In the process of your analysis, you may want to search, filter, focus and selectively interrogate your data, rather than always working with all of your data. Asking questions from the very beginning of your project before you have recorded all your data or coded sources fully can usefully inform redesign of your project (Do I need to gather additional sources of data? Should I re-frame the questions in that section?).
You will need to ask a variety of different questions of your data throughout your project. Different types of questions are best addressed using particular types ofNVivo functionality, for example:
If you would like to find items based on their name, particular characteristics or associations with other items in your project, consider using Find.
If you would like to find content with particular text or coding characteristics, consider creating a Query.
It is important to have a very clear idea of what you are asking to know which NVivo functionality to use and how to use it. The following steps may assist you:
State the common-language question you wish to ask
Select the appropriate functionality for that question
Restate your question in terms of the processes it requires. Step logically through each process
Carefully state the answer, accurately recording what it tells you
In the Volunteering Sample Project
Adventure was discussed by the interview participants, but was adventure discussed in any of the memos? Lets re-frame this question:
Common language Question: Do any of the memos discuss volunteering in terms of adventure?
Appropriate Functionality: The tool is Find (I want to find items rather than specific content)
Restated Question: Find memos where any data is coded at the node for adventure
Answer: A list of all the memos that were coded at the Adventurous node (in the Images of Volunteers tree)
