Researchware Blog
What's New in HyperRESEARCH™ 4.0
HyperRESEARCH 4.0 offers these new features and enhancements:
- View, code, retrieve, and print PDF sources
- Perform smart adjustments to the extent of a coded segment with the new Position Adjuster tool
- Create and export reports in new table layout
- New visualization options for analyzing code frequencies
- Export data, reports, and code frequencies in a variety of new formats, including RTF, Word, PDF, and Excel
- New Autocode options for more precise matching of search phrases
In addition, version 4.0 includes Sneak Previews of two new tools:
- Intercoder Reliability for quantifying the degree to which different coders agree or disagree
- Advanced Filters for locating concurrent code references, and finding code references whose source material includes a particular word or phrase
Note: Sneak Preview tools are still in active development. They are offered as a preview to give you a first look at new features coming to HyperRESEARCH, and for the convenience of those who want early access to these capabilities.
New feature: PDF source files
HyperRESEARCH now supports using PDFs as sources.
- You can view, code, and print PDF source files, with all the same capabilities of textual, image, audio, and video sources.
- Tools such as the Report Builder and Word Counter work with PDF sources the same way as with other sources.
To open a PDF source, choose Sources → Open PDF File.
Code text or rectangular selections:
In any PDF, you can select a rectangle on a page to code. (This works like a selection in an image source.)
If the PDF contains text, you can select and code any passage of text. (This works like a selection in a text source.)
Your codes appear in the Codes in Context pane on the left side of the source window.
Standard controls for navigating through pages and for zooming in and out:
To move through the pages of a multi-page PDF, use the arrows at the top of the PDF window. You can also enter a page number in the Page box and press Enter to go directly to that page.
Use the small and large A buttons to increase or decrease the size of the PDF. Or use the keyboard shortcuts, Command-plus and Command-minus (on macOS) or Control-plus and Control-minus (on Windows).
New feature: Position Adjuster tool
The Position Adjuster updates a code reference, changing which part of the source is coded. Use it to correct a code reference with the wrong segment selected, or to change an existing code reference to include more or less material.
To work with the Position Adjuster, choose Tools → Position Adjuster:
You can use the Position Adjuster to update a code reference for any kind of source: text, image, movie or audio, or PDF. Use the controls to change the coded portion in the way that best works for you:
- Change the start or end position by a specified amount in either direction, to add or remove material at the boundary of the coded segment.
- Change both start and end position to move the location of the coded segment.
- Select additional source material to add to the existing code reference.
Enhancements: Report Builder
The Report Builder tool now has improved layout capabiity, more sorting options, and the ability to export in new formats.
Table-style report layout:
The new Table layout presents your report in rows and columns. You can sort the report by any column by clicking the column header.
(To see a report in the original layout used in previous versions of the Report Builder, choose the
Document option.)
Media content in reports:
Reports now include media content. Coded image and PDF image segments, a single frame from coded video segments, and coded text appear in your report, if the Coded Source Material box is checked.
Sorting by code group:
You can now sort code references in order by code group. If you choose this sort option, the code references appear in the same order as the codes appear in the Code Book, with each group of codes clustered together. Use this option to sort the report by code, while still respecting your code group structure.
New formats for exporting reports:
Document-style reports can now be exported as text, RTF, Word, or PDF files. Table-style reports can be exported as Excel (.xlsx) files.
Additional report features and enhancements:
- You can now include the groups a code belongs to in the list of all codes or the list of filtered codes.
- You can also include a code’s group memberships whenever a code is mentioned in a code reference.
- When exporting a report, Report Builder can now automatically open the report in an appropriate application. (Check the Open Exported Report box before clicking Export Report.)
Enhancements: Frequency Report tool
In version 4.0, the Frequency Report tool has been completely re-imagined, with new charts, lists, and table views to help you visualize and analyze code frequencies throughout your study.
Charts and graphs of code frequencies:
In the new Graph view, you can view code frequencies in a variety of chart styles: bar chart, column
(vertical bar) chart, pie chart, or line graph.
