Using the Classify Cases from Dataset Wizard

This feature is available in NVivo Pro and Plus editions. Learn more

The Classify Cases from Dataset Wizard is displayed when you choose to classify new or existing cases based on the attribute values in a dataset—refer to Classify cases (set attribute values to record information). For example, you can use the wizard to create cases for the respondents in a survey, classify them and set their attribute values.

This topic provides a guide to using each step of the wizard.

NOTE: NVivo 11 (Update 2) introduced the Survey Import Wizard which automates this process for you—creating and classifying cases, and coding survey responses to nodes. Refer to About survey and dataset sources for more information.

Wizard step	Description
Introducing the wizard	This step explains what you can achieve by using the wizard. There are no options to select in this step
Choose whether to use all rows or filtered rows	This step is only displayed if a filter is applied to the dataset—choose whether you want to use all rows when classifying cases, or only filtered rows.
Select a location for the cases	You can store the cases under a parent case node or in a folder. If you want to code at cases that already exist in your project, you must select the location that matches the existing hierarchy. If you select a different location, new cases will be created. Decide whether you want to create cases if they do not exist in this location—any cases that are not found in the location will be created and classified. Select the case classification you want to use. For example, if you are classifying case nodes that represent people, you might select the classification person. You need to create the classification before running the wizard. Decide whether you want to update the classification of cases that already exist in the selected location. CAUTION If you update the classification of existing cases, you may lose data. For example, if cases are classified as teacher with attributes for age, sex and department, when you update the classification to person (which only has attributes for age and sex), you will lose the information about department that is currently stored on the cases.
Select the columns that contain values you want to use as case names	Select the column that contains the names of your cases: For example, if you want to create a case to represent each person you surveyed, you could use a column which contains their name or some other identifier. You should ensure that each cell in this column contains a different value. If two people share the same name, only a single case will be created. (Optional) Choose whether the cases should be nested into a hierarchy. For example, if you surveyed high school students in three schools, you might create a case structure that has a parent case node for each school and child cases for each student. You can select classifying columns which contain the values you want to use to build the hierarchy. The preview area at the bottom of the wizard shows the cases that will be created based on the options you have selected on this step of the Wizard. Click the Expand buttons to expand the hierarchy. Only the leaf case nodes in the hierarchy are classified. If you are not satisfied with the structure, try changing the options on this step.
Select the columns that contain attribute values	Choose the attributes you want to set on the cases—for example, if you are classifying cases that represent people, you might want to use their age, sex and country of origin. Click the Map & Group button, if you want to: Map a column to an existing attribute or to a new attribute with a different name, data type or default value. Group attribute values—for example, if a column contains the ages of survey respondents you can group the ages into ranges. Choose whether you want to update the attribute values of any matching cases. The preview area at the bottom of the Wizard shows the attribute values that will be set on the cases based on the options you have selected on this step of the Wizard. Click the Expand buttons to expand the hierarchy. New attributes are highlighted in bold—you can map columns to existing attributes (select the column and then click Map & Group).