I’m getting a headache right now because NVivo, the qualitative analysis software I’ve started using and one of the premiere apps on the market, is so cumbersome and ugly. Granted, it’s designed for the PC and I have to run it on Windows (that’s explains part of the pain) – but is this really the best there is? A program that costs $595 for a full license and $240 for the (one-year!) student license, but can’t scroll text fluidly or automatically update drop-down boxes?
The only Mac counterpart seems to be the free TAMS Analyzer, which I like and used for a recent paper, but it’s not nearly as powerful and the awkward interface keeps it from being user friendly.
The Omni Group to the rescue?
In my dreams I imagine The Omni Group producing a well-designed, robust qualitative analysis application that is made for the Mac and works as smoothly as OmniFocus or OmniOutliner.
I just asked them to do so on their user forum, but even if they did, it’d be a long time before it’s available.
What am I missing about NVivo? I’ve already spent hours with it but it’s still like pulling teeth. Anyone have any tips or plugs for alternatives (e.g., ATLAS.ti)?
14 comments ↓
have you heard of hyperresearch (http://www.researchware.com/)? it has a mac version. i haven’t used it but some researchers at our ed school have and they seem to like it.
i have colleagues who runs atlas/ti on a mac and it seems to work well technically — it’s a much smaller program or install and manage. with the newest release of nvivo (version
it seems that it can do pretty much everything atlas/ti can do (e.g., coding audio and video files and exporting codes into spreadsheets, although the latter can be a bit cumbersome).
by the way, all this information is from my consulting job — i don’t personally do qualitative research so my knowledge is limited. but i’ve given enough nvivo workshops to know the basics of it. i don’t know what you’re referring to as the text scrolling and drop-down box problems…
Thanks for the comment, Yli. I’ve looked at hyperresearch’s website but I’ve never tried out the software. I’ll take a look.
Wow, if you’ve given workshops on NVivo you must know your stuff!
On text scrolling – when I’m scrolling through a long interview, the text jumps up/down at least two lines rather than scrolling fluidly. This makes it hard to find your place or skim.
On drop-down boxes: If I’m about to create a code that I want to be placed under a tree node, then in the location drop-down on the coding toolbar I should be able to see all the possible locations I can place it rather than just “Free nodes,” “Tree nodes,” “Cases,” and, apparently, the last place I put a code. I know the ellipsis button next to the location drop-down will bring up a screen with access to all the tree codes, but why the extra step? The codes should be available in the drop-down.
Another frustration is that when I select coding stripes and want to see the most recently coded nodes, the stripes option reverts to “for selected nodes only” so the nodes I make after choosing these stripes are not shown, even though they are the ones most recently coded.
Do you know if there is some way for the text that has been coded to be highlighted or bracketed in some way? The coding stripes don’t do it for me.
jim — my workshops are very very introductory so i only know the very basics of nvivo and atlas/ti. i have used nvivo for organizing my survey questions so i know a bit more about it than atlas/ti.
on your questions:
1. scrolling — i don’t seem to have problems scrolling down texts — it’s fairly smooth. maybe this is a windows versus mac problem?
2. yeah, the coding bar confuses me more than helps so i don’t use it at all. what i usually do is open the document i’m about to code, then click on the “Nodes” tab in the navigation panel on the left, so that i have all the nodes and locations accessible, and then switch the view to “Detail View Right” (it’s one of the buttons next to the zooming buttons on the top tool bar) — this way i have the document on the right and all of the tree nodes (for example) in a vertical column in the middle for a longer view. and i code by dragging selected text to the destination node. you can easily access the last location you coded something since it stays there until you click on another location. i hope i’ve explained this clearly.
3. the coding stripes are also confusing and i haven’t figured out what exactly the different options are. i share your frustration but i don’t have an answer.
4. i don’t have the answer to this one either, but this is perhaps where atlas/ti is better — it brackets the texts for all the codings on the right with the code names (no highlight in the text though).
I think you might be right about the scrolling issue.