Codes are color-coded. To include a legend with each code’s color and number of occurrences, check the
Show Legend box.
Code group frequency breakdowns:
In the new Tree view, you can see codes listed by group, as they appear in the code book. Each group and subgroup includes the total frequency for codes in the group.
Code cloud view:
The Cloud view shows a Code Cloud (like a word cloud), with each code sized in proportion to how often it is used in your study:
Use the Showing slider on the left side of the window to adjust how many codes are shown in the cloud.
Matrix view of codes and cases:
The new Table view shows a code matrix, displaying each code’s frequency in each case.
Codes are shown in the first column, and there is a column for each case showing the number of times the code was used in that case. The Subtotal column on the far right shows the total number of uses of each code in all the cases shown. The Subtotal row at the bottom provides the total number of code references in each case.
The matrix is shown sorted by code.
- To sort instead by the number of uses in a particular case, click the case’s column header.
- To sort by the total number of times the code has been used, click the Subtotal header. (Click again to sort in reverse.)
New export formats:
All charts, lists, and tables created by the Frequency Report tool can be exported by clicking Export at the bottom left of the Frequency Report window:
- The Statistics and Code Tree views can be exported in the following formats: Excel (.xlsx), Word, RTF, plain text, HTML, or PDF.
- The Table view can be exported as an Excel, CSV, tab-separated text (TSV), or PDF file. (You can also export the first fifteen codes as a CHIP file, for use with Student CHIP.)
- The Code Cloud view can be exported as an HTML, PNG, JPEG, GIF, PBM, or PDF file.
- All charts in the Graph view can be exported as a PNG, JPEG, GIF, or PDF file.
Additional features and enhancements:
- The Frequency Report tool now updates itself continually as you code more material.
- You can now ignore codes that aren’t used in your study, for a view of code frequency that is uncluttered by currently-unused codes. Check the Exclude Unused Codes box at the bottom left of the Frequency Report window.
Enhancements: Autocode
Autocode is now more powerful than ever, with new word-match options, wildcards to find partial matches for a search phrase, and a way to avoid duplicate codes when the same search phrase is found more than once in a coded segment of text.
Searching by word:
In addition to finding your search phrase wherever it occurs, you can now restrict the search to only an entire word (or words), the start of a word, or the end of a word. Choose a Match Mode option in the Phrases view to restrict your search.
Case matching:
By default, Autocode finds your search phrase regardless of capitalization. However, this can be inconvenient when searching for names or acronyms, where capitalization matters. (For example, if you want to search for the acronym “IT” without also coding every occurrence of the word “it”, you will need to specify that you want only the capitalized term.)
To control whether Autocode uses capitalization, check the Match Case box (and make sure to enter your search phrase with the exact capitalization you want).
Wildcard searches:
Wildcards are special characters that you can use to stand for unknown characters in a search phrase. You use * (asterisk) to substitute for any number of characters, or ? (question mark) to substitute for a single character:
explor* matches words like “explore” or “exploration” or “exploring”
Speaker ? matches phrases like “Speaker 1” or “Speaker 2” or “Speaker A”
You can use wildcards to search for a phrase without specifying the whole thing, or to search for a number of similar phrases all at once.
Duplicate handling:
If you include additional text in your Autocode search, Autocode may find that text more than once in the coded segment. For example, if you specify that you want to code the entire paragraph where “family” is found, and the word “family” occurs more than once in a paragraph, Autocode can find both occurrences and codes the paragraph twice—once for each occurrence.
This may be useful at times—for example, if you want to weight the code by the number of occurrences, you can look at the number of times the paragraph is coded to figure out how many times “family” appears in it. However, most of the time, the duplicate occurrences are simply clutter.
You can now control whether Autocode creates duplicate codes by checking or unchecking the
Duplicate Codes For Each Occurrence box.
Status reports:
Autocode now reports its progress during the process. By looking at the bottom of the Autocode window, you can see which case, source, and term is currently being autocoded, along with how many occurrences have been found so far.
