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):

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

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 Expand button (at the top right of Detail View) to make more room for working with your data. 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.

Set attribute values for a file or case

1. On the Explore tab, in the Classification Sheets group, click File Classification Sheets or Case Classification Sheets.
2. Click the classification sheet that you want to open.
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. Select the classification you want to export.
2. On the Data tab, in the Export group, click Classification Sheets
3. Choose a location for the exported file and select the required format. You can export the file as:
   • (.txt) or (.csv) if you want to work with the data in Numbers or Excel.
   • (.sav) to work with the data as a native SPSS file.