I’ve used the vertical or “detail view right” arrangement a bit, and while it’s not great for making new tree nodes, I think this is what I’ll do from now on. Thanks!
i’ve been working with atlas.ti. it’s far from perfect, but i prefer it to nvivo. the programmers have hidden a few funny little tricks in atlas, which i appreciate. still, i’m astounded that programs for qualitative analysis haven’t been more polished than these two and that NOTHING is made to run on a mac. maybe after tenure….
hi jim-
first, i share your frustration with nvivo. it’s cumbersome and slow and annoying. i have both nvivo 7 and qsr n6 (earlier version) on my computer and much prefer n6!
i also came here to reply to your comment re: ‘deep hanging out’ way back in july. sorry for the delay- have been away from internet for a while. anyway, as for the origin of the term ‘deep hanging out,’ i have the impression that it was coined by none other than clifford geertz. i have heard/seen it bandied about in some methods courses i’ve taken and in some printed places, as well. my anthro friends and i use it often, perhaps to refer to the blank looks that non-anthro people give us when we attempt to elucidate our ‘methods’ at dinner parties. i kind of love the term, and see it in much the same way as i see ‘participant observation.’ for me, they terms are interchangeable, barring the semantic connections of ‘hanging out’ to laziness or loafing around. i think i’ve grown to appreciate the term even more here in malawi, where i sometimes find myself choosing between going out for a beer and a game of pool at the local bar or religiously writing my fieldnotes in the evenings. i’ve begun to see ‘fieldwork’ as less differentiated than i anticipated; some of the more fun, social things i do end up as superb fodder for my dissertation, perhaps because people open up with me once i’ve ‘hung out’ with them a few times or join in a pool tournament. of course my more formal ‘participant observation’ has been immensely enlightening, as well. but, in general, the best data i have has come from impromptu conversations or hanging out. which is, i suppose, (maybe) the great lesson every anthropologist learns. but now i am even more into the term deep hanging out than i was before. i am a bit reluctant about the deep part because it sort of suggests one is out to analyze everything, or that making friends or having chats is purely instrumental (ooh this is data let me go use the toilet and write some notes). however, all in all, i think it’s a pretty great term and i’ll definitely use it when i teach the ‘art’ of participant observation. i think deep hanging out is the ultimate expression of cosmopolitanism (i’m really critical of most theoretical work on this topic)- a simple but powerful vehicle for learning new things from new people and for getting to the bottom of the most opposing viewpoints or differing world views. i think my favorite thing about the term is the ‘hanging out’ part. hanging out implies a cool, casual, comfort. lots of times in malawi i have felt anything but. however, once i got over it a few times, hanging out became just that: effortless (and almost always enlightening).
Hi Jim,
Yes, NVivo can be frustrating. I am happy to offer you assistance if you would like. I am an NVivo consultant. I have assisted over 800 doctoral candidates, 260 faculty, and 200 community/government organizations learn to use NVivo. My services are available long distance or in person. Please contact me at asher@asherconsult.com if you are interested.
I am working on my dissertation, a qualitative case study on the perceptions of school counselors. I have done the data collection and I am struggling with NVivo. I do not like the software. I must analyze 30 questionnaires for themes, patterns etc. Can you help? How expensive would this be?
Desperately need help.
Hi Josie, I recommend you email Asher directly. After you left your comment, s/he emailed me thinking that I was the one asking for help, so it appears that the service is still available.
Good luck!
Hi Jim–
Did you find out anything? I’ve been using NVIVO and am similarly unhappy, even though I’m a PC person. It is expensive, and I don’t get the sense that the development team is really producing innovations that are going to make NVIVO useful in the future. And, I’m scared that all the coding I’m doing will keep me trapped in NVIVO for a long time to come…
Any ideas for alternatives?
J
I’ve been recommended Nvivo by one of my lecturers for the research I’m doing into open-source computer labs… which really doesn’t make sense, considering it’s a proprietary program running on the least open-source platform!
What about using something like mediawiki (the system that wikipedia is based on) to catalogue the research.
Hey Jon, I ended up going with ATLAS.ti. I find it more streamlined and more intuitive than NVivo.
Pete, I agree, that’s pretty crazy! I’ll take a look at mediawiki, but I suspect its query capabilities wouldn’t let me do as much as I can with Atlas.
Hi all I am looking for a grounded theory suitable (Strauss and Corbin ) qualitative software. I have a Mac . To date I have been looking into NVivo and also MAXQDA. I could install on a pc if the worse came to the worse. Has anyone had any experience with both and if so what do you think?
NVivo is much more expensive than MAXQDA I note
Also if I do install on the Mac which compatibility software do you suggest? thanks
Hi Kat,
I am not sure about MAXQDA, but for NVivo you must use an Intel-based Mac computer using the following software products:
1. Apple Boot Camp (Boot Camp is included in the latest Mac OS X version 10.5, Leopard)
2. Parallels Desktop for Mac
3. VMware Fusion
If you are interested… I have over 9 years of experience working with NVivo and doing grounded theory. I offer NVivo training and coding and analysis services (the purchase of NVivo is not necessary).
Please contact me directly at asher@asherconsult.com if you are interested in training and/or data analysis services.
Thanks,
Asher Beckwitt PhD(c), MA
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