Using Master Data and Process Data
As in other EFS project types, various types of data are defined, collected and used in multi-source feedbacks.
While the participants complete the questionnaire, EFS collects the same data as in other project types: result data, URL parameters and user-defined variables.
Address data and other personal information on the participants who are specified in participant administration are called master data.
Furthermore, there are the so-called process data: They contain information that does not describe the respective person in general, but refers to their current position (i.e. role, feedback status etc.) in a specific feedback constellation. The content of these variables is set either automatically by the system or by the project manager.
Before starting to configure the feedback process and importing partipants, you should check if the structure of master and process data fits for your requirements, or if modifications or additions are needed.
In this chapter, you can find:
a short introduction to master data and process data including overviews on the default variables.
a short instruction how to change the specification of existing variables or how to create new variables.
an overview on features that allow to use master data and process data for dynamics in the questionnaire and in the feedback center.
Organization Tips
The following tips will help you with your planning and organization:
Planning the data structure of the participant administration
Think about which master data you want to store for the participants.
Check whether the existing data structure meets the requirements of your current project, and adjust it if necessary.
Often you need to be able to select specific participant groups in a targeted manner, e.g. to successively send invitation mails to the various departments of a company or to be able to split according to particular characteristics such as customer type, for example, in the evaluation process. Consider precisely which subsets you will need in the course of the project and in the evaluation process and how they can be optimally represented in the participant administration.
Checking the data structure for the feedback process
Check if additional process data are needed.
Check whether the existing data structure meets the requirements of your current
project, and adjust it if neccessary.
Master Data
Master data are the participants’ personal data, as e.g. name and address. These data are usually imported by the project manager and used for authentication or to contact the participants.
Inside EFS, the master data are available whereever information on the participants is needed for personalization, routing or analysis.
A separate export of the feedback participants’ master data is available in the men Participant administration → Participant Pool → button Excel export and CSV export.
If you have sufficient rights, a combined export of master and result data is available for documentation or external analysis.
You can view the master data variables and their answer options in the menu Participant administration → Participant variables → Master data variables.
Overview of the Master Data Variables
The table below lists the default master data variables.
Variable name | Variable name in SPSS and Excel export | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
u_account | u_account | Personnel number |
u_title | u_title | Title |
u_firstname | u_firstname | First name |
u_name | u_name | Name |
u_email | u_email | |
u_unit | u_unit | Organizational unit |
u_gender | u_gender | Gender |
u_initial_password | u_passwd | Initial password |
mod_date |
| Last modification |
cr_date |
| Date of creation |
Process Data
The so-called process data allow to track and store the position of a participant (i.e. role, feedback status etc.) in a specific feedback constallation, and to use it for process control and administrative purposes.
The default process data are used in various situations during the feedback process. E.g. it usually depends on the participants’ role if and which report they receive for a specific feedback constellation.
Some default process variables are included in the export data records and can be used for external analysis.
User-defined process data are available in participant administration. They can be activated for MSF statistics. Furthermore, they are part of the MSF participant export and the MSF wave export.
You can view the process data and their answer options in the menu Participant administration → Participant variables → Process variables.
Overview of the Process Data
The table below lists the default process data.
Variable name | Variable name in SPSS and Excel export | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
u_role | role | Role |
u_stats | u_stats | Feedback status |
m_date | m_date | Date of change |
c_date | c_date | Date of creation |
u_language | u_language | Language version In multilingual projects, this variable is usually linked with the survey languages specified in Project |
u_group | u_group | Wave |
Editing Master Data and Process Data
Master data and process data are user-defined, i.e. you can modify the default variables and create additional variables.
Therefore, prior to creating the participants, check whether the data structure of the participant administration meets the requirements of your current project, and adjust it if necessary.
Variables for storing basic properties of the participants can be relabelled or otherwise modified.
If you want to store additional data, you can create additional variables.
The corresponding functionalities are introduced in detail in “EFS Survey”, Chapter “Managing Participants in Personalized Surveys”.
Using Master Data and Process Data in Questionnaire and Feedback Center
Master data and process data can be used for dynamics in questionnaire and feedback center:
The data can be output in the questionnaire. The piping feature newly introduced in EFS 10.3 simplifies selection of the wildcards for the desired data.
The data can be used for dynamics in the questionnaire, as e.g. filtering or checking of answers with plausibility checks.
The data can be used to personalize e-mails.
The data can be output in the personalized part of the feedback center by using wildcards in the Smarty templates.
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