NVivo 13/R1: Create cases automatically

NVivo 13 can create codes automatically from imports, query results, mind maps, coding matrices, autocoding, Automated Insights, other projects, or a codebook (.qdc).

Aug 26, 2026
Knowledge

Title

NVivo 13/R1: Create cases automatically

Answer

Create cases automatically

NVivo provides a number of quick ways to create cases—for example, you can:

Create cases from selected files—this is most useful when the entire file represents a single case (unit of analysis). When you create cases from your files the entire content of the file is coded.
Create cases based on the speaker names in a document.
Import a spreadsheet (called a 'classification sheet' in NVivo) containing respondent names and demographic variables.
Import a survey or social media dataset and automatically create and classify cases based on the content.

The approach you take depends on the type of data you are working with.

Set up cases from interviews

If you have interview transcripts saved separately as files in NVivo (one file per participant), you can follow these steps to set up cases with classification values:

Goal	Steps to get there...
Add case classifications to the project, to apply to cases when they are added:	Select Case Classifications in the Navigation View, then on the Create tab, Case Classification. Enter a classification name and optionally provide a description.
Add attributes to the classification:	Select the case classification in the List View, then on the Home tab click Case Classification > New Attribute. Enter an attribute name (e.g. Age, Gender or Occupation) and optional description. Select the data type of the attribute values in the Type field. For example. Age could be an integer, if you will give each person's age in years, or text, if you will bracket age ranges (e.g. `30–40`). If you know some of the attribute values you can add them now (you can easily add additional values later, as needed). Click the plus sign at the bottom of the Attribute Values panel. For example—for Occupation, you could add Accountant and Teacher.
Create cases from interview files:	In List View, select the interview files. (Hold down the SHIFT key to select multiple files). On the Home tab, click Organize > Create as Cases. The cases are created at the top level of the Cases section in the Navigation View. Move them to a subfolder if you want. To assign a classification to the cases, select them in the List View and choose a classification from Classification in the context menu. Now, you have a case (with classification) for each participant and the content of each interview has been coded to its case.
Set the attribute values for each case:	In the Navigation View, click Case Classifications. Expand the classification and then the case you want to set values for. Select the attribute to change and then click the pencil icon to update its value. Click the magnifying glass to select from existing values or (for non-Boolean attribute types only) type in a new one.

Set up cases for focus groups

If you have focus group transcripts saved as documents in NVivo, you can follow these steps to set up cases with classifications:

Goal	Steps to get there...
Add case classifications to the project, to apply to cases when they are added:	Select Case Classifications in the Navigation View, then on the Create tab, Case Classification. Enter a classification name and optionally provide a description.
Add attributes to the new classification:	Select the case classification in the List View, then on the Home tab click Case Classification > New Attribute. Enter an attribute name (e.g. Age, Gender or Occupation) and optional description. Select the data type of the attribute values in the Type field. For example. Age could be an integer, if you will give each person's age in years, or text, if you will bracket age ranges (e.g. `30–40`). If you know some of the attribute values you can add them now (you can easily add additional values later, as needed). Click the plus sign at the bottom of the Attribute Values panel. For example—for Occupation, you could add Accountant and Teacher.
Autocode the files by speaker	In List View, select one focus group file. On the Home tab, click Autocode, and then By Speaker. Enter the name of each speaker in the selected file. The number of references that will be coded for each speaker is shown. Choose a location for the newly created cases and assign them to a new or existing classification. Click on Cases in Navigation view to see the new cases.
Set the attribute values for each case:	In the Navigation View, click Case Classifications. Expand the classification and then the case you want to set values for. Select the attribute to change and then click the pencil icon to update its value. Click the magnifying glass to select from existing values or (for non-Boolean attribute types only) type in a new one.

NOTE

When autocoding by speaker, follow these guidelines for formatting the transcript:

The speaker name must appear at the start of a line. It cannot be proceeded by any characters—including tabs and spaces.
The speaker name can appear on the same line with the response or on a separate line above the response—as long as it is at the start of a line.
The transcript can be formatted as a table with the speaker name in the left column and the response in the right.
Each speaker must be identified by a unique name. NVivo creates a case for each unique speaker name and codes all content by that speaker at the case.

Create cases from a survey dataset

If you are working with a dataset containing survey responses, you can use the Autocode Dataset Assistant to create, classify and code to a case for each respondent. This will add the demographic information—for example, Age and Gender—from the classifying columns. Autocode datasets

Datasets

Analyzing surveys

Create cases from a social media dataset

If you are working with datasets containing social media data imported from NCapture, NVivo creates cases to represent each user when you autocode by Username. So, you can create classified cases at the same time as you autocode the dataset.

When you autocode by Username, the cases are assigned to the classification 'Facebook User', 'Twitter User' , and profile information about the user is stored as attribute values on the cases.

In List View, select the social media dataset and then on the Home tab, click Autocode.
Follow the steps to:
- Code to cases for each value in a column.
- Choose the column that contains the Username.
- Choose the content you want to code to the case. For example, Post and Comment Text or Tweet.
- Choose a location for the new cases.

Create cases by importing a classification sheet

You can import files containing NVivo classification sheet data that was created outside NVivo—for example, data that was gathered in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (you must save it to a text file before importing it into NVivo). Classification sheets

URL Name

NVR1Mac-Content-cases-create-cases-automatically

NVivo 13/R1: Create cases automatically

Information

Create cases automatically

Set up cases from interviews

Set up cases for focus groups

Create cases from a survey dataset

Create cases from a social media dataset

Create cases by importing a classification sheet

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