Sneak Preview: Intercoder Reliability tool
The Intercoder Reliability tool is useful when more than one person works on the coding for your study. It quantifies how closely your coders agree with each other, assuring you that the coding is objective and reproducible, rather than simply a subjective view of the particular coder who handled a piece of source data.
Note: The Intercoder Reliability tool is still in active development. It is offered now as a preview to give you a first look at new features coming to HyperRESEARCH, and for the convenience of those who want early access to these capabilities.
The Intercoder Reliability tool requires a sample of source material that each coder has coded independently in order to make comparisons. It computes the following commonly-used measurements of intercoder agreement:
- simple agreement (in percentage or ratio terms)
- Scott’s Pi
- Cohen’s Kappa
- Krippendorf’s Alpha
To use the Intercoder Reliability tool, choose Tools → Intercoder Reliability.
Sneak Preview: Advanced Filters tool
The Advanced Filters tool adds code concurrency and text content discriminators to HyperRESEARCH’s code filters. Using the Advanced Filters tool, you can narrow down your study to examine only the set of code references you want to work with and analyze at the moment.
Note: The Advanced Filters tool is still in active development. It is offered now as a preview to give you a first look at new features coming to HyperRESEARCH, and for the convenience of those who want early access to these capabilities.
Filters let you choose certain code references and cases to work with, temporarily hiding all other data in your study. You can use the filter capability to analyze selected subsets of your data. HyperRESEARCH lets you filter based on source file, specific
codes used, whether two codes are used for the same segment of source material, and other criteria.
The Advanced Filters tool adds two new capabilities:
- Find all the places where a certain code or codes are used, concurrently with each other or with any other code.
- Find all the code references where the coded segment contains a certain word or phrase
To use the Advanced Filters tool, choose Tools → Advanced Filters.
More changes and enhancements
HyperRESEARCH 4.0 includes a variety of cosmetic and functional enhancements, including the following:
Improvements to filtering:
- You can now refine your filter by selecting individual code references., either hiding the selected references, or hiding all references that aren’t selected.
- The Frequency Report tool now has an option to show information only for filtered codes and cases, so you can obtain code frequencies for a selected subset of your study as well as the whole thing.
- The filter options have been renamed for greater clarity. (For detailed descriptions, see the information under “Filter Code References” in the Codes menu, and the information under “Filter Cases” in the Cases menu.)
New export formats:
- The File → Export Data command now supports exporting most data in RTF, Microsoft Word, Web (HTML file), and PDF formats, as well as plain text.
- The Frequency Report tool now supports exporting textual data and tables as Excel, RTF, Word, Web (HTML file), and PDF files, as well as tab-delimited text. Graphical data can be exported as PNG, GIF, JPEG, or PDF files.
- The Report Builder now supports exporting in Microsoft Excel, RTF, Microsoft Word, and PDF formats, as well as plain text.
Other changes and improvements:
- Edit → Find can now search in the study window, Code Book window, Annotation window, and Code Map window, as well as the source window
- When using the Edit → Find command in a source window, the found text is now selected and ready to code.
- The Edit menu now has separate menu items to Cut (or Copy) a code or case. This means that you can cut or copy a case, even if code references are currently selected.
- You can now import a code book (using the Export List command in the Edit Code menu at the top of the Code Book window) from a Word or Excel file, in addition to plain text.
- Improved handling when you try to save a file that has been moved or renamed while it’s open, or which is no longer available (for example, on a thumb drive which has been removed)
- Most windows are now automatically updated when your study changes. (For example, the Frequency Report window updates itself with new information when you add codes or code new information, or when you open a different study.)
- The command-line installation option no longer requires a chmod command after installing HyperRESEARCH on macOS. The application is now automatically made executable during the installation. (For more information about command-line installation, see Installation and Requirements.)
- The Study Packager tool is now more robust when moving files between macOS and Windows.
- The backdrop has been removed from the Options/Preferences window.
