How do I search for words or phrases inside research material?
Overview
Open Quick Search from the header and type a word or phrase. Results list the matching passages, which you can open in their documents, and the matches can be coded as a set. You can also combine words with AND, OR, NOT and NEAR, so a search can express a real analytic question. Search helps you check terminology, find known phrases and review uncoded occurrences. It does not replace reading the context or interpreting meaning.
What to do
- Start with a focused word or exact phrase that relates to your research question.
- Add operators when you need them (see “How do I write a Boolean or proximity search?”).
- Open results in their sources and read the surrounding text before you code or count anything.
- Treat spelling variants, inflections, translations and OCR errors as possible missed matches, and use a * wildcard for word endings.

