Your first project, in ten minutes.

Install Oriel

Download Oriel for Mac or Windows. The first time you open it, your computer warns that it can’t check who made it, so follow the one-off steps on the download page.

Download and install steps →

Try an example Optional

On the Welcome screen, choose Open an example project…, pick one and click Open example. Everything in it is fictional, so you can try anything without worrying about your own data.

The Qualitative analysis example has coded interviews, cases, queries and memos.

The Realist review example has studies ready to extract and appraise.

The Realist review example has a programme theory whose CMOCs already have evidence.

The Behavioural and implementation evaluation example evaluates brief alcohol advice at three practices, with COM-B and CFIR codes and two linked logic models.

Create your project

Click New project… and work through three short steps: Purpose, Methods and theory, and Sharing and saving.

Choose Qualitative analysis. You can name your method, such as reflexive thematic analysis, in Analytic approach (optional).

Choose Evidence synthesis and tick Qualitative evidence synthesis. This switches on Study review tools.

For an evaluation, choose Intervention or programme evaluation and tick Realist. For a review, choose Evidence synthesis and tick Realist review. On the next step, tick Create an initial programme theory now.

Choose Intervention or programme evaluation and tick what you want to look at: Process, Implementation, Behavioural, or several. On Methods and theory, you can choose a framework under Add a framework to start with, such as the Theoretical Domains Framework or CFIR, to add its codes.

Leave anything you’re unsure about as it is, since you can change most choices later. Then click Choose save location… to save your project file.

Bring in your data

Click + beside Sources in the sidebar and choose Import files…, or drag files and folders into the window.

Oriel reads Word, PDF and text files, spreadsheets, audio, video and images. To transcribe a recording on your own computer, open it and click Transcribe….

Import the papers you’ve included. Each file becomes its own study, listed under Studies in the Review section of the sidebar.

Bring in interviews, field notes and recordings, or study PDFs for a review. To rate how trustworthy and useful a source is, right-click it and choose Rigour and relevance….

Bring in interviews, field notes, documents and recordings. Click + beside Cases to add a case for each site or participant, so you can compare them later.

Code your first passage

Open a source and select a passage. The Quick codes card appears beside it.

Type a code name, then choose a match or Create “…”. The passage gets a coloured mark, and the code’s count goes up.

Look across your coding

Open Codes or Excerpts in the sidebar to read coded passages together. Use Queries to search words or compare codes across sources and cases.

Write it up

Note ideas in Memos as you go. When you’re ready, write Findings with the evidence behind them, and turn your work into a document from Reports.

Choose your templates

Open Extraction and appraisal templates in the Review section and choose the forms every reviewer uses. Edit a starter template or make your own.

Extract and appraise each study

Open a study and fill in its Extraction tab, with the report beside the form, then its Appraisal tab. Choose Submit my review when you’re done.

Working with a second reviewer? Agree your values on the study’s Reconcile tab.

Build your findings

Code the reports with Quick codes to draw out themes. To support a finding, select a passage, right-click and choose Add as evidence for finding…. Oriel records which study it came from.

Judge your confidence

On a finding’s Confidence (CERQual) tab, judge Methodological limitations, Coherence, Adequacy and Relevance, choose an overall confidence, then click Save judgement.

The judgement is always yours, and Oriel shows each study’s appraisal beside your judgement.

Write your CMOCs

Open your theory under Models in the sidebar and choose New CMOC…. Give it a short label and a statement, then write its context, mechanism and outcome.

Link evidence to your CMOCs

Open a source and switch the Codes panel to CMOCs. Select a passage, then in the Quick codes card choose the CMOC, the part the passage speaks to, and a stance: Supports, Contradicts, Refines or Informs.

Test and refine your theory

When your CMOCs are ready, choose Start testing round… on the theory page. On the Testing tab, use Queue to judge each CMOC against its evidence: Confirm, Refine…, Refute… or Set aside….

Write it up

Write Findings with the evidence behind them, keep rival accounts in Alternative explanations, and turn your work into a document from Reports.

Follow the stages on Project home

Project home guides you through five stages, from Frame the evaluation to Report and reflect. Click a stage to see its guidance and the tools that suit it.

Write your questions in Project brief and questions, then choose one on Project home to focus the guidance on it.

Code or summarise each source

Code passages with Quick codes, using your framework’s codes alongside your own. To capture a source quickly instead, open it and click Summarise source, then write a short summary under each heading. You can do both.

Compare summaries side by side in Summary matrix.

Analyse with a framework Optional

Click + beside Queries and choose Framework analysis…. A Behavioural diagnosis shows where your coding falls across the Theoretical Domains Framework, case by case.

With CFIR, rate each construct for each case, then use Compare groups to set sites or groups side by side.

Build a logic model Optional

Click + beside Models and choose a format. An Implementation research logic model links determinants, strategies, mechanisms and outcomes. A Behaviour change logic model shows how the programme changes a behaviour. You can link the two where they meet.

Keep delivery and adaptation records

Note what was delivered and what changed, with dates. Open Records under Notes, click New record… and choose a template, such as Delivery record, Adaptation record or, with ERIC added, Implementation strategy.

Write it up

Open Develop and review findings on Project home for guidance on interpreting each kind of evaluation. Write Findings with their evidence, keep rival accounts in Alternative explanations, and draft your report from Reports.

Keep it safe, or share it

Oriel saves as you work and makes backups automatically. For a copy of your own, choose File → Back up now….

To work with colleagues, click Collaborate and choose a folder you already share, such as OneDrive, Dropbox or a network drive.