- Over 370 more bug fixes and stability improvements to all parts of HyperRESEARCH.
Updating from a previous version
For version 4.0, HyperRESEARCH has a new file format. You can open study files from previous versions in 4.0, but you cannot open study files saved in 4.0 in older versions. (Other HyperRESEARCH files, such as settings files for the Report Builder, Theory Builder, or filters, can be used in any version and do not need to be converted.)
The new file format has the extension “.hs4”. Study files created by previous versions have the extension “.hs2”.
Updating from version 2.0 through 3.7.5:
To open a file that you created in a previous version of HyperRESEARCH, choose File → Convert
Version 2-3 Study. Your old study will open in HyperRESEARCH.
If your study uses any text sources, HyperRESEARCH updates the locations of code references in those sources. This process is automatic and usually takes only a few seconds.
If HyperRESEARCH can’t find one or more text sources, it asks you to locate them. (If you no longer have access to a text source that’s used in your study, but you need to open the study in HyperRESEARCH 4.0, please contact support@researchware.com for assistance.)
Note: HyperRESEARCH 4.0 no longer supports WMA, WMV, AVI, or MPEG files as audio and video sources. If your older study file uses sources of these types, HyperRESEARCH warns you when converting the file. To use your existing coding, you will need to convert these sources to a format HyperRESEARCH 4.0 can use. (For more information about file formats, see File Types.)
When you click a code reference that uses one of these files, HyperRESEARCH asks you to locate the converted file. Once you select the converted file, your code references for that source are automatically updated to use the converted source.
Once your study file is converted to 4.0 format, be sure to save it (with the “.hs4” extension). You can either leave your previous “.hs2” file as a backup, or delete it. The next time you start HyperRESEARCH, your newly saved 4.0-format file will appear in the Recent Studies list.
Updating from versions before 2.0:
If you have study files that were created in a version of HyperRESEARCH earlier than 2.0, please contact support@researchware.com for help converting them to use in the new version.
Questions? Contact us!
Use our Contact page: http://researchware.com/contact/contact-us.html
Or send email to support@researchware.com or sales@researchware.com.
We're here to help!
QuickTime for Windows: Media Support in HyperRESEARCH and HyperTRANSCRIBE
Apple Inc. is no longer supporting QuickTime 7 for Windows. That news, coupled with the discovery of two new vulnerabilities that expose Windows computers to possible attacks, caused some companies to suggest that Windows users should uninstall QuickTime 7. (The ending of support for QuickTime 7 only affects Windows users. OS X users will continue to receive security updates for QuickTime for Mac.)
What does this mean for HyperRESEARCH and HyperTRANSCRIBE users who use Windows, since Researchware's software uses QuickTime for audio and video support?
As part of our ongoing effort to increase the media formats available to our users, we are actively working on support for alternative media frameworks on both OS X and Windows. In the future, HyperRESEARCH and HyperTRANSCRIBE users will be able to choose to use QuickTime or another available media framework.
Until this development effort is complete, Windows users can limit any vulnerability by following good computing practices.
So what to do?
Like many software vulnerabilities, the problem that has cause this concern requires the user to download a malicious file and and play it using QuickTime. A hacker who creates such a file and makes it available for download can exploit the security problem, but only against users who actually download and play that file. Because of this, you are at risk only if you download and play files that you are not sure are "clean".
As long as you are maintaining your normal Windows anti-virus protection and are not downloading or opening any media files whose source you aren't sure about, your risk will be minimal. And although these vulnerabilities were recently discovered, there are currently no reports of these vulnerabilities having been used in actual cyber attacks.
Most of our customers transcribe and use media files they recorded themselves or obtained from trusted sources. We do not expect these recently discovered vulnerabilities in QuickTime 7 for Windows to affect our customers when using our software.
Can I still use your software without QuickTime?
HyperRESEARCH can be used for coding and analyzing text data, even if QuickTime is not installed. QuickTime is required only for playback of audio and video files.
