Qualitative research with NVIVO : between opportunities to explore and risks to be in distress

In this paper, we focus on the software NVivo. Its capacity to follow and to support the user in his analytic and reflection process is the main quality of this software. This communication will present the learning outcomes from two different doctoral projects conducted with NVivo. The first research has been conducted in Montreal with 88 extensive semi structured individual interviews. The focus of the second research is the commitment determinants of workers in the context of e-learning at work. The data have been collected through several qualitative methods. In this paper, we share our learning outcomes concerning the use of this software and explain how our research process has been enriched by the use of this tool. We also highlight the difficulties that we met and to share our doubts. We outline the problem of coding and the temptation to go further in depth. Indeed the possibility of micro coding could represent a danger for the researcher who can lose time and his initial object seduced by the microcoding. Moreover, we stress the fantastic possibilities of NVivo concerning the analysis and the right to test ideas. But there are side effects to this flexibility. Through this paper, we highlight how these CAQDAS are powerful and helpful tools. But in the same time, researchers could be seduced by the possibilities of the tool and forget the most important, the results of their research.