Classification sheets

A classification sheet contains descriptive information about the files or cases in your project.

For example, you may have a file classification sheet for journal articles (including attributes like author and publication date):

Classification sheet showing articles and bibiolgraphical information.

Or a case classification sheet for your interview participants (with attributes like Age Group or Township):

Classification sheet showing cases and demographic information.

NVivo automatically builds a classification sheet when you assign cases or files to a classification.

A classification sheet allows you to see all the items assigned to a particular classification and set the attribute values set for each item.

Click the Undock icon (in the top right of the Detail View) to open the file in the Detail View into its own window, making more space to work. See Customize the workspace

Importing case classifications

You may have gathered information about your cases in a file outside of NVivo. You can import this data as a 'classification sheet' if it is saved in one of the following formats:

  • Structured text file (.txt)
  • CSV file (.csv) with UTF8 encoding.

For example, if you have cases representing people, and you have recorded demographic information in a spreadsheet, then you can save it to a text file and import into NVivo.

Likewise, if you have gathered information about your files outside of NVivo—and the information is in a structured text file—you can import it into NVivo as a classification sheet. For example, if you conducted a series of video interviews and have recorded the location and date in a spreadsheet, you can import the videos into NVivo, and then import the classification data.

 

If your data is in a text file, you can import the data into a new classification, or you can map the data to an existing classification. The data must be formatted as tab-separated values in .txt file or comma-separated values in a .csv file, as follows:

Attribute 1

Attribute 2

Attribute 3

Item name 1

Value

Value

Value

Item name 2

Value

Value

Value

Item name 3

Value

Value

Value

The full hierarchical name of each file or case must be entered in the first column.

NOTE

  • If your classifying data is in a spreadsheet, you must first save it to a text file in the format described above. If your classifying data is in IBM SPSS Statistics, you should export it to a .csv file with UTF8 encoding.
  1. On the Import tab, select Classifications / Classification Sheet.
  2. Follow the instructions in the Assistant to import the classification sheet.
  3. When you are done with the Assistant, click Finish.

NOTE

  • If you are importing data for a file classification, NVivo tries to find each file in the location you have specified. If NVivo cannot find a file, an external is created to represent the file and the classification data is applied to the newly created external.

Set attribute values for a file or case

  1. On the Home tab, click File Classification or Case Classification and then under Open Classification Sheet, select the classification sheet you want to open.
  2. Click Classification Sheet at the top of the Detail View.
  3. Click in the cell for the value that you want to set.
  4. Click the magnifying glass and select an existing value, or enter a new value.

Export a classification sheet

You can export a classification sheet to share the data with others or to work with it in a statistical package like IBM SPSS Statistics.

  1. Open the classification sheet you want to export in the Detail View.
  2. On the Sharetab, click Export > Export Classification Sheet.
  3. Choose a location for the exported file and select to export as a tab-separated text (.txt) or comma-separated variable (.csv) file. (Typically, we recommend UTF-8 encoding).