If you leave QuickTime installed, you will be able to continue working with audio and video files in HyperTRANSCRIBE or HyperRESEARCH. Provided you exercise caution with the audio or video files you open with HyperRESEARCH or HyperTRANSCRIBE, taking care to work only with files you trust, you are not likely to be affected by the reported vulnerabilities.
What can I do to continue using QuickTime while limiting any risk of problems?
To reduce your risk even further, change the default media player on your Windows computer to a different media player (there are many to choose from!) This will prevent QuickTime from automatically opening a file as you are browsing the web or navigating through your files on your computer. This ensures that you can't accidentally use QuickTime to play a file whose source you aren't completely sure of.
Here's how to change the default music or video player under Windows 7: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/change-default-music-video-player#1TC=windows-7 (Other versions of Windows should have essentially similar ways of setting the default music video player.) You may want to be extra careful to check to make sure QuickTime is not set up as the default application for any file type. This will ensure that double-clicking a file won't automatically play it in QuickTime.
Where can I find out more?
Researchware is not the only software developer affected by this situation. Adobe and some other companies with software that interfaces with various audio and media formats have issued information regarding continued dependence on QuickTime for some or all of their products. For example, Avid Technology has released helpful and detailed information regarding the announcement and what it means to users who want to continue using their software, which also relies on QuickTime for media support: "QuickTime Support and Security on Windows".
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this or any other issue with HyperRESEARCH or HyperTRANSCRIBE, please contact Researchware's technical support team.
Instrumental Orchestration in Mathematical Education
Even at a young age James Kratky had a love of mathematics. As he grew older, so too did that love of mathematics, and when it came time to select an undergraduate major while attending Ferris State University in the central region of Michigan, James followed his strong passion for mathematics and his desire to serve others. He knew that teaching mathematics would be a great career choice.
Upon entering the classroom as a teacher, James quickly realized that what he knew wasn’t nearly enough. He knew that he wasn’t even sure what questions he needed to ask to best improve his teaching practice. People would tell James that he was a good teacher who challenged his students to learn mathematics. However, he believed there had to be more available (both in teaching methods and technology) that could be used together to help students to learn mathematics better. It was because of this that he decided to go to graduate school to expand his understanding of mathematics education.
While obtaining his doctoral degree in Mathematics Education, James conducted a research study surrounding "Instrumental Orchestration"- a construct referring to the teacher’s configuration and exploitation of the classroom and tools while guiding and shaping students’ use of mathematical technologies to enhance their learning.
As the participant in his research study, James selected a college instructor who used both digital statistical tools (e.g. graphing calculators) and specific research-informed teaching practices. The instructor focused on eliciting student thinking to help guide the lesson toward her intended learning goals for the students. Rather than rely on direct lecture, she led her classroom community through group investigations that encouraged conceptual development as the students engaged in each other’s thinking and even challenged the fidelity of the tools they were using! Along the way, she implemented several specific teacher moves to support her pedagogical goals, and James’ research explored and illuminated these characteristics of her instrumental orchestrations.
A goal of James’s research was to see how the teacher was supporting technology in the classroom. He witnessed extensive student exploration. The instructor introduced the mathematical tools to the students and then let them generate whatever statistical representations they thought were appropriate for the given context, while at the same time sharing and building off each other along the way.
James chose to conduct his research and gather his data by placing three video cameras throughout the classroom which captured both classroom interactions and the technology, while at the same time using a wireless mic on the teacher (fed to 1 camera) plus 5 audio recorders for additional audio capture. In a previous study, he had identified tensions between analyzing just transcript data or videos. He sought to alleviate some of that tension by combining data sources. James used transcripts as highly accurate records of what was spoken during class time. However, when the teacher asked questions, she often used wait time (a nonverbal pause lasting for a moment). By allowing for a few seconds of silence, the teacher invited her students to participate and contribute to the statistical conversation. Using a simple transcript would not have highlighted this wait time and other nonverbal subtleties, and therefore James chose to use both transcript data and video data to truly capture a sense of what was taking place in the classroom.
