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I would echo many of the insightful and practical comments made so far. 1) Broader to more specific Totally agree on this one. You pretty much need to read and re-read documents, so on each reading you can start with more 'vague' nodes (codes) and get more specific as understanding grows. I have personally avoided code trees unless I know in advance that the tree is not going to change. It is more flexible and easier to change sets. The 'great' thing about NVivo is that you can keep recoding the same section of texts as many times as you like. For me NVivo provides an easier way to code and find data than using a highlighter pen and post-its. I don't expect it to do any of the analysis for me and so have not used any of the more 'sophisticated' functions. 2) Teamworking This is a tricky on. I only have version 8. In the past I have used 7 and 2. The 'sharing' functions are meant to have got better on newer versions so I can't help you much on this one. It may be worth piloting how you are going to use it first as a team on a small subset of data before doing anything else. Anthony makes a god point about reviewers being next to each other. That helps. I also agree with Gill, teams need to meet and discuss what they think they have found on a regular basis. One way we have tackled this 'problem' in the past is to break down the task in to blocks of work. So, for example, a different reviewer could work on their allocated bit of a programme theory. Their coding and findings could then be shared later. However, I accept that this might mean you end up creating a number of different NVivo files (or projects as they call it in NVivo), as opposed to one 'master' file for the project. Good luck Geoff On 1 June 2013 01:09, Gill Westhorp <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Great answer Anthony and very useful! Thanks...**** > > Gill **** > > ** ** > > *From:* Anthony Zwi [mailto:[log in to unmask]] > *Sent:* Saturday, 1 June 2013 9:34 AM > *To:* Gill Westhorp; 'Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: > Evolving Standards' > > *Subject:* RE: Using NVivo for data analysis**** > > ** ** > > Hi Gill > > I'm not in a position to give full details now but will follow up at > later point if of interest. > > Our approach was similar to that described by you (Gill) in your post in > response to Sue - although we had two team members working in adjacent deks > in the same room - so much easier to coordinate coding and discuss issues > along the way. We used it in part to organise data e.g. quotable segments > of a pdf of an article which provided a valuable illustration of any of > context, mechanism or outcome. We also used it to code and classify issues > and identify illuminating text. . > > For example, in examining the evidence as to how and in what ways > community-based disaster risk management helped reduce social and economic > impact of disasters (recently completed realist review awaiting publication > of report - thx Gill for your input too to our process :-) ) we found that > one contextual factor which influenced the ability of community based > organisations to promote change was an enabling environment for civil > society organisations. Authors will not necessarily describe the context > in the way we are looking at it - but they might comment on the fact that > the particular CSO has existed for some time, and somewhere else that it is > consulted by local authorities, and in another section of the article that > it is influential at local level - and these insights would be all be coded > as "enabling environment". Then when doing the analysis we might group > together all the text coded as "enabling" to get a more complete set of all > the enabling factors, plus how they appear to be operating, along with > relevant quotes and examples - thus building up an understanding that is > very much in tune with realist analysis. This level of textured analysis > is greatly supported by using a such software. > > I don't think we maximised use of NVIVO because we had time constraints ++ > and it does take time, but it was still valuable. Personally I think that > using NVIVO can help at various levels given that one can code and recode > or double code in NVIVO and hence every time you look at an article again > you can add texture or refine categories. You can also write memos in > relation toa particular article and you can code your memos to find at a > later point ideas you were thinking about or exploring. > > Personally I think that this is of particular use in generating ideas and > examining emergent theory and mechanisms because these too will become > refined over time with more clarity of how they operate and in what > circumstances - all of which might be usefully categorised and coded using > NVIVO. We didn't try use the more sophisticated features of NVIVO e.g. > generating models or doing any deeper NVIVO-supported analyses. > > Hope that helps. I should also add that it was two of my colleagues that > did most of this work under my supervision - they might throw up more of > the frustrations... but I think they found it useful. > > Best > Anthony **** > > ** ** > > Anthony Zwi > Professor of Global Health and Development > School of Social Sciences > Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences I The University of New South Wales > Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia I CRICOS Provider code number 00098G > > Rm G25 Morven Brown Bldg > Tel: +612 93859403; + 61 (0)423 696490 > > Research Gateway: > https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/professor-anthony-zwi#contact > Twitter: http://twitter.com/HEARDatUNSW > Twitter: http://twitter.com/GlobalHlthUNSW > School Web Site: http://ssis.arts.unsw.edu.au/ > > We acknowledge the Traditional owners, past and present, of the land on > which we work. Our main campus is on the Land of the Eora people.**** > ------------------------------ > > *From:* Gill Westhorp [[log in to unmask]] > *Sent:* Saturday, 1 June 2013 9:32 AM > *To:* Anthony Zwi; 'Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: > Evolving Standards' > *Subject:* RE: Using NVivo for data analysis**** > > Hi Anthony**** > > How did you go about it, and what strengths and weaknesses did you > discover in the process?**** > > **** > > Cheers**** > > Gill **** > > **** > > *From:* Anthony Zwi [mailto:[log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>] > *Sent:* Saturday, 1 June 2013 8:55 AM > *To:* Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards; > Gill Westhorp > *Subject:* RE: Using NVivo for data analysis**** > > **** > > Dear All > > We have also used it in a realist synthesis and in a metanarrative review > to identify underlying themes within a body of literature. > > Anthony**** > > **** > > Anthony Zwi > Professor of Global Health and Development > School of Social Sciences > Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences I The University of New South Wales > Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia I CRICOS Provider code number 00098G > > Rm G25 Morven Brown Bldg > Tel: +612 93859403; + 61 (0)423 696490 > > Research Gateway: > https://research.unsw.edu.au/people/professor-anthony-zwi#contact > Twitter: http://twitter.com/HEARDatUNSW > Twitter: http://twitter.com/GlobalHlthUNSW > School Web Site: http://ssis.arts.unsw.edu.au/ > > We acknowledge the Traditional owners, past and present, of the land on > which we work. Our main campus is on the Land of the Eora people.**** > ------------------------------ > > *From:* Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards > [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Gill Westhorp [ > [log in to unmask]] > *Sent:* Saturday, 1 June 2013 8:03 AM > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* Re: Using NVivo for data analysis**** > > Hi Sue**** > > My team is currently using NVivo9 in a realist synthesis. Do you have > more specific questions?**** > > Cheers**** > > Gill**** > > **** > > *From:* Realist and Meta-narrative Evidence Synthesis: Evolving Standards > [mailto:[log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>] *On Behalf Of *Sue's > UBC e-mail > *Sent:* Saturday, 1 June 2013 4:14 AM > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* Using NVivo for data analysis**** > > **** > > Hi,**** > > **** > > I was wondering if there is anyone who has experience using NVivo 10 for > data extraction and analysis. It allows you to load PDFs of academic > articles and extract data directly and well as grey literature reports etc. > I am interested in learning about other researchers’ experiences in using > data analysis software for a realist synthesis.**** > > **** > > Thanks**** > > Sue**** > > **** > > **** > > **** > > Sue Mills PhD**** > > Clinical Associate Professor**** > > **** > > School of Population and Public Health > Faculty of Medicine > The University of British Columbia > 2206 East Mall > Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3 > Tel: (604) 827-1444 Fax: (604) 822-4994**** > > Cell: 604-338-4232**** > > www.spph.ubc.ca**** > > **** >