This can be a useful starting point for reviewing your data. You can use NVivo queries to automatically code your files based on the words or phrases they contain. You can create a node structure and then code your material at the 'ready-made' nodes or you can create nodes as you work through your files. If you have a smaller number of files that require close analysis-take advantage of the easy-to-use coding techniques. For example, if you have many files or you have large dataset files-make the most of NVivo's auto coding and query-based coding feature s. NVivo does not prescribe an approach but provides the tools to let you work the way that suits you best. The way you approach the analysis of files can depend on the: For example, if you have survey responses from a class of students, you can create a case node to represent each student, and then code their opinions at their case node. You can also code to gather content at nodes that represent the subjects of your research, such as people or places. The process of coding can generate ideas and help you to identify patterns and theories in your research material.įor example, you could gather all the negative opinions about a policy and examine them together in a node-from there, you could tease out common threads and ask questions like What do young people think and do their opinions differ from those of older people? You can code all types of files and bring the references together in a single 'node': 'Coding' your files is a way of gathering all the references to a specific topic, theme, person or other entity.

Coding is a fundamental task in most qualitative projects.

Coding using nvivo