Opening (and Converting) an Existing NVivo Project
NVivo is a proprietary commercial software. At present and into the foreseeable future, the software is required to open NVivo files. There are no known work-arounds to access the files otherwise (and jail-breaking software is illegal).
There are implications for workflows based on this...if people are not planning on updating their software licensure. (They need to keep backup copies of external data files outside of the software program's projects as secondary copies. They need to export data tables from various data analytics processes in NVivo in .csv or .xlsx and other formats. They need to copy out data visualizations in digital image formats.)
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All prior versions of NVivo projects in Windows are openable in NVivo. However, updated files or NVivo 12 project files are not openable by older versions of the software. The software is generally reverse-compatible, but not forward-compatible.
The basic idea is to keep projects as up-to-date as possible. Or if they are no longer directly needed, at least output all relevant data from the project.
Keep the multimedia and other files in their native formats also outside of NVivo, so they may be accessed.
- A distributed research team's members are co-coding a cache of policy documents...
- Research collaborators are collecting data in their local contexts and extracting diverse themes...
- Researchers are capturing gray data from offline and online sources, digitizing the documents, and plan to meet to share their respective findings for data processing and analysis...
- Graduate and undergraduate students are conducting data exploration and will be meeting to share their findings with each other...
- Datasets have been scraped from various websites, and they have been distributed to experts from different fields for analysis in NVivo. These projects will be integrated for a cumulative look at a particular topic.
In various research scenarios, researchers may have to integrate multiple NVivo projects...across software versions (like NVivo 8, NVivo 9, NVivo 10, NVivo 11 Starter, NVivo 11 Pro, NVivo 11 Plus, NVivo 12, NVivo 12 Plus, NVivo on Windows, and across Windows and Mac OS versions (and across OS versions).
NVivo 11 Starter, Pro, and Plus File Compatibility and Access
With QSR International's rollout of three software versions in late September 2015, there are now three versions of the NVivo 11 for Windows: Starter, Pro, and Plus. Each have different capabilities, with NVivo 11 Pro being the closest equivalent of NVivo 10 for Windows. NVivo 11 Plus has a raft of new capabilities such as autocoded theme extraction, autocoded sentiment analysis, network visualizations, and other features. NVivo 11 Starter is a stripped down version enabling human coding and some basic data queries. The most advanced version (Plus) is capable of opening Plus, Pro, and Starter file types. NVivo 11 Pro can open NVivo 11 Pro and NVivo 11 Starter projects, and NVivo 11 Starter may open NVivo 11 Starter projects but not NVivo 11 Pro or NVivo 11 Plus ones. In other words, the more advanced the form of the software, the more capable it is of opening projects made in less advanced versions.
Backwards Compatibility of NVivo Projects
Opening an NVivo Project from an Earlier Version of the Software (but the Same Platform)
When an individual opens an NVivo project created in a prior version of the software, NVivo automatically opens the Convert Project window.
There are also messages of Project conversion warnings. This shows files that could not be transcoded, to enable the researcher to find the original file and to upload manually...or to put into place some other mitigation. (Occasionally, there may be challenges with some .pdf files, in my experience).
Cross-Platform NVivo Project File Conversions
It is possible to convert files back and forth between NVivo for Windows (with the .nvp file extension) and NVivo for Mac (with the .nvpx file extension). NVivo projects are cross-platform
compatible, but there are nuances to the conversions.
The NVivo 10 (with Service Pack 5) and later can open NVivo for Mac projects, but the converse is not yet true. The NVivo for Mac cannot directly open an .nvp project created originally on a Windows machine. Rather, to run an .nvpx project on Mac from an NVivo for Windows version, that project has to be saved out of the Windows version to a Mac-compatible one.
Why might researchers have to move between NVivo project versions based on technology tools on different platforms?
