NVivo

Pros: Nvivo runs on Windows, Mac. This is important for exchanging data on research teams whose members will be using both Windows and Mac computers.

Colleagues have often commented on how Nvivo is easy to use for content and thematic analysis.

By using Nvivo to define codes and tag documents with the codes as you move through the document. This grounded approach will allow users to build an understanding of the underlying themes in the data. Each coded segment in Nvivo called a "node", can have a set of custom properties that include instance-specific values can be either flat, or hierarchically arranged, each of which has certain advantages. Flat coding prevents imposing a structure on data while hierarchical coding can help researchers find patterns in the document, assists with analysis and building models.

Many tutorials can be found online and via the MaxqDA website. The user discussion forum is also a useful place for learning how to use the program and to apply the software to specific research needs. Because good tutorials can be found easily, users will have less trouble learning how to use this powerful program

Cons: It does not offer a portable version that users can use when travelling or in the field on someone else's computer. This is a drawback and restricts use to the user's computer only.

The student license, while cheaper than the other major QDA vendors, is only valid for 12 months. If you are doing a PhD (which could take many years), you'll have to purchase a full version of the software which is really rather pricey.

Nvivo may not be as good as MaxQDA for helping researchers build interrelationships among the data.

Overall: Nvivo is robustly designed and can handle very large projects that involve text, video and audio. I believe AtlasTI or MaxQDA offer better feature sets.

Pros: - This is a sophisticated Quality Data Analysis program which provide a wide range of functionalities and supports that make researcher's life easier.

- NVivo supports many inputs including text, PDF, survey, audio, video and graphical files.

- It has a lot of built-in functions for coding, retrieving, analyzing, visualizing and exporting.

- Qualitative analysis is not an easy task and sometimes requires team-effort - That's great that QSInternational realized it and provided a good supports for team work.

Cons: - The biggest problem with NVivo for our team was incompatibility between NVivo versions. As a team, we used different versions of NVivo on both Windows and Mac, and it turned out that exchanging the data was not so easy (for example, an Nvivo project exported from Windows cannot be properly imported to Mac version and vice versa).

- Some functions are not intuitive and therefore take time to learn by reading the manual or by viewing the online tutorials. I understand there is always learning curves to be expected when it comes to using a new tool, but I would expect more build-in example, guideline within NVivo for that.

Overall: I am using both Mac and Windows versions of NVivo (NVivo 11).

As a researcher who conducts empirical research, I often need to analyse interview transcripts/records/videos. In NVivo, I find the functionalities that I've ever needed for such analyses, for example coding and visualising results. It really makes my life as a researcher easier.

Pros: 1. best for qualitative interview documentation

2. can work with pictures and audio in addition to text

3. uses respondent characteristics (age, gender, employment and others) during the analysis

4. auto coding has minimize time of data coding. I have used the older version of Nvivo when coding was done manually and with auto coding life become easier

Cons: 1. More expensive for individual users

2. not much user group discussions and documentation

3. expensive training cost and very limited to some countries (USA, EU and south africa)

Overall: 1. saves time of qualitative data analysis and reporting

2. easy to use

3. helps to document interviews in different format

4. helps to document interviews in more organized way (including by thematic topics, respondent characteristics and geography)

Pros: Able to code and color code nodes throughout qualitative work. Able to duplicate code trees in empty projects for validity and multiple people working in the same coding tree. Able to merge similar projects. Also, printing a branch/nodes with all of the relevant excerpts direct from the software - it's a feature I have not found in any other qualitative application

Cons: The only drawback is the cost. For multi-person projects, each person needs to purchase a license. That can add up fast.

Pros: NVIVO is great to conduct data analysis for qualitative research. It allows users to code the qualitative data, making it easier for users to perform content analysis with the data. NVIVO's interface is very user-friendly and requires minimal time investment to learn the application.

Cons: Perpetual license for NVIVO is expensive for early career academics. There should be a price scheme for this category of users.

Overall: NVIVO is essential in my research as social scientists. With NVIVO, I am able to code interviews and other qualitative data, thus able to draw conjectures from the codes easily.

Pros: Once I understood the basics of NVivo, coding transcripts was intuitive and actually fun. I used my mouse to highlight and drop coded sections into the various coding folders or buckets. The feature that allows the user to view all the coded sections is color coded which allows for ease of review.

Cons: There were major issues when working on transcripts between a PC and MacBook. Some transcripts didn't transfer and a significant amount of time was spent trying to figure out how to troubleshoot. Additionally, it was difficult to get in-touch with customer support which prolonged the process. We also experience trouble between different versions of NVivo.

Pros: This is great software for qualitative research. This software helped me to analyse my data for my PhD research. The features were easy to use and present the best results.

Cons: This software is expensive.

This software takes memory (sometimes it makes my computer stuck/hang)

Overall: Features provided in Mac and Window are different. I hope it can be completed (similar between Mac and Windows)

Pros: NVivo is a great platform for coding interviews, focus groups, etc. It provides a way to analyze your data in a more user-friendly manner than using another system such as a spreadsheet.

Cons: I know NVivo is working on making their software programs compatible between Windows and Mac. This is an issue that has gotten in the way of working with my team as we run off different computers. It also seems as if there are some compatibility issues between different versions of the software.

Overall: Overall I have found NVivo very useful.

Pros: NVivo is an analysis system that my team and I have been using for some time now. The vast possibility of usage of this software exceeds its expectations. It analyses more than mere text data, but also audio amongst others. It is very easy to comprehend. The layout of the system is also pleasing and adaptable. My team has not faced major problems with NVivo.

Cons: The only contrary to the product are the minor bugs that makes the product sometimes glitch, but it rarely appears and is very tolerable.

Pros: I like the ability to organize the data. I have used this software with other researchers (we did interviews), and it allows us to efficiently and effectively organize our date.

Cons: I always feel like there could be more features, but there are plenty that help us to be able to create and organize codes. I also wish coding software was cheaper, especially for those who work at smaller institutions with not as many resources as large institutions. Still, I am thankful I have options.

Pros: Apart from analysing qualitative data, the software actually transcribes your audio recording for and you are left with a few corrections.

Cons: Accent recognition makes the software way wrong in transcribing the audio text.

Pros: It's very easy to code data and then access these categories.

Cons: It is more difficult than I would expect to actually interact with the data to come up with insights once it's coded.

Pros: The GUI is familiar to Windows users

Drag and drop coding

The word cloud function is great for illustrations

Cons: There are few options to customise the graphical output, in terms of fonts/colours etc

There is a lack of even basic quantitative assessment tools, though that is not the focus of the software

Pros: Imports data easily for analysis, though the export is less flexible

Cons: Not intuitive to use - basic features are easy, but additional can be confusing.

Pros: I like how easy it is to figure out as you go

Cons: I wish codes showed up in documents as you code them as highlighted sections