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 participantsā€™ 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 participantsā€™ master data is available in the men Participant administration ā†’ Participant Pool ā†’ 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 ā†’ Participant variables ā†’ 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

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

E-mail

u_unit

u_unit

Organizational unit

u_gender

u_gender

Gender

u_initial_password

u_passwd

Initial password

mod_date

Ā 

Last modification

cr_date

Ā 

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 participantsā€™ 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 ā†’ Participant variables ā†’ 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

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
properties ā†’ Survey languages.

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 ā€œEFS Surveyā€, Chapter ā€œManaging Participants in Personalized Surveysā€.

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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