Classify cases

You use case classifications to record descriptive information about the entities you are studying.

You can create the case classifications that suit your project and record information about the people, institutions, places or any other type of  'case' that is relevant to your research.

Why classify cases?

Classifying a case involves:

• Describing the type of case (for example - Person, Place, Organization)
• Defining the attribute values (for example - Age, Location, Size)

You use coding to connect this classification information to the qualitative data. For example, consider this passage of text:

I feel very worried about climate change, especially the impact on my children. We live on the coast so I am particularly concerned about rising sea levels and the destruction of the beautiful coral reefs. The problems seem overwhelming and I don't know where to start.

You might code the passage at the following 'theme' codes:

• climate change
• rising sea levels
• coral reefs
• feeling overwhelmed

To collect descriptive information about the speaker, you would also code the passage at the case

• Mary (female, aged 40)

As you code more content at cases you can use queries to ask meaningful questions—How do young women respond to the challenge of climate change? Do their attitudes differ from those of older women?

How do I classify cases?

Before you can classify cases you need to set up (or import) case classifications. Case classifications describe the type of case—for example,

• Person
• Organization
• Institution
• Site

For each classification you can add the attributes you are interesting in collecting:

• Person
  • Age group
  • Country of birth
  • Sex
• Organization
  • Industry
  • Sector
  • Size

When you create a case (or edit its properties) you can assign it to a classification and define the attributes.

Assign cases to a classification

You must create at least one classification before you can classify cases.

To assign cases to a classification:

• In List View, select the cases, and then right click and choose Classification.

IMPORTANT  If you change the classification of a case after you have set the attribute values you may lose data—for example, if you assign a case to the classification person, with values for age and sex, and the new classification does not have these attributes the values are removed.

Set the attribute values for cases

1. Select Case Classifications in the Navigation View, to open the classifications in the List View.
2. Expand the classification you want to set a value for—you see a list of cases with the classification.
3. Expand the case you want to set a value for—you see all the attributes and their values for this case.
4. Select an attribute and then click the pencil icon at the right of the selected row. This opens the Edit Attribute Value dialog box.
5. Click the magnifying glass to select from a list of existing values or enter a new one (not possible for Boolean attributes).

Alternatively, edit the classification sheet in the Detail View:

1. On the Home tab in the Case Classification menu Open Classification Sheet section, select the classification sheet you want to work with.
   The classification opens in the Detail View, with Attributes displayed.
2. Click Classification Sheet at the top of Detail View.
   The classification sheet is a table with cases in rows and attributes in columns—the table cells show attribute values.
3. Double-click on a value to change it. Click the magnifying glass to select from a list of existing values or enter a new one (not possible for Boolean attributes).

Working with a large number of cases

If you have a lot of cases, then NVivo provides ways to speed the process up.

You can classify cases at any stage of your project but you may want to consider the following:

• When you are collecting data make sure you record the descriptive information that supports the questions you want to ask. For example, if you want to compare attitudes based on location make sure you collect this information. You can store it directly in NVivo or in a separate file (text file or spreadsheet) and import it later.
• You need to classify cases and code content at the cases before you can use queries to ask comparative questions—such as, How are large organizations adapting to climate change?How do they differ from smaller organizations?

Review the cases in a classification

• In Navigation View, under Cases, click Case Classifications.

The classifications are displayed in List View. Click the disclosure triangle to see the cases in the classification, and again to see the attributes and attribute values for a case.

Change the classification of a case

CAUTION  Changing the classification of a case may result in the loss of data—for example, if you assign a case to the classification Person, with values for age and occupation, and the new classification does not have these attributes then the values are removed.

1. In List View, select the case.
2. On the Home tab, click Item > Get Info. If you cannot see the classification and attribute values, click the disclosure triangles to show them.
3. From the Case Classification pop-up menu, select a different classification for the case.