Sample projects

Four sample projects allow you to explore the full range of NVivo's capabilities. These are fully functional projects that you can edit, add data to, code, run queries on, and produce reports and visualizations for.

A multi-method sample project is included with NVivo, analyzing community perspectives on development and environment in a coastal area, using interviews, surveys and social media sources.

Open this project from the Welcome screen. After opening the sample project, it will be saved with any changes you have made. You can open the same copy of the sample project from the recent projects list. If you click the sample project tile again it creates a new copy, identified by number in the project names. This allows you to start a project afresh, free of changes you made in previous copies.

Three sample projects can be downloaded from the links below:

See below for more information about each of the sample projects.

Multi-method: Environmental change in Down East

The file materials in the Environmental Change Down East sample project are drawn from a two year study (2008-2009) undertaken by researchers from the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment at the Duke University Marine Lab in Beaufort, N.C. This study documented community perceptions of development and land-use change on coastal communities in the Down East area of Carteret County, North Carolina, USA.

Literature review: Virtual Reality and Health

This sample project is a partial literature review using creative commons licensed articles on the topic of virtual reality in health care. It focuses on how the tools available in NVivo can be used during the literature review process.

Mixed methods: Wellbeing in the Older Women's Network

This study focuses on wellness centers run by the Older Women's Network of NSW. The data available in this project are drawn from a wide range of source types, including a group discussion, interviews, literature and website materials, responses from two evaluation surveys, video, and cultural domain data.

Survey: Top High School Alumnae

This sample project shows how a simple survey with open and closed-ended questions can be analyzed in NVivo. It is based on a real survey conducted on high school alumnae, and shows both the original survey, notes taken during the data collection and analysis phases, and the final report.

What can I do in the sample projects?

You can use the sample project to explore and experiment—see how a real project can be structured and experiment with NVivo's powerful analysis tools. You can explore:

  • Files—there is a dataset of survey responses and a dataset containing Twitter data. There are also documents and PDFs (containing interview transcripts, news articles and web pages), audio and video recordings, and pictures of the Down East area.
  • Memos—the memos were used to communicate within the research team, and document the progress of the project.
  • Code structures—there are codes for themes, and cases for people and places. There are also codes for interview/survey questions and Twitter hashtags that were created by autocoding. Try adding your own codes and then experiment with coding the content of documents, datasets, videos and other types of files.

Experiment with queries and visualizations—for example, you can:

  • Run the queries that are set up in the project—the project has saved queries of all types. You can also create your own queries and experiment with query criteria.
  • Generate a hierarchy chart to see patterns of distribution—for example, you can use a tree map to compare the distribution of coding across thematic codes.
  • Create a chart to compare coding or attribute values
  • Select a file and create an explore diagram to see how it is connected to other project items

You can also use the sample project to see how:

  • Folders can be used to organize files, code structures, queries and maps
  • File classifications can be used to store information (including bibliographical data) about the files in the project
  • Case classifications can be used to store information about people and places in the project