This paper describes work carried out in order to assess whether the approa
ch taken to the analysis of qualitative data impacts upon the findings and
their consequent interpretation. Three different approaches were used to an
alyse the same dataset - a Holistic and Interpretive approach, a Cut and Pa
ste approach and Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQD
AS). We discuss the differences between the approaches themselves, their ou
tput, the relative costs of adopting the three different approaches and the
implications of the work.