James analyzed 18 hours of video and transcript data with Researchware’s qualitative analysis software, HyperRESEARCH. Having previously used HyperRESEARCH, he found it to have a very easy learning curve, and knowing its capabilities, realized that he could manipulate HyperRESEARCH by writing simple scripts on his MAC that enabled him to synchronize both the multiple videos and transcript data together and code the data for the types of teacher moves made during instruction. In addition to ease of use, and the affordable cost to purchase HR, James also found the sorting and annotation features of HyperRESEARCH to be very helpful. Overall HyperRESEARCH proved to be a very effective tool in helping James analyze his data. “To make the most of all that HR has to offer, researchers still have to reflect on what we do and be willing to put in the effort to make the tool work to the best of its ability” says James. “HyperRESEARCH, like any software, won’t do everything for us. We must keep asking questions and make decisions to help us answer those questions in our research. However, James adds, HyperRESEARCH has a lot more to offer if we are prepared to do the work to get there – it’s part of the process of doing worthwhile research.”
From Pepperdine University: HyperResearch Creates HyperHappy Doctoral Students
We love to hear from customers who tell us how HyperRESEARCH has helped them do their research.
I was especially delighted when I discovered this video from Pepperdine University's Graduate School of Education and Psychology. It's a presentation organized by Dr. Kay Davis, titled "HyperResearch Creates HyperHappy Doctoral Students."
The Education Division of the GSEP provides licensed copies of HyperRESEARCH to doctoral students engaging in qualitative research. This video presentation serves as an introduction to the software, discusses why Pepperdine University chose HyperRESEARCH, how they use it, and explores student feedback on the software.
This presentation was originally offered to Pepperdine University students and faculty in the Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) in February, 2014. The video replay is available on Pepperdine's "Community" website, and also on YouTube.
Here's the full video (1 hour - see below for links to key points within the video):
Of course, policies and practices for dissertation research vary among universities and instutitions. So not all of this information will be pertinent to every doctoral student or graduate program!
Here are some links to specific portions of Pepperdine University's video for those interested (will open in a new window and autoplay beginning at the appropriate start time):
Why do we need qualitative analysis software? (timecode 8:28-9:45) "...software provides us with a faster and more efficient way to code our data...much more flexibility... ability to search and query... easy access to multiple users"
Why HyperRESEARCH and HyperTRANSCRIBE software? (timecode 9:45-10:45) "...cross-platform... supports coding, theming, and theory building... highly intuitive, it's user friendly as an interface..."
Why Paula Thompson is a fan of HyperRESEARCH (timecode 15:00-16:40) "... for students at the dissertation phase, it's often the right-sized tool for the volume of data that they're working with and the complexity of analysis that they're doing...."
HyperTRANSCRIBE (timecode 18:28-19:10)
Various features of HyperRESEARCH (timecode 20:07-32:50) (see also Researchware's webinar replays)
Student comments regarding their experience with HyperRESEARCH (timecode 38:52 - 41:07) "...easy to use. made reporting and tracking codes much easier...."
Student comments on their experiences with HyperTRANSCRIBE (timecode 41:08 - 42:52) "...this was a gem! Hyper Transcribe allowed me to easily create transcripts of the interviews for my research...."
Student advice for other students (timecode 42:55 - 45:46) "...begin transcribing your data as soon as possible...", "...learn tool early!"
Are you a doctoral student looking for uncomplicated software to help you organize your qualitative data for your dissertation? Learn more about HyperRESEARCH here: Powerful Tools. No Complications.
Are you a professor looking for the right software tools for teaching qualitative research methods? Let us show you how we can help.
Are you a HyperRESEARCH or HyperTRANSCRIBE user with a special research topic, or a unique approach? Tell us about your research!
Importing Code Lists
Background
Many researchers and research teams develop a code list prior to the coding of any documents. Initial thought as to potential and anticipated major and minor themes expected in the data can help focus and guide coding efforts. HyperRESEARCH allows the import and export of code lists to its Code Book or list of master codes.
