Presentation of the Software Program SONAL

Abstract

This article presents the main functions of the software program SONAL ( www.sonal-info.com ), outlining its fundamental logic and the contexts in which it may be useful as part of a sociological investigation. The article begins by showing how Sonal allows the researcher to construct a corpus directly based on audio recordings, which can be coded thematically via a system of graphical markers positioned on the audio itself, and then annotated or re-transcribed in the synchronised way. The article then demonstrates how this logic allows the organisation of the work to be modified and enables the creation of corpora that are fully audio-textual, which potentially enriches the dialogue the researcher has with his or her material. Finally, we will present the different analytic tools proposed within the program, which may concern the coding of the recordings, their re-transcription, or the dynamic of conversations between the interviewer and the respondent(s). In so doing, Sonal borrows from different analytical logics and encourages dialogue between them.