Nvivo

J

Using Nvivo is quite interesting. Are there any pros and cons to the use of this software?

E

I have used it.
It helped me get organised. Otherwise I was lost in my papers and in coloured markers.
Although I haven't used all of its features, so I can't tell anything further.

W

I found it a very useful program, especially for just viewing one code/theme/node in order to separate it. It does have a slightly quant feel with some features of counting and percentage covered for codes. I'm not sure how necessary that is, but you can easily ignore that.
The major downside for me was in how to approach it. I spent a lot of time restructuring my tree codes when I first got into it. Also, I spent a lot of time looking at the 'trees' instead of the 'forest'. Something about how my brain works and how NVivo was used, I sacrificed the bigger picture for the details. Don't rely on it 100% for all of your data readings, but learn how to use it to your advantage.

C

Pros: Easy to learn; organises your data efficiently and all in one place; easy to develop codes; easy to transfer data to reports; can take lots of different forms of data (e.g., text; video; audio)
Cons: Takes up huge amounts of disk space; a bit temperamental so you have to keep saving your file; easy to fragment your data in the search for relevant bits; it won't do the coding for you!

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