Classification sheets (NVivo 14 Mac)

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 Township):

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 icon (in the top right of the Detail View) to expand the Detail View and create more space to work. See Customize the workspace (NVivo 14 Mac)

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 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).