1 Synesis: A Language for Organizing Your Qualitative Research

Introductory guide for humanities researchers

1.1 What is Synesis?

Synesis is a structured way to record your qualitative research annotations in simple text files. Think of it as a digital field notebook with clear rules that help you maintain consistency throughout your entire project.

The name comes from the Greek σύνεσις (sýnesis), which means “comprehension” or “understanding” — exactly what we seek when analyzing qualitative data.

1.2 Why use Synesis?

1.2.1 The common problem

If you’ve worked with qualitative research before, you’ve probably encountered these situations:

  • Notes scattered across different files and formats
  • Difficulty remembering why you marked a particular excerpt as important
  • Codes that change names throughout the project
  • Hours reorganizing data before being able to analyze them
  • Difficulty explaining your analytical process to other researchers

1.2.2 Synesis proposal

Synesis offers a simple and consistent structure to:

  • Record relevant excerpts from your sources
  • Annotate your interpretations and reflections
  • Code excerpts with analytical concepts
  • Relate concepts to each other (causal relations, influence, etc.)
  • Document your conceptual vocabulary (ontology)

All of this in text files that you can open on any computer, now or twenty years from now.

1.3 How does it work in practice?

1.3.1 A simple example

Imagine you’re analyzing interviews about acceptance of new technologies. You find this excerpt:

“I even wanted to use it, but the cost is too high for my budget.”

In Synesis, you would record it like this:

SOURCE @interview_maria

    ITEM
        quote: "I even wanted to use it, but the cost is too high for my budget."
        note: Participant expresses desire for adoption limited by economic barrier
        chain: Cost -> INHIBITS -> Adoption
    END

END

What each part means:

  • SOURCE: indicates where the material comes from (an interview, a document, an article)
  • ITEM: is a unit of analysis — an excerpt you consider relevant
  • quote: the literal excerpt from the source
  • note: your interpretation or reflection about the excerpt
  • chain: the relationship you identified between concepts

1.3.2 Building relationships

The notation Cost -> INHIBITS -> Adoption means: “Cost INHIBITS Adoption”. This way of recording allows you to gradually build a map of relationships emerging from your data.

You can chain multiple relationships:

chain: Lack of Information -> GENERATES -> Distrust -> INHIBITS -> Adoption

This records a sequence: lack of information generates distrust, which in turn inhibits adoption.

1.4 Basic components

1.4.1 1. Sources (SOURCE)

Each source you analyze receives a unique identifier, connected to your bibliographic references:

SOURCE @silva2023
    ...
END

The @silva2023 corresponds to an entry in your references file (BibTeX format, used by managers like Zotero and Mendeley).

1.4.2 2. Analysis items (ITEM)

Within each source, you record relevant excerpts:

ITEM
    quote: "The literal text extracted from the source"
    note: Your interpretation or analytical comment
    code: Concept A, Concept B
    chain: Concept A -> RELATION -> Concept B
END

You can have as many items as you need in each source.

1.4.3 3. Conceptual vocabulary (ONTOLOGY)

To maintain consistency, you define your main concepts:

ONTOLOGY Cost
    topic: Economic Factors
    description: Financial expense associated with technology acquisition or use
END

ONTOLOGY Adoption
    topic: Behavior
    description: Decision to incorporate a technology into daily life
END

This creates a living glossary for your project, helping maintain clear and consistent definitions.

1.5 Types of relationships

Relationships between concepts depend on your field of study. Some common examples:

Relationship Meaning Example
INFLUENCES One factor affects another Income -> INFLUENCES -> Access
GENERATES One factor produces another Misinformation -> GENERATES -> Fear
INHIBITS One factor hinders another Bureaucracy -> INHIBITS -> Participation
ENABLES One factor allows another Education -> ENABLES -> Autonomy
DEPENDS_ON One factor requires another Trust -> DEPENDS_ON -> Transparency

You define which relationships make sense for your research in the template file.

1.6 Benefits for your research

1.6.1 Traceability

Each interpretation is connected to the original excerpt. You (or another researcher) can always go back to the source to verify the context.

1.6.2 Consistency

With a defined vocabulary, you avoid using “Cost”, “Price” and “Economic Value” for the same concept at different moments of the analysis.

1.6.3 Methodological transparency

Your analytical process is documented. When writing the methodology for your article or thesis, you have a clear record of how you reached your conclusions.

1.6.4 Portability

Simple text files work on any operating system and don’t depend on specific software. Your research isn’t “locked” in a program.

1.6.5 Collaboration

Colleagues can review your annotations, suggest alternative interpretations, and contribute to the project using the same conventions.

1.7 How to get started

1.7.1 Step 1: Organize your sources

Gather your bibliographic references in a .bib file (exportable from Zotero, Mendeley or similar).

1.7.2 Step 2: Define your structure

Create a basic template defining: - Which fields you’ll use (quote, note, code, chain) - Which types of relationships make sense for your study - Which concept categories you expect to find

1.7.3 Step 3: Start annotating

As you read your sources, record relevant excerpts with your interpretations. Don’t worry about having everything perfect from the start — the process is iterative.

1.7.4 Step 4: Refine your vocabulary

As patterns emerge, document your concepts in the ontology. Revise definitions, group related concepts, refine relationships.

1.7.5 Step 5: Analyze the results

The Synesis compiler transforms your annotations into structured formats (spreadsheets, for example) that facilitate pattern visualization and report generation.

1.8 A complete project in miniature

To visualize how the pieces fit together:

PROJECT: Green Technology Acceptance
│
├── references.bib          ← Your bibliographic references
│
├── template.synt            ← Your project rules
│
├── annotations/
│   ├── interviews.syn      ← Interview annotations
│   └── documents.syn       ← Document annotations
│
└── ontology.syno           ← Your conceptual vocabulary

The project file (.synp) connects everything:

PROJECT green_technology_acceptance

TEMPLATE "template.synt"
INCLUDE BIBLIOGRAPHY "references.bib"
INCLUDE ANNOTATIONS "annotations/interviews.syn"
INCLUDE ANNOTATIONS "annotations/documents.syn"
INCLUDE ONTOLOGY "ontology.syno"

DESCRIPTION
    Study on factors influencing the acceptance
    of green technologies in urban communities.
END

END

1.9 Frequently asked questions

1.9.1 Do I need to know how to program?

No. Synesis uses a simple and readable syntax. If you can organize a document with titles and subtitles, you can use Synesis.

1.9.2 Can I use it with my current software?

Yes. Synesis files are plain text, editable in any editor (Word, Google Docs, Notepad, or specialized editors). The compiler generates spreadsheets that you can open in Excel or Google Sheets.

1.9.3 What if I make a syntax error?

The compiler indicates exactly where the problem is and suggests how to fix it. Error messages are written to be understandable, not technical.

1.9.4 Does Synesis replace software like NVivo or Atlas.ti?

Synesis has a different purpose. While these software packages offer complete graphical interfaces, Synesis focuses on structuring and documenting the analytical process. Some researchers use both: Synesis for structured recording and other software for visualization.

1.9.5 Can I use it for any type of qualitative research?

Synesis is flexible. The template allows adapting the structure for different methodological approaches: content analysis, grounded theory, thematic analysis, among others.

1.10 Next steps

  1. Read the Reference Guide to learn all available commands
  2. Experiment with a small project — a few interviews or documents
  3. Adapt the template to your research’s specific needs
  4. Share your questions with the user community

Synesis was developed to make qualitative research more organized, transparent, and reproducible — without requiring advanced technical knowledge.