Terminology changes (NVivo 15 Windows)

Teminology updates implemented in NVivo 15.

Apr 1, 2026
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Terminology changes (NVivo 15 Windows)

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Terminology changes (NVivo 15 Windows)

Terminology update with NVivo 15:

Dataset → Survey

Early versions of NVivo used 'Dataset' as a term for any item that has structured data arranged in rows and columns. This includes items such as excel spreadsheets, NCapture files containing data which can be imported into NVivo for analysis. With NVivo 15, all the Dataset references within the NVivo application have been renamed to Survey.

Terminological Updates Implemented in Previous Versions

NVivo (release 1) includes a number of terminology changes from previous NVivo versions.

Node → Code

Early versions of NVivo used 'node' as a term for any item that could be coded to. This included 'theme nodes' and 'case nodes'. In version 12, 'case nodes' were referred to just as 'cases', but 'theme nodes', or just 'nodes' continued in use. With NVivo (release 1) the transition is completed, with simply 'cases' and 'codes'.

Sets—static and dynamic

Previous Windows versions of NVivo had two types of 'set':

'sets' were manually selected groups of project items
'search folders' were groups of project items defined by search criteria (so new items could be automatically added as a project grew).

In NVivo (release 1) the two types of set are known collectively as 'sets', and individually as 'static sets' (previously 'sets') and 'dynamic sets' (previously 'search folders').

NVivo Mac does not have dynamic sets, but uses 'static set' for consistency with Windows.

Reports—formatted and text

NVivo Windows produces formatted and non-formatted (text) reports.

In previous versions the collective name for the reports was 'output', with formatted reports called 'reports' and non-formatted reports called 'extracts'.

In NVivo (release 1) the collective name is 'reports' and the two types: 'formatted reports' and 'text reports'.

Add to project

Some queries in NVivo allow you to save the query criteria, allowing you to run exactly the same query at a later time and see changes as a project develops. This is in contrast to saving query results, which are the output of a query run at a specific time.

In previous versions the button to save query criteria was labeled 'Add to Project'. This is changed to 'Save Criteria'.

NVivo Collaboration Server

NVivo for Teams has been renamed NVivo Collaboration Server. This Windows-only product for institutions is installed on a server in the institution's local network. Users connect to the server with standard client NVivo Windows applications.

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