Qualitative Research Methods and Analysis with NVivo Training Course

This five-day course pairs qualitative research method with practical analysis in NVivo. It covers qualitative design, data collection through interviews and focus groups, the main approaches to analysis, including thematic, framework and grounded approaches, and the question of rigour, with NVivo used throughout as the tool that makes the method workable.

Software is not a method. NVivo will hold your data, help you code it and reveal patterns, but it will not tell you what your data means, and it will not make a weak study sound. Yet a great deal of qualitative work treats the software as the method, codes without a clear approach, and ends up with findings that cannot survive a hard question about how they were reached.

This course puts the method back at the centre. It teaches the design and analysis approaches that give qualitative work its credibility: how to frame a qualitative question, how to gather good interview and focus group data, and how to analyse it through recognised approaches such as thematic and framework analysis, while using NVivo to execute each approach cleanly and transparently. Throughout, it treats rigour and trustworthiness not as an afterthought but as the thing that separates research from opinion.
Participants leave able to design and run a qualitative study that is sound in method and efficient in execution.

• Frame a clear qualitative research question and design.
• Choose an appropriate qualitative approach for the question.
• Plan and conduct interviews and focus group discussions.
• Apply thematic analysis systematically in NVivo.
• Apply framework analysis to structured comparison.
• Understand the principles of grounded and other approaches.
• Build rigour and trustworthiness into the analysis.
• Report qualitative findings credibly and transparently.

This course is designed for:

• Researchers moving from ad hoc to systematic qualitative work
• Monitoring and evaluation officers conducting qualitative studies
• Postgraduate students designing qualitative research
• Programme and policy staff commissioning or running studies
• Public health and social researchers
• Consultants who want stronger methodological grounding
• Anyone using NVivo without a clear method behind it

The course runs as a small research project. Participants take a question through design, analysis approach and execution in NVivo, so method and software are learned together rather than separately.

• Research design and question-framing exercises
• Interview and focus group planning
• Worked thematic and framework analysis in NVivo
• Rigour and trustworthiness checks
• A running study taken from design to reported findings

Organisations that invest in this training for their teams will benefit from:

• Qualitative studies that withstand scrutiny
• Methodologically sound, defensible findings
• Better-designed research and evaluation
• Stronger interview and focus group data
• Less wasted effort on poorly framed studies
• Credible evidence for decisions and reporting

Participants who enrol in this training will benefit from:

• A genuine grounding in qualitative method
• The ability to match approach to question
• Stronger data collection skills
• Systematic analysis habits in NVivo
• Confidence defending how findings were reached

At Strategic Revenue Africa, our certification goes beyond proof of attendance—it represents practical competence and measurable capability. Upon successful completion of our training programs, participants are awarded a Certificate of Completion from Strategic Revenue Africa, recognizing their ability to apply acquired knowledge in real-world settings. As an organization focused on architecting sustainable revenue and strengthening organizational performance, our certifications signal that participants are equipped with skills that drive results, not just theory.

Some research experience is helpful but not essential. Basic familiarity with NVivo is useful, as core software skills are reinforced along the way, but the focus is on method. A laptop with NVivo, licence or trial, is required.