An introduction to NVivo was offered by Professor Louise Vincent.
NVivo is a qualitative data analysis software used by researchers to collect, organise and analyze content.
The software helps with coding and visualizing qualitative data and is also a useful tool to use when reviewing literature. Transcribing data is aided by the fact that the programme allows for audio and visual material to be incorporated into a project and for sound to be slowed down to allow for recordings to be turned into text. Participants were introduced to the software, to the different terminology used, shown how to create a new project and how to import different source materials. NVivo can be used with data like interviews, focus groups, observations etc. Using the software helps in organising and analyzing data more effectively. NVivo assists in examining relationships in data. It allows a person to visualize the project they are busy with, giving them the ability to put information into the form of models, graphs and charts. There is also a security feature that allows a person to add a user profile with secure passwords so that their data is safe and the identity of participants remains confidential. NVivo can manage a variety of data sources including documents, pdfs, videos and voice recordings. A screen capture tool is available through downloading NCapture. This is very useful when using social media as a data source. Participants said they found the session informative and very helpful.
A free 30-day trial version can be downloaded from: http://www.qsrinternational.com/product
