Collecting Data with EFS People

Table of Contents

System Data

In addition to personal data such as last name, first name, and address, so called system data are stored automatically for all panelists. They are used to collect meta information on the panelists and make it available to the administrator, for example:

How did the panelist join the panel? Did they register themselves, were they imported by an administrator, or were they added during a “Canvass friends” campaign?
When did they participate in the master data survey, and how often were they invited to participate in the survey?
How many panel surveys has the panelist completed?

System data are used in several places in the EFS Panel admin area. For example, you can use the panel status (“pstatus”), the way of entry (“reg_code”) or the pseudonym as critieria for panelist searches. Furthermore, the variables are included in the master data export and can be used for evaluation purposes.

Overview of System Data

The following table describes the meaning of the system data. The second column gives you the names of the variables in the SPSS data record.

Variable name	Variable name in the SPSS and Excel export data record	Meaning	Data type	Size
pseudonym	pseudonym	Encoded unique panelist ID, which is required e.g. to match result data and master data in SPSS.	int	11 places Threshold values: -2147483648 bis 214748364
pstatus	pstatus	Panel status.	tinyint	4
pinput	pinput	Mode of entry. Describes the type of registration. It is automatically allocated by the system. The following modes of entry are used: 1: Other event 2: Data import 4: Moderator entry 8: Self-recruited 16: Canvassed. Is allocated if the panelist accessed registration via a special tell-afriend link. If the usual registration keys are used in the tell-a-friend mail, the panelist will be allocated to the „self-recruited“ mode. 32: Test Please mind: The mode of entry should not be confused with the ways of entry stored in the variable “reg_code”. With user-defined ways of entry, you can describe in more detail how panelists with entry mode 1, 2, 8 and 16 entered the panel.	tinyint	4
pcredit_points	pcredit_points	The current total sum of bonus points.	decimal	10,2
pstatus_date	pstatus_date	The last change in panel status. Only set during manual import.	datetime
deprecated: last_poll_date	last_poll_date	The date the panelist last participated in a survey. Gets updated when the last page of apanel survey is reached. From EFS 6.0, the new tracking function provides you with more precise information.	datetime
deprecated: n_poll	n_poll	The number of surveys in which the panelist has participated so far. Updated each time the final page of a panel survey is reached. From EFS 6.0, the new tracking function provides you with more precise information.	int	11 (see above)
doub_stat	doub_stat	The duplicates status: 0: Not checked 1: No 10: Duplicate alert	tinyint	4
penter_date	penter_date	The date of entry into the panel. Technically this is the point in time at which the panelist's profile is created during the import process or manual entry.	datetime
panelist_code	panelist_code	Panelist codes make it possible to log in directly into the panel.	binary	40
md_status	md_status	The panelist’s status in the master data survey. 11: Assigned. But not yet invited 12: Invited 31: Completed survey The system variable “md_status” should not be confused with the disposition code: md_status indicates if the respective panelists have already participated in any master data survey, doesn’t matter which one. The disposition code is a project-specific variable. It indicates if and how far the panelists have completed a specific master data survey to which they were allocated.	tinyint	4
md_update_date	md_update_date	Date of the last update to the master data survey.	datetime
md_num_updates	md_num_updates	The number of times the panelist has participated in the master data survey.	mediumint	8
md_invite_date	md_invite_date	The date of the invitation to the master data survey.	datetime
md_num_invites	md_num_invites	The number of invitation mails sent for the master data survey.	int	11 (see above)
reg_code	reg_code	Way of entry. With user-defined ways of entry, you can describe in more detail how panelists with entry mode 1, 2, 8 and 16 (variable “reg_code”, see above) entered the panel. Panelists with entry mode 4 and 32 are automatically allocated to the default way of entry.	int	11 (see above)
invited_by	invited_by	If the panelist was invited to participate during a “Tell-a-friend” campaign, this field will contain the ID of the panelist who canvassed them.	Int	11 (see above)
date_last_login	date_last_login	Date of the last time the panelist logged in.	datetime
pci	pci	PCI value.	tinyint	4
site_id	site_id	Language version. For identification of the various language versions of the website(s).	Int	11 (see above)
last_mod_date	last_mod_date	The date of the last change.	datetime
last_mod_user	last_mod_user	Initiator of the last change: 1: Panelist (via panel website) 2: Panelist (via survey) 3: Moderator 4: Import 5: External system, i.e. via web services, for example. 6: API. i.e. changes via programming interface or via special programming for the panel registration. 7: Update rule 8: Project test	tinyint	1
dropout_date	dropout_date	Leaving date of a panelist.	datetime
mail_validation_ status	mail_validation_ status	Status of the double opt-in e-mail verification: 0: unknown 1: not verified 2: verified 3: New verification required. This is set, when a candidate joins the panel or when the e-mail address of a panelist is changed.	tinyint	1
mail_validation_ code	mail_validation_ code	E-mail verification code.	binary	32
marked (not contained in the export data record)	(not contained in the export data record)	Indicates whether notes have been made on the panelist in the Panelists administration or Panelists administration → Candidates menu.	tinyint	1
member_id (not contained in the export data record)	(not contained in the export data record)	An auxiliary variable for calculating the pseudonym.	int	11 (see above)
remote_addr (not contained in the export data record)	(not contained in the export data record)	The IP address used by the panelist during registration.		11
remote_host (not contained in the export data record)	(not contained in the export data record)	The domain from which the panelist entered the panel during registration.