The axis is an integral part of your tabulation program: without it there can be no tables. At its simplest level an axis represents a question on the questionnaire, and contains statements which define the responses to that question and the codes by which Quantum can identify them.

Each axis can be used to create one or more of the following:

For example, if you have an axis called region, you can use it to create tables in which each row is a different region, or in which each column is a different region. You can also use it in such a way that each region creates one or more pages in a group of tables.

Items in an axis are called elements and each element can generate one or more lines or pages in a table. For example, when an axis is used to create the rows of a table, one element might show the same set of figures presented in three different forms, say, absolutes, column percentages and row percentages, to name the most common.

This section introduces some of the statements used in axes and describes how to define precisely which respondents should be included in which element.