Setting up complex questions
Market research data frequently contains complex questions, such as loops and grids. Loops are common in CATI and CAPI questionnaires, and typically ask respondents a set of questions a varying number of times. For example, in a survey about drinking habits, a loop might be used to ask respondents a number of questions about each drink they consumed on the previous day. Grid questions are common in most types of surveys and typically ask respondents to choose a rating on a predefined scale for a number of products in a list. Grid questions are loops that are iterated a fixed number of times and in which all of the iterations are presented simultaneously.
You use the following MDM objects to represent complex questions:
▪Array. Represents a loop or a grid. If the case data is represented in HDATA hierarchical tables, the structure of the Array objects in the
Document.Fields collection should reflect the structure of the hierarchical tables, with one Array object for each lower level table. For more information, see
Hierarchical data in the MDM.
▪Class. Defines a block or group of objects. For example, questions about a particular topic, such as demographic questions.
▪Grid. Represents a grid question for use in UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Paper 1.2. Although you can create a grid question using an Array object, UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Paper 1.2 cannot recognize grid questions that are defined using an Array object.
▪Compound. Represents a compound question for use in UNICOM Intelligence Interviewer - Paper.
For a Visual Basic example of creating a grid question, see
Creating a grid variable.
See also