The information below:
- explains the options available for importing code lists to HyperRESEARCH, and
- provides downloadable Microsoft Excel templates you can use for the style of code list, ranging from basic to full featured, that you wish to create and import.
Code or Group Names
Code or code group names can be up to 255 characters include the characters 0-9, A-Z, a-z, spaces and the following accented characters:
À Á Â Ã Ä Å Æ Ç È É Ê Ë Ì Í Î Ï Ð Ñ Ò Ó Ô Õ Ö Ø Ù Ú Û Ü Ý Þ ß à á â ã ä å æ ç è é ê ë ì í î ï ð ñ ò ó ô õ ö ø ù ú û ü ý þ ÿ
and these punctuation characters:
! % & ' + - . / : = ? _ ` ~
A Basic Code List
The simplest code list that can be imported is a simple list of code names, one per line. In the first of our Microsoft Excel templates, or any text editor, you can simply create a list of code names (see side bar for name restrictions).
Once you have developed your code list in the Excel template, you can prepare it for import with the following steps:
If you are working in Excel:
- Remove (Delete) the header line from the template
- Select Save As from the File menu/tab to save the template
- Select Text (Tab Delimited) (*.txt) from the Save as type: pop up menu in the Save As dialog.
- Click Save to save your code list. Excel will warn you about saving in the text format. Just click Yes.
If you are working in HyperRESEARCH:
- From the Edit Code pop up menu in the Code Book, select Import List... to import the code list you created.
- HyperRESEARCH will remind you that the list will be appended or added to the current Code Book. Click OK to add the codes.
The Code Book shown to the left will be produced upon importing the list shown in the template above.
A Basic Code List with Code Descriptions
Code descriptions in HyperRESEARCH's Code Book can be used to keep notes about anything the researcher(s) like. Most often, code descriptions are used to keep guidance on how the code is intended to be applied or to clarify the difference between similar codes used in a study.
To create an importable list of codes with code descriptions, simply add a second column in Excel (or a second column separated by a tab in a text editor) for the Code Description. The Code Description column can contain any characters except a line break (carriage return). Code Descriptions can be blank or empty.
Following the same steps as above to save the edited template for importing as a code list:
- Remove (Delete) the header line from the template
- Select Save As from the File menu/tab to save the template
- Select Text (Tab Delimited) (*.txt) from the Save as type: pop up menu in the Save As dialog.
- Click Save to save your code list. Excel will warn you about saving in the text format. Just click Yes.
Importing the same template shown above for a code list with code descriptions produced the resulting code list shown to the left.
A Code List with Code Groups
To create a code list with code groups, two additional columns need to be added. They must be in order after the Code (or group) Name column. These are the Type (code or group) and the Parent Group. The row order does not matter, but it is a good convention for easier reading to list Groups before you use them. The Type column cannot be blank and must contain only the word code or group depending on whether the name is for a code or a code group. The Parent Group column must contain the name of the parent group for every code or group. The Top level group or default group or root of the tree is called All Codes. The Parent Group can not be blank.
Repeat the same steps as previously described to remove the header line and save the template as a tab delimited file and then import the code list into HyperRESEARCH.
The template above produces the code list shown to the left when imported. Notice that A Sample Code and Another Sample Code have been placed in the group called Sample Group.
A Full Code List (with everything)
A template for a full code list, combining everything from the examples above, consists of four columns. The Name, Type, Parent, and Description columns. The columns must be in that order. Descriptions can be optional (blank). You can assign a Code to more than one group by separating the Parent group names by a vertical bar "|" as illustrated for the code called A Last Sample Code shown in the template below. In this example, the code is assigned to both the Sample Group and the Last Codes Group.
Repeat the steps previously described to save the code list and import it to HyperRESEARCH.
The Code Book shown to the left results from importing the template above. Note that A Last Sample Code has been placed in two groups, the Sample Group and the Last Codes Group and the description for the Sample Group.