Study Definition module

Creating a category question

To create any new question, you need the 'Create question' permission

A category question requires the Data Entry user to select from a list of predefined options. See image

When creating the question, you can enter the options one by one, load them from a file or database, or share a set of options from another question.

Creating a category question

1. Select Insert > Question.

2. Enter a code for the new question and click OK. Help on creating codes...

3. Edit the name for the new question. Help on creating names...

4. Select Category from the Question Type drop down list.

5. Click the Values tab to enter the category options, in one of 3 ways:

   • Manually enter them one by one. How to do this

     1. Select the Values tab.
     2. Enter a code and a description for each category option. Ensure you understand the naming requirements.
     3. Leave the cross in the Active column. Only active options are displayed to the data entry user.
     4. You can enter a display expression to define the visibility and ordering of the option based on other data values in the study. Help on this...
     5. Click OK.

      

     How to name, hide and order options...

      

   • Share a set of options from another category question. How to do this

     Select the target question from the Category Sharing drop down list (this list contains all the category questions in the study with original lists). The options from the chosen question will now be displayed as read-only in the Values tab of your new question and will be updated every time a change is made to the target question.

      

     To remove a share, select the blank space at the top of the Category Sharing drop down list. You can choose to copy the options to the current question or remove them to start again with a blank options list. If you copy the options, they will no longer be linked to the target question and so will not receive any future updates.

      

     If you want to change an option in a shared list, you must either:

     • Change it in the original question (which will also change it in any other questions that share the list).
     • Remove the share, choose to copy the options and edit them.

      

     More about shared category options...

      

   • Load them from a file or database. How to do this

     When you load options from an external file or database, the loaded categories will replace all the existing categories for this question.

     Loading from a file

     Select the Text File option, click the Load button, and select an appropriate file from the Windows file dialog. The file must contain comma separated pairs of codes and values (normally a .csv file) which conform to the rules given above for category codes and values. See example

     AD,Andorra

     AE,United Arab Emirates

     AF,Afghanistan

     AG,Antigua and Barbuda

     AI,Anguilla

     AL,Albania

     AM,Armenia

     AN,Netherlands Antilles

     AO,Angola

     AQ,Antarctica

     AR,Argentina

     AS,American Samoa

     AT,Austria

     AU,Australia

     AW,Aruba

     AZ,Azerbaijan

     BA,Bosnia and Herzegovina

     BB,Barbados

     BD,Bangladesh

     BE,Belgium

     BF,Burkina Faso

     BG,Bulgaria

     BH,Bahrain

     BI,Burundi

     BJ,Benin

     BM,Bermuda

     BN,Brunei Darussalam

     BO,Bolivia

     BR,Brazil

     BS,Bahamas

     BT,Bhutan

     BV,Bouvet Island

     BW,Botswana

     BY,Belarus

     BZ,Belize

     Loading from a database

     If you select the ADO-Default connection, information will be retrieved from the current database.

     If you select an ADO-Access or ADO-SQL Server database connection, you will be asked to provide the database connection details.

     You must then enter the relevant SQL query in the Data Source field, which should be a SELECT statement which retrieves pairs of codes and values. (To avoid unintentional writes to the database, you may only enter SQL statements which begin with SELECT.)

      

     How to hide and order options...

      

6. Click OK to create the question.

Help on other fields in question definition window...

Help on setting up question validation...

The appearance of a category question

A category question can be displayed on the eForm as:

• a set of option buttons (default) See image

  

   

• a drop down list See image

  

   

• a free text entry box. See image This is not recommended (except for derived questions) because the data entry users will not know what options are available.

  

   

To change the display, select the question on the eForm, then select Format > Change to > preference. Or right click the question on the eForm, then select Change to > preference from the popup menu.

Note: If you select 'option boxes', they will be displayed as 'option buttons' in the current version of MACRO.

The Data Entry user can configure drop down lists to automatically expand to reveal the options.

Related Topics

Editing a question definition

Question types

Managing category options