Create and manage relationships

---

Relationships record statements or hunches you have developed about how items in your project are linked—for example, Anna 'employs' Ken or industrial waste 'impacts' water quality. You can create relationships in your project and then gather evidence about the relationship from your source material.

What do you want to do?

---

---

Create a relationship

Relationships are made up of three parts: "from", "to" and the "type" of relationship.

1. On the Create tab, in the Nodes group, click Relationship.

The New Relationship dialog box opens.

2. In the From box, specify the "from" case in the relationship. Use the Select button to choose specific project items.

3. In the Relationship Type list, select a relationship type or click New to create a new relationship type. Refer to Create and manage relationship types for more information.

4. In the To box, specify the "to" case in the relationship. Use the Select button to choose specific project items.

5. Click OK.

NOTE  

• You can create relationships using sources, nodes, cases and sets.

• Relationships must be unique—for example, you cannot have two instances of the relationship, Anna 'employs' Ken.

• You can also assign a color to a relationship—refer to Assign color to nodes for more information.

Top of Page

Create and code to a relationship using the 'Quick Coding' bar

You can create and code to a new relationship in one step using the Quick Coding bar at the bottom of Detail View. For more information on using the Quick Coding bar, refer to Coding techniques (Using the Quick Coding bar)

1. In a source or node, select the text you want to code.

2. Set the location to Relationships. The Quick Coding bar changes to display options for setting the "from" and "to" cases and the relationship type.

3. In the Code At section, specify the "from" case for the relationship. Type the name of a case. As you type, NVivo will suggest existing cases that you can choose from. Alternatively, you can create a new case by entering a unique name.

4. Specify the relationship type. You can select an existing relationship type from the list or create a new relationship type by entering a unique name. Relationship types created here are associative by default. You can change this later.

5. Specify the "to" case for the relationship. Type the name of a case. As you type, NVivo will suggest existing cases that you can choose from. Alternatively, you can create a new case by entering a unique name.

6. Press ENTER to create and code at the specified relationship.

NOTE: The Quick Coding bar only lets you create and code to relationships between two cases.

Top of Page

Convert a relationship to a node

You can convert a relationship to an ordinary node. The coding at the original relationship is retained in the new node.

1. In Navigation View, click the Nodes button, and then click the Relationships folder.

2. In List View, click the relationship you want to convert to a node.

3. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy.

Keyboard shortcut  To copy, press CTRL+C.

4. In Navigation View, click the destination node folder.

5. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click the Paste image.

6. Click Yes to confirm.

NOTE  

• Using Copy retains the original relationship in the Relationship folder. If you wish to remove the relationship as part of the conversion, use Cut instead of Copy.

• Once you have converted a relationship into a node, the link between the two project items is removed. Any maps that include the relationship as part of a linked project item may be affected.

Top of Page

Merge relationships

As your project evolves, you may find that you have two relationships with similar meaning—for example industrial waste 'causes' water pollution and industrial waste 'impacts' water quality. You can simplify your project by merging one relationship into the other.

1. In Navigation View, click the Nodes button, and then click the Relationships folder.

2. In List View, select the relationship you want to merge into another relationship.

3. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Copy.

Keyboard shortcut  To copy, press CTRL+C.

4. In List View, click the target relationship.

5. On the Home tab, in the Clipboard group, click Merge, then click Merge into Selected Relationship. The Merge Into Relationship dialog box opens.

6. Click OK.

NOTE

• As a result of the merge, the target relationship is updated to include content coded at the merged relationship. Any 'see also' links or annotations from the merged relationship are now available in the target relationship.

• Using Copy retains the original relationship in the Relationship folder. If you wish to remove the relationship as part of the merge, use Cut instead of Copy.

Top of Page

Delete relationships

1. In Navigation View, click the Nodes button, and then click the Relationships folder.

2. In List View, click the relationship you want to delete.

3. On the Home tab, in the Editing group, click Delete.

The Delete Confirmation dialog box opens.

4. Click Yes to confirm.

NOTE

• If you delete a relationship, any coding at the relationship is also removed from the project.

• If you delete one side of a relationship, the entire relationship is deleted.

Top of Page

Change the project items in a relationship

1. In Navigation View, click the Nodes button, and then click the Relationships folder.

2. In List View, click the relationship you want to change.

3. On the Home tab, in the Item group, click the Properties image.

The Relationship Properties dialog box opens.

4. Click the Select buttons beside the From and To boxes to choose the project items involved in the relationship.

5. Click OK.

Top of Page

Change the relationship type

1. In Navigation View, click the Nodes button, and then click the Relationships folder.

2. In List View, click the relationship you want to change.

3. On the Home tab, in the Item group, click the Properties image.

The Relationship Properties dialog box open.

4. In the Relationship Type list, select a relationship type or click New to create a new relationship type. Refer to Create and manage relationship types for more information.

5. Click OK.

Top of Page

Open the 'to' or 'from' side of the relationship

You can open the individual project items that are linked in a relationship to view the coding.

1. In Navigation View, click the Nodes button, and then click the Relationships folder.

2. In List View, click the relationship you want to explore.

3. Right-click to see the shortcut menu, and then click Open From Item or Open To Item. The selected item opens in Detail View.

Top of Page

View the relationship coding in a chart

You can create a chart to visually represent the sources and attributes coded at a relationship.

1. In Navigation View, click the Nodes button, and then click the Relationships folder.

2. In List View, click the relationship that you want to explore as a chart.

3. On the Explore tab, in the Charts group, click the arrow below Chart, and then click Chart Relationship Coding.

The chart opens in Detail View.

NOTE  You can also create a chart that displays the relationship coding by attribute by selecting Chart Relationship Coding by Attribute Value on the Chart button, in the Charts group, on the Explore tab.

Top of Page

Export a relationship

1. In Navigation View, click the Nodes button, and then click the Relationships folder.

2. In List View, click the relationship you want to export.

3. On the Data tab, in the Export group, click Items.

The Export Options dialog box opens.

4. From the Export options, select the content you want to export—for example, you can export all the content (including media and pictures) in HTML format or you could export the coded text (reference view) as a Microsoft Word document.

5. (Optional) Under Save As, select the Browse button to change the name, location or format of the exported items.
6. Select the properties and other options that you want to include in the exported file—for more information refer to Export Options.
7. To display the exported node after exporting, select the Open on Export check box.
8. Click OK.

NOTE To export multiple relationships, select them in list view and choose to export. In the export options, you can change the file type and folder location but you cannot change the default name of the exported files.

Top of Page

Related topics

• About relationships

• About relationship types