Converting MAXQDA Projects to NVivo

MAXQDA 2007 projects (.mx3) can be converted to NVivo. When you open a MAXQDA project in NVivo, a new project is created with a .nvp extension—the original project is not overwritten.

To open and convert a MAXQDA project:

  1. On the File menu, click Open Project.

The Open Project dialog box is displayed.

  1. From the Files of type drop-down list (at the bottom of the dialog box), select MAXQDA 2007 Projects (*.mx3).

  1. Locate the folder that contains the project you want to open.

  2. Select the MAXQDA project file you want to convert.

  3. Click the Open button.

The Convert Project dialog box is displayed.

  1. Click the Browse button to choose the destination and name for the converted project.

  2. Using the Save in drop-down list, click the destination folder for the newly created project.

  3. In the File name field, enter a name for the converted project.

  4. Click Save.

  5. Set any required Import Options  

    Option

    Description

     

    Code sources at cases

    Check this option to create a case for each document (text). The case name is based on the document name. Any user-defined  attributes associated with the text, are converted to attributes on the case, and the document is coded at the case created for it.  

    Note: If you do not check this option, user-defined attributes are discarded during conversion.

    Import paragraph styles

    This option is not available when converting a MAXQDA project.

    Project requires a username, or username and password

    This option is not available when converting a MAXQDA project.

     

  6. Click the Convert button.

How MAXQDA elements are converted to NVivo project items

Projects and authors

MAXQDA

NVivo

 Notes

 

MAXQDA project (.mx3)

NVivo project (.nvp)

The original project file is not overwritten.

Author

User

All authors in the MAXQDA project are created as users in the NVivo project.

 

Texts, text groups, text sets, text memos and attributes

MAXQDA

NVivo

 Notes

 

Text group

User folder within the Internals folder

 

Memo attached to text group

User folder description

The maximum length of the description is 512 characters. The memo will be truncated during conversion if it contains more than 512 characters.

If the MAXQDA memo contains linked codes, a 'See Also' link is created, linking the first word of each document (text) in the folder (text group) to the corresponding node.

If the MAXQDA project has a memo attached to the root level 'Texts' group, this is converted to the NVivo project description, but any linked codes are not converted.

Text set

Set

 

Memo attached to text set

Set description

The maximum length of the description is 512 characters. The memo will be truncated during conversion if it contains more than 512 characters.

If the MAXQDA memo contains linked codes, a 'See Also' link is created, linking the first word of each document (text) in the set to the corresponding node.

Text

Document source

Text color attributes are not converted.

Line numbering and paragraph numbering are not available in NVivo.

Memo attached to entire text

 

Memo

The memo is linked to the document source by a memo link.

If the MAXQDA memo contains linked codes, a 'See Also' link is created, linking the first word of the memo to the corresponding node.

Memo attached to a text segment

Annotation

The annotation is linked to the first word of the text segment in the document source.

If the MAXQDA memo contains linked codes, a 'See Also' link is created, linking the first word of the text segment to the corresponding node.

Attributes (user-defined)

Attribute of a case

Choose 'Code sources at cases' when you convert the project. The documents will be coded at cases, and attributes become attributes of the case.

 If you do not choose this option, attributes are discarded during the conversion.

Boolean attributes which display in MAXQDA as a check box (ticked or unticked) are converted to number attributes (values '0' or '1') in NVivo.

MAXQDA attributes resulting from transformed codes are not converted.

Codes, code sets, code memos and coding

MAXQDA

NVivo

 Notes

 

Code

Tree node

Code color attributes are not converted.

 

Memo attached to a code

Memo

The memo is linked to the node by a memo link.

If the MAXQDA memo contains linked codes, a 'See Also' link is created, linking the first word of the memo to the corresponding node.

Code set

Set

 

Coding (code references)

Node references

Weight scores on coded segments are not converted.

Color coding codes (red, green, blue, magenta) and code references are converted, but the color coded text segments will not be displayed with highlight color in NVivo.

 If the MAXQDA project contains texts, codes or other elements with duplicate names, when converted to NVivo, numbers are appended to the names to ensure uniqueness.

Items Not Converted

Maps created using MAXMaps are not converted. If you want to preserve the image of a map, you can export the map to a graphics file (.bmp or .jpeg) and then import it into your new NVivo project as a picture source. Note: You cannot edit the picture source image in NVivo.

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