Co-Occurrence
Co-Occurrence analysis identifies which topics and terms tend to appear in the same responses. When two themes regularly appear together, it suggests a connection — respondents who mention one thing also tend to mention the other. Use Co-Occurrence to discover unexpected relationships and build a richer picture of the themes at play.
Adding a Co-Occurrence analysis
Section titled “Adding a Co-Occurrence analysis”- In the Workbench toolbar, click Co-Occurrence.
- The Co-Occurrence configuration panel opens with an Options tab and an About this Analysis tab.
- Click Save to add the chart to your output library.
Options tab
Section titled “Options tab”Display limit
Section titled “Display limit”Toggle the display limit on to cap the number of term pairs shown in the chart. This keeps the visualisation readable when a large number of co-occurring pairs are detected.
When the display limit is on, set the maximum number of pairs to show. The chart always prioritises the pairs with the strongest co-occurrence relationship.
Minimum mentions
Section titled “Minimum mentions”Set the minimum number of times a term must appear before it is eligible to form a co-occurring pair. This filters out rare terms that are unlikely to produce statistically meaningful relationships.
Chart types
Section titled “Chart types”| Chart type | Best for |
|---|---|
| Chord | Circular diagram showing the flow and strength of connections between co-occurring terms |
| Network | Node-and-edge web showing which terms are connected and how strongly |
| Impact Map | Hierarchical map showing terms grouped by theme and connected by co-occurrence strength |
Reading the results
Section titled “Reading the results”In a network chart, each node represents a term and each line (edge) connects two terms that co-occur. Thicker lines or shorter distances between nodes typically indicate stronger co-occurrence. Clusters of interconnected terms often represent a common theme or topic thread running through the responses.
Frequently asked questions
Section titled “Frequently asked questions”How is co-occurrence strength measured?
Co-occurrence strength reflects how often two terms appear in the same response, relative to how often each term appears on its own. Terms that always appear together score higher than terms that occasionally overlap.
My Co-Occurrence chart is very dense — how can I simplify it?
Enable the Display Limit toggle and reduce the number of terms shown. You can also increase the Minimum Mentions threshold to focus on terms that are more commonly discussed, which typically reduces noise.
What’s the difference between Chord, Network, and Impact Map?
Chord shows the relative strength of co-occurrence as ribbon widths in a circular layout — best for understanding the overall pattern. Network shows individual connections as edges between term nodes — best for tracing specific relationships. Impact Map groups terms hierarchically and shows connections between clusters — best for understanding thematic structure.
What’s the difference between Co-Occurrence and Top Terms?
Top Terms tells you what is mentioned most often. Co-Occurrence tells you what is mentioned together. Use Top Terms to understand what themes dominate; use Co-Occurrence to understand how those themes relate to each other.