The second phase of REFI developed the REFI-QDA Project, which builds on the work completed in the first phase, when the REFI-QDA Codebook was developed.

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Each QDA software has a range of different features (see individual software websites for details). In developing the first version of this REFI-QDA Project, we focused on enabling exchange of the following core components between QDA software ‘projects’:

• sources (text, PDF, image and multimedia formats)

• segments (specified chunks of materials/data identified as meaningful by the user)

• codes (labelled ‘tags’ attached to segments)

• annotations (comments attached to segments, codes, sources or links)

• memos (writing spaces for analytical notes, either standalone or attached to sources and/or codes)

• links between codes, segments or memos

• cases

• sets/groups of entities

• visual representations of linked entities in the project

• user information

The QDA software packages that have implemented the REFI-QDA Project, enable some or all of these components to be exported into an XML Project Exchange File (with the extension: .qdpx).

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This REFI-QDA Project file can then be imported into a second QDA software for further analytic work. This may be useful if the second QDA software has a feature required for analysis that the first QDA software does not, or when researchers using different QDA software programmes wish to collaborate.  The prerequisite for interoperability is that both software packages have implemented the REFI-QDA Project.

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Testing of the implementation of import and export, and validation of the export file against the XSD schema is the responsibility of individual software developers.

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Please note: because there are differences in how each program functions with respect to sources, segments, codes, memos, annotations, links and their organisation, users may experience some modifications upon importing a project into a different program using the REFI-QDA Project.

In addition, the currently available version does not enable ‘round-tripping’ – i.e. going from software A to software B and then from software B back to software A. Implementing round-tripping is a goal for phase 3 of REFI.