Classify nodes (set attribute values to record information)
You can use node classifications to record demographic and descriptive information about the people you interviewed or surveyed. You can create the node classifications that suit your project and record information about institutions, places or any other type of 'case' that is relevant to your research.
In this topic
- Why classify nodes?
- How do I classify nodes?
- Classify one or more nodes
- Set the attribute values for a node
- See all nodes in a classification
- Set attribute values via the classification sheet
- Classify nodes by importing a classification sheet
- Classify nodes from values in a dataset
- Create classified nodes to represent social media users
- Change the classification of a node
Why classify nodes?
Projects typically contain nodes for themes or topics but they may also have nodes for people, organizations or other 'cases'. For example, consider this passage of text:
I feel very worried about climate change, especially the impact on my children. We live on the coast so I am particularly concerned about rising sea levels and the destruction of the beautiful coral reefs. The problems seem overwhelming and I don't know where to start.
You might code the passage at the following 'theme' nodes:
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climate change
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rising sea levels
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coral reefs
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feeling overwhelmed
To collect descriptive information about the speaker, you could also code the passage at a case node:
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Mary (female, aged 40)
Unlike theme nodes, this node has demographic attributes—you specify these attributes by 'classifying' the node. As you code more content at classified nodes you can use queries to ask meaningful questions—How do young women respond to the challenge of climate change? Do their attitudes differ from those of older women?
How do I classify nodes?
Before you can classify nodes you need to setup (or import) node classifications. Node classifications describe the type of case—for example,
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Person
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Organization
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Institution
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Site
For each classification you can add the attributes you are interesting in collecting:
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Person
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Age group
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Country of birth
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Sex
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Organization
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Industry
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Sector
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Size
When you create a node (or edit its properties) you can assign it to a classification and define the attributes:
| Classification | Person | ||||||||
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Classify one or more nodes
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In List View, select the nodes you want to classify.
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On the Home tab, in the Item group, click the arrow under Properties, and then click Classification and select the classification you want to use.
NOTE
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You must create at least one classification before you can classify nodes, refer to Create node classifications for more information.
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You can also set the classification for a selected node on the Attribute Values tab in the Node Properties dialog box.
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The selected nodes are assigned to the classification but you need to define the attribute values for each node—refer to Set the attribute values for a node.
Set the attribute values for a node
To set the attribute values for a node that has already been assigned to classification (perhaps you classified multiple nodes at once):
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In List View, select the node.
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On the Home tab, in the Item group, click the Properties image.
The Node Properties dialog box opens.
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Click the Attribute Values tab.
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Click the arrow in the Value field to select a value for each attribute. To add a value, click in the Value field and enter a new value.
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Click OK.
NOTE You can also set the attribute values for a classified node via the classification sheet—refer to Use the classification sheet to see attribute values for more information.
See all nodes in a classification
To see all the nodes in a selected classification:
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In List View, select the classification.
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On the Home tab, in the Item group, click the Open image.
The classification sheet is opened in Detail View. The nodes in the classification are displayed in the first column.
Set attribute values via the classification sheet
The classification sheet lists all the nodes in a classification and shows the attribute values set for each node.
For example, you could open the Respondent classification sheet to see all nodes that represent survey respondents along with their demographic attributes:
| Age group | Sex | Country | Occupation | |
| Nodes\respondent\Anna | 18-25 | female | UK | teacher |
| Nodes\respondent\Jack | 25-35 | male | UK | scientist |
| Nodes\respondent\Maria | 35-45 | female | USA | diver |
You can enter or update node attribute values via the classification sheet.
Refer to Use the classification sheet to see attribute values for more information.
Classify nodes by importing a classification sheet
If you have a text file or spreadsheet that contains demographic information about people, organizations or other 'cases' you can import it into NVivo. For example, you could import a spreadsheet containing descriptive information about the participants in a focus group.
Refer to Import (or export) classification sheets for more information.
Classify nodes from values in a dataset
If you imported data from spreadsheets, text files or database tables—or if you have imported responses from SurveyMonkey—you can create and classify case nodes based on the information in the dataset via the Classify Nodes from Dataset Wizard. For example, you can automatically create nodes for each respondent in a survey and then assign attribute values based on the classifying fields in the dataset.
If you imported social media data from NCapture files—for example, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube data—you can create classified nodes when you auto code by username. Refer to Create classified nodes to represent social media users for more information.
If you have already created the case nodes (either manually or using the Auto Code Wizard), you can use the Classify Nodes from Dataset Wizard to set the classification and attribute values of your nodes.
To classify nodes using attribute values in a dataset:
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Open the dataset or select it in List View.
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On the Create tab, in the Classifications group, click Classify Nodes from Dataset.
The Classify Nodes from Dataset Wizard opens.
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Follow the steps in the wizard to create or update nodes and their attribute values. Refer to Using the Classify Nodes from Dataset Wizard for more information.
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When you are done with the wizard, click Finish.
Create classified nodes to represent social media users
If you are working with datasets containing social media data imported from NCapture files, NVivo creates classified nodes to represent each Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube user when you auto code by Username. So, you can create classified nodes at the same time as you auto code the dataset.
When you auto code by Username, the nodes are assigned to the classification 'Facebook User', 'LinkedIn User', 'Twitter User' or 'YouTube User', and profile information about the user is stored as attribute values on the nodes.
Refer to Automatic coding in dataset sources (Auto code a social media dataset based on predefined columns) for more information.
NOTE When you are working with a dataset containing data you imported from spreadsheets, text files or database tables, you must use a different method to create classified nodes—refer to Classify nodes from values in a dataset for more information.
Change the classification of a node
CAUTION Changing the classification of a node may result in the loss of data—for example, if you assign a node to the classification person, with values for age and sex, and the new classification does not have these attributes the values are removed.
To change the classification of a node
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In List View, select the node.
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On the Home tab, in the Item group, click the Properties image.
The Node Properties dialog box opens.
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Click the Attribute Values tab to see attribute value settings.
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From the Classification list, select a different classification for the node.
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Click OK.
NOTE
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When you change from one node classification to another, NVivo looks for common attributes and updates the values in the new classification. If existing attributes are not available in the new classification, the values are lost. If there are different attributes in the new classification, then the values are set to the default.
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To update the attribute values, click the arrow in the Value field to select a value for each attribute. To add a value, click in the Value field and enter a new value. You can also set attribute values via the classification sheet—refer to Use the classification sheet to see attribute values for more information.
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To quickly change the classification for a selected node in List View—on the Home tab, in the Item group click the arrow under Properties and select a new classification.