines the qualitative analysis process and helps users uncover patterns and insights more efficiently.
IQ also features Research Question – Theme alignment. IQ uses AI to align particular themes with particular research questions. After this alignment, a rationale for each alignment is provided.
This fundamental difference leads to distinct capabilities in terms of collaboration and sharing. IQ allows projects to be shared directly between users within the application, facilitating seamless teamwork. On the other hand, HR requires users to manually exchange study files to collaborate, as projects are saved locally on each user’s computer.
In terms of multimedia support, HR allows direct coding on image, audio, and video files, while IQ primarily focuses on text data, with media files being uploaded for transcription purposes.
In summary, IQ’s web-based architecture, enhanced by AI-driven coding and thematization, coupled with its seamless collaboration features, renders it exceptionally suited for both team environments and faculty-student interactions. This integration of automation and efficient teamwork significantly optimizes workflow processes. HR’s desktop-based application, with its focus on in-depth manual coding, advanced querying, and mixed-methods support, is good for researchers conducting analysis across various data types.
| Feature | Intellectus Qualitative | HyperRESEARCH |
| Software Type | Web-based SaaS application. | Desktop software. |
| Text File Support | TXT, DOCX, PDF, RTF files. | TXT, RTF files. |
| Multimedia Support | MP3, WAV, MP4, M4A, OGG, OGA, OGV, WEBM, AMR, FLAC files.Media files uploaded for transcription. | JPG, GIF, PNG, QuickTime, AVI, MPEG, AIFF, MP3, WAV filesDirect coding on image, audio, video files |
| Coding | Excerpts assigned to codes.Codes organized under themes/subthemes. | Codes applied to text, image regions, audio/video segments.Code Book for managing codes. |
| Automation | AI-assisted coding (inductive & deductive).Auto-thematizing based on text embeddings.Research question – theme alignment and rationale. | Auto-coding based on human word/phrase search.No thematizing support.No support around research questions. |
| Analysis | Code and theme details for examining assigned excerpts.Excerpts view for viewing or downloading coded segments.Memos for tracking analysis process.Insights view for building reports. | Filtering cases & codes.Proximity searching.Boolean queries.Theory testing. |
| Output | Download codebook, excerpts, memos, insights, transcriptsInsights document includes source references for included excerpts. | Save/export code lists, code references, reports, theory test results.Reports include hyperlinks to source material. |
| Collaboration | Projects can be shared or transferred between users.Codebooks can be exported and imported. | File-based sharing through manual exchange of study files. |
| Methodology Focus | Geared towards AI-assisted analysis and insight generation. | Supports manual coding and querying across mixed data types. |
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