Abstract The structure of amorphous NiχZr100-χ-alloys (Χ= 30, 31, 34, 63.7, and 65), which were produced by melt spinning (MS), mechanical alloying (MA), and sputtering (SP) was studied by X-ray- and neutron diffraction yielding structure factors, pair correlation functions, coordination numbers, atomic distances, and Warren-Cowley chemical short range order parameters. The atomic arrangement within the first coordination sphere is independent of the method of preparation while in the second and higher spheres it differs between the MS- and the MA-alloys on the one side and the SP-specimens on the other side. Thus one understands that some physical properties of the different specimens differ