Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2006 17:05:28 -0700
Reply-To: Alan Churchill <SASL001@SAVIAN.NET>
Sender: "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
From: Alan Churchill <SASL001@SAVIAN.NET>
Subject: Re: Newbie Creating Questionnaire Data File
In-Reply-To: <200612160314.kBFNAZGm023261@mailgw.cc.uga.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
A little late but I have had my hands full.
Another possibility here is InfoPath:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/infopath/default.aspx
Alan
Alan Churchill
Savian "Bridging SAS and Microsoft Technologies"
www.savian.net
-----Original Message-----
From: SAS(r) Discussion [mailto:SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Howard
Schreier <hs AT dc-sug DOT org>
Sent: Friday, December 15, 2006 8:14 PM
To: SAS-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Newbie Creating Questionnaire Data File
On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 12:24:50 -0800, Bill McKirgan <Bill.McKirgan@GMAIL.COM>
wrote:
>The narrow schema Toby recommends is great, especially for large scale
>stuff. However, if you only have 32 questions and a few hundred
>questionnairs to enter you might find it easier to use something like
>MS-Access.
Exactly what I had in mind. I think that the rationale becomes *more*
compelling as the volumne rises.
I believe that Excel also supports forms, though the features and tools do
not match those of Access.
Other people had good ideas, but they are mostly for later, when the data
are ready for use in SAS.
During data entry, don't make the operator do a lot of rearranging and
coding. Keep that eye-to-hand path as simple as possible, so that the
process is fast and the results are accurate.
>
>I like Access because I can quickly and easily make a form that looks
>similar to the instrument. I can also make a quick 2nd-punch data
>entry form so that the data can be entered twice in the same Access db
>file. From there I use a libname statement in SAS and run proc compare
>to check for data entry errors.
>
>Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
>
>--Bill
>
>lanfopa@hotmail.com wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have about 230 questionnaires filled out on paper, and each
>> questionnaire contains 32 questions.
>> Because it is a lot of information I want to make sure I figure out the
>> best way to represent the data in the data file.
>>
>> Thanks for your help.
>>
>> Pez
>> "Howard Schreier <hs AT dc-sug DOT org>" wrote:
>> > On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:33:40 -0800, lanfopa@HOTMAIL.COM wrote:
>> >
>> > >Hi,
>> > >
>> > >I'm a SAS novice. I'm trying to create an inpute data file for a
>> > >questionnaire I have conducted.
>> > >The questionnaire contains questions such as:
>> > >
>> > >What is your gender?
>> > >Male
>> > >Female
>> > >
>> > >What is your age?
>> > >19-29
>> > >30-49
>> > >50-59
>> > >60 and older
>> > >
>> > >What is the last grade completed?
>> > >Grade 11 and under
>> > >High School
>> > >Some College
>> > >College Grad
>> > >Post-Grad
>> > >
>> > >etc.
>> > >
>> > >All the questions are multiple choice.
>> > >I'm not sure if the data file should contain one respone per row or if
>> > >each row should correspond to each question, or if this even matters?
>> > >I'm also not sure how I should code the responses. All the examples I
>> > >see for data files are mainly numeric which is not helpful for me.
>> > >
>> > >I would appreciate any help. Feel free to point me to links, etc.
>> > >
>> > >thanks.
>> > >
>> > >Pez
>> >
>> > You have a stack of paper forms on which people have circled answers,
or
>> > made check marks next to answers, or something like that?
>> >
>> > How many forms?
>> >
>> > Generally it's a good idea to (1) capture all of the information and
(2)
>> > make the data entry form resemble the instrument as much as possible,
to
>> > reduce the burden on the operator. You can rearrange data later to
>> > accommodate analysis and reporting; computers are good at that.