In some cases, for example, those using the native NVivo for Mac version (10) may have to go to the NVivo for Windows one for more advanced analytics and data visualizations. However, the researcher may start with the Mac because that is a comfortable platform and computer and enables much human interaction with the data and the research. However, after most of the manual coding is done...and more machine-based analytics are desirable, then he or she may open the Mac project in NVivo for Windows in order to conduct more complex data queries, visualizations, and so on. Or, on team coded projects (with the non-server version of NVivo), a team lead or leading analytic group may integrate all NVivo projects (of all types) in a master NVivo for Windows project for rich analytics and queries such as dyadic interrater reliability.
compatible, but there are nuances to the conversions.
The NVivo 10 (with Service Pack 5) and later can open NVivo for Mac projects, but the converse is not yet true. The NVivo for Mac cannot directly open an .nvp project created originally on a Windows machine. Rather, to run an .nvpx project on Mac from an NVivo for Windows version, that project has to be saved out of the Windows version to a Mac-compatible one.
Why might researchers have to move between NVivo project versions based on technology tools on different platforms?
In some cases, for example, those using the native NVivo for Mac version (10) may have to go to the NVivo for Windows one for more advanced analytics and data visualizations. However, the researcher may start with the Mac because that is a comfortable platform and computer and enables much human interaction with the data and the research. However, after most of the manual coding is done...and more machine-based analytics are desirable, then he or she may open the Mac project in NVivo for Windows in order to conduct more complex data queries, visualizations, and so on. Or, on team coded projects (with the non-server version of NVivo), a team lead or leading analytic group may integrate all NVivo projects (of all types) in a master NVivo for Windows project for rich analytics and queries such as dyadic interrater reliability.
Whatever the context, it is important to know that there are some complexities and some potential data lossiness. Moving an NVivo for Windows file to a Mac version will result not only in the loss of some analytical capabilities but also the loss of some visualizations and other information.
Copying a Project from an NVivo 11 for Windows Version to the NVivo for Mac Version
The following screenshot shows the "Copy Project" window for copying an NVivo project (.nvp) to a Mac version (.nvpx). The path here is File -> Copy Project.
Once that project is saved, it can be transferred to the NVivo for Mac tool for various functions.
Some Basic Points about Melding Projects into Combined Projects
- Keeping pristine stand-alone NVivo project copies. Original NVivo project files should be maintained as stand-alone projects in pristine state even as they are merged into composite / compound projects. (This is a protection against "non-destructive" project file combining...It should always be possible to go back to a pristine state in order to explore the work done by each respective researcher.)
- Activating the event log for all coders. The event log should be activated for all researchers at the beginning of the coding, so there is a machine-capture text file showing all work done by each individual. When melding projects into a master file, the event logs are integrated. The event log cannot be retroactively activated. However, if a researcher is partway into a project, the event log may be activated then under the "better late than never" concept.
- Not creating redundant source sets of data in the melded project file. If team projects were built from an original uniform source set of data (and then shared with the respective coders / project collaborators), the source set does not have to be re-copied when a team compound project is built; otherwise, there will be redundant data. Rather, only the individual coding should be integrated into the team-coded composite project file.
- Private or sensitive data handling. All members of the research team have to be read-in to be able to handle sensitive data (of various forms). Once data is ingested, it is hard to scrub private or sensitive elements from it. The lead individual or group creating the composite or integrated NVivo projects will have to be savvy about how to bring together the projects without compromising any sensitive information. (Usually anonymization is handled prior to having data integrated into the project.)
- Disambiguated coder initials. It would help for all coders to have three-letter identifiers in their activated copy of NVivo. If their initials are NV, they should change it to something more specific...because NVivo autocoding is represented under the initials "NV."
- Moving from Mac to Windows versions for more in-depth data queries, autocoding and data visualizations. In general, for those working on Macs, it is fine to start projects in Mac...and manual code in Macs... but it is useful to convert their projects to the Windows version of NVivo projects for data queries, autocoding, and data visualizations. The native Mac version is still not on par with the Windows one in terms of particular functions and capabilities.
(Remember to always have copies of files outside of NVivo, for digital preservation and access. Remember to always export the extracted data (as data tables). Data visualizations may be exported as digital image files. (.pdf versions of the data visualizations are not machine-readable ones.) If the license to NVivo is not continued, the project file will not be accessible...along with the codebook, the data, the files, and so on.)
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