Questionnaire structure
Hierarchical projects
Typically, all data for a project are maintained within a single CallWeb data base. There are times, however, when a more complex structure is more appropriate. Let's take the example of a study on family employment. Part of the questionnaire may deal with the household; another part may request information from each household member. Of course, it is possible to set up a large enough number of blocks of questions to accommodate the largest possible household, but this may not be the most efficient way to collect the information. That's where hierarchical projects come into play.
In hierarchical projects, a master CallWeb project acts as the parent data base (in our example, it would deal with the household). One or more "children" CallWeb projects link into the master project to allow as many children "relations" as is required. In our example, each household member would be a child of the master household project. Each such child relation requires a separate CallWeb project; there can be any number of such relationships within a project and children projects may have children projects of their own. For example, one household could have several household members and each household member could have several jobs.
Syntax
Hierarchical projects are defined using RELATION-type questions.
Useful pointers
Respondent user interface
When reaching the RELATION question, the respondent is shown an "Add" button and a "Refresh" button. Upon clicking the Add button, the system continues with a new child questionnaire; once that child questionnaire is completed, the system redisplays the parent questionnaire with a table describing the existing child or children. In this table, a link allows the respondent to correct one of the children or to delete it. The table also displays information from each child using the question text and the text of the answer categories from the child project. Alternative text for questions text and answer categories can be defined in the appropriate segments of the child questionnaire by putting this alternative text between <parent></parent> tags. For example,
*1*This is the text for category 1 <parent>Category 1</parent>
would display "This is the text for category 1" within the child questionnaire but "Category 1" in the summary table in the parent questionnaire.
Extracting data from child records
Child data are stored in a separate CallWeb project. Nonetheless, it is possible to extract information from the child data during the completion of the questionnaire and use it in the parent project.
The &apropos_relations function can be used in CALCUL questions to perform extractions. The general syntax of this function is as follows:
The following table details the existing data types that can be produced and their associated parameters.