SOFTWARE FOR QUALITATIVE RESEARCH .1. PROSPECTUS AND OVERVIEW

In recent years there has been growing interest in the use of computer s within qualitative geography. In this paper we review the types of s oftware packages that have been adopted and outline some of their dist inctive features. We discuss the intellectual and institutional reason s for the interest in the software and highlight the ways in which suc h reasons have shaped the use made of these packages. We argue that on ly a contextual account of how packages are adopted, adapted, and used can explain the situation in geography. Furthermore we suggest that t he archaeologies underlying the packages-their theoretical presupposit ions-are remarkably homogeneous and need to be clearly understood befo re deciding how the packages might be used. We outline how some of the se presuppositions have affected the ways in which the packages have b een used, and develop-from our own experiences-some points about infor mal networks of adoption and institutional contexts. The point of this is to suggest the minimal role prayed by formal software guides and m anuals in choosing whether and how to use a package. The paper outline s the current 'state of play' and raises issues of future use to be ad dressed in a second paper on this theme. Our intention is neither to s ell a particular package, nor to say ''to do X, use package Y'': becau se such recommendations are often misleading. Rather, our aim is to pr ovoke discussion about the use of software packages in qualitative geo graphy.