Mastering NVivo & SPSS: Bridging Qualitative Insights with Quantitative Analysis

About This Course

In today's evidence-driven professional environment, the ability to analyse data rigorously — whether it arrives as interview transcripts, survey responses, or numerical datasets — is a core competency for researchers, programme managers, and policy analysts alike. Yet qualitative and quantitative methods are too often treated as separate disciplines, leaving professionals ill-equipped to harness the full power of mixed-methods inquiry.

This ten-day masterclass from TrainingComplex addresses that gap directly. Using NVivo — the world's leading qualitative data analysis software — and IBM SPSS Statistics — the gold standard for quantitative social-science analysis — participants build end-to-end research competence: from study design and data collection through coding, statistical testing, and integrated reporting.

The programme is structured in three progressive arcs. The first arc establishes strong foundations in research design and both software environments. The second arc develops deep analytical skills — thematic coding and query building in NVivo, and descriptive, inferential, and regression analysis in SPSS. The third arc focuses on integration: triangulating qualitative themes with quantitative findings, visualising results for non-technical audiences, and producing publication- or donor-ready research outputs.

Whether you are working in academic research, monitoring and evaluation, public health, social development, or corporate intelligence, this course will transform the way you collect, analyse, and communicate evidence. Participants leave with completed practice projects in both tools, a reusable methodology toolkit, and the confidence to lead mixed-methods studies independently.

Who Should Attend

• Monitoring and Evaluation officers and specialists
• Research analysts in NGOs, government agencies, and development organisations
• Public health professionals conducting programme evaluations
• Academic researchers and postgraduate students
• Policy analysts requiring evidence synthesis skills
• Corporate business analysts working with customer and operational data
• Human resource professionals conducting organisational research
• Consultants designing and delivering research-based advisory services

Learning Objectives

• Understand the theoretical foundations of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research design
• Navigate the NVivo interface confidently and manage diverse qualitative data sources including interviews, focus groups, and documents
• Apply systematic coding techniques — including thematic, structural, and in-vivo coding — within NVivo
• Build and run NVivo queries (text search, word frequency, matrix coding) to surface patterns across qualitative data
• Import, clean, and structure datasets in SPSS using appropriate variable types and measurement levels
• Produce descriptive statistics and professional data visualisations using SPSS Charts and the Chart Builder
• Conduct hypothesis testing using t-tests, ANOVA, chi-square, and correlation procedures in SPSS
• Apply linear and logistic regression in SPSS to model relationships and predict outcomes
• Triangulate qualitative themes with quantitative findings to produce integrated mixed-methods conclusions
• Generate publication-quality reports, visualisations, and dashboards that communicate findings to diverse stakeholders
• Apply ethical standards in data collection, storage, anonymisation, and reporting
• Design and execute an end-to-end mixed-methods mini-project using both NVivo and SPSS

Course Modules

Requirements & Prerequisites

Participants should have a basic understanding of research concepts and some familiarity with collecting either qualitative or quantitative data in a professional or academic context. Prior experience with Microsoft Excel or similar spreadsheet tools is recommended, as it will ease the transition into SPSS data management. No prior experience with NVivo or SPSS is required — the programme starts from foundational installation and navigation before progressing to advanced techniques.

Training Methodology

• Guided software walkthroughs in both NVivo and SPSS with step-by-step instructor demonstration on live datasets
• Hands-on lab sessions where participants import, code, and analyse their own or provided real-world datasets
• Case study analysis drawn from public health evaluations, development programme assessments, and social-science research
• Peer coding exercises in NVivo where small groups independently code the same transcript and compare intercoder reliability
• Hypothesis-driven SPSS labs in which participants formulate research questions, select appropriate tests, and interpret output
• Mixed-methods integration workshops requiring participants to map NVivo themes onto SPSS variables and draw combined conclusions
• Capstone mini-project: each participant designs and executes a short mixed-methods study from data collection through to a written findings brief
• Group critique sessions where draft reports and visualisations are peer-reviewed and refined with facilitator feedback

Organisational Benefits

• Organisations gain staff who can design and execute rigorous mixed-methods evaluations independently
• Improved quality and credibility of research outputs submitted to donors, boards, and policymakers
• Faster turnaround on programme evaluations and assessments through efficient use of analytical software
• Stronger evidence bases for strategic decision-making and resource allocation
• Reduced reliance on expensive external research consultants for routine analytical tasks
• Enhanced capacity to respond to calls for proposals that require demonstrated research methodology
• Better triangulation of community voices with programme data, improving programme design and adaptation
• A culture of evidence-based practice embedded across departments and project teams

Where Is Mastering NVivo & SPSS: Bridging Qualitative Insights with Quantitative Analysis Training Offered?

This course runs in-person across: Mombasa, Johannesburg, Lagos, Nakuru, Abuja, Arusha, Zanzibar, Kisumu, Nairobi, Pretoria, Addis Ababa, Dubai, Kigali, Cape Town, Riyadh, Naivasha, Dar es Salaam, Kampala, Accra, plus Live Virtual (online) cohorts. Browse live dates for your city below.

Upcoming Schedules

+233 more dates — view live schedule →

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