Exporting sample (AskiaLister)

AskiaLister allows you to export sample from the currently open sample file.

To export sample:

1. Open the sample list from which you want to export data (to open a list, select open from the file menu).

2. In the tools menu, select export. The export list dialog appears.

3. In the field list, select the fields that you want to export. You can quickly select all of the fields by clicking select all, or de-select all of the fields by selecting unselect all.

4. If you want to view Askia's hidden fields, select display system fields. By default, these are selected.

5. If you want to export call information, select export calls. This option will only take effect if you are exporting to a list file.

6. You can define a logical expression to control which records are exported (i.e. you can include or exclude records in the export if they contain certain information, for example exporting only records which have had successful interviews). See logical expressions during export for further details.

7. Click OK.

8. In save as type, select the type of file you want to create. You can select Askia list format (lst), Access (mdb, accdb), Excel (xls, xlsx) or comma-separated (csv).

9. Specify a name and location for your file, and click save.

Logical expressions during export

You can use logical expressions to determine which records are exported. This allows you to export a subset of the data, instead of every record. For example, you might want to export a list of records where there has not been a successful interview. You can manually define an expression, or load one that has already been defined.

Predefined export

To load a predefined export, simply select it from the drop-down list at the top of the export list dialog:

When AskiaLister is first installed, you will find three predefined expressions. These are:

• Never call: This expression selects respondents who have never been contacted. This might be because the respondent did not answer the telephone, or take part in a web survey, or it might be because a contact attempt has not yet been made.

• Success: This expression selects respondents who have had a successful interview, in either a CATI or Web survey.

• No success: This expression selects respondents who have not had a successful CATI or Web interview.

To define a new condition:

1. Click new:
   
   

2. Define your expression (see defining your own expressions, below). When you are ready, you can save the condition (see below).

If you make changes to a predefined condition, you can save these changes.

To save an expression:

1. Set up the condition to your liking (see defining your own expressions, below).

2. Click save:
   
   

To rename an existing pre-defined expression:

1. In the drop-down list, select the expression you want to rename.

2. Click rename:
   
   

3. Type a new name for the item, and click OK.

To delete an existing pre-defined expression:

1. In the drop-down list, select the expression you want to delete.

2. Click delete:
   
   

Defining your own expressions

You can define your own logical expressions, in order to control which records will be included in the export. For example, you might want to export only the records that have e-mail addresses (i.e. records that contain data in the e-mail address field).

Before you add a new expression, ensure that one is not already displayed in the export list dialog. Expressions appear as follows (the details will vary, depending on the particular expression):

If a expression is displayed, click new:

This will start afresh with a new logical expression.

Logical expressions are made up of one or more conditions. You can build up sophisticated logical structures in order to determine which records will be exported. Conditions that are evaluated together within the sample logical expression are shown within the same box. When you have two or more conditions, you must specify the relationship between them by selecting OR or AND between them:

• If you require BOTH conditions to be true for a record to be selected, select AND.
• If you require at least one of them of them to be true (but not necessarily both), select OR.

For example, the above expression selects the records for potential respondents who have never been contacted.

A condition consists of a field name, an operator and a value. For example:

This condition is true if the record has no information in the Telephone field. When you run the export, only fields with no telephone number will be included.

To change the field, simply click it and select another one from the drop-down list.

To change the logical operator, click it and select from the list as follows:

• EQUAL TO: The value in the list file record must be exactly equal to the value you specify in the condition.

• DIFFERENT TO: The value in the list file record must not be the same as the value you specify in the condition.

• GREATER THAN: The value in the list file record must be greater than the value you specify in the condition.

• GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO: The value in the list file record must be greater than or equal to the value you specify in the condition.

• LOWER THAN: The value in the list file record must be less than the value you specify in the condition.

• LOWER THAN OR EQUAL TO: The value in the list file record must be less than or equal to the value you specify in the condition.

To change the value, click it. Depending on the field type, you either type in a new value (e.g. NULL or 1), or for result code fields (e.g. AskLastTelephonyResult), you will be prompted to select the relevant values:

Select all the values that you want to include in your condition. You can quickly select the entire list or codes, or no codes at all, by clicking select all or select none respectively.

Working with multiple logical conditions

When you add a second (or subsequent) logical condition, it is evaluated in relation to the other condition/s in your expression. An operator (OR or AND) is shown between conditions, and this determines how the conditions interact. You should ensure the appropriate operator is selected for the relationship between the two conditions. If you require both conditions to be true for a record to be selected, you should select AND. If you require at least one of them of them to be true, you should select OR. To change an operator, simply click it and select a different one from the drop-down list.

You can add or remove conditions by clicking the following controls:

• Add condition: When adding a condition, there are two places you can add it:

  • If you click add condition within a condition, you are adding a new logical condition that will be part of the same logical expression. For the expression to be satisfied (and hence records that meet the criteria are included in the export), either both statements must be true (if you select AND between them) or at least one of them must be true (if you select OR between them).

  • If you click add condition at the bottom of the list of conditions, then the new condition will be evaluated separately. If you select AND between it and the previous condition, then both must be true for the logical expression to be satisfied. If you select OR, then at least one of them must be true for the expression to be satisfied.

• Add sub-condition: Adds a sub-condition to the associated condition. Sub-conditions are contained within the associated condition and are evaluated as a block with other sub-conditions of the same parent condition. As with conditions, you must specify the relationship between the sub-condition and its parent condition, and with each other, by selecting AND or OR between them (see above for details).

• Remove: Removes the condition.