The Agents Menu, located on the Menu Bar at the top of the Interview Information Screen, guides the user through five different tasks:

1. Report Agent (printing data),
2. Data Export Agent (creating ASCII files),
3. Database Merge Agent (merging files),
4. Database Subset Agent (copying a subset of records to a new file), and
5. Spell Check Agent (spell check).

7.1: Printing Data with the Report Agent

The first item on the Agents Menu is the Report Agent. This agent implements a series of step-by-step instructions for generating two types of reports. The first report shows all the questions and responses for individuals chosen from a pull-down list of ID numbers. The second report reorganizes the data to show the responses for all individuals to one or more of the open-ended questions. Both reports can be either printed or previewed on-screen.

To preview or print the data:

Step 1: From the Interview Information Screen, click on Agents on the Menu Bar and click on Report Agent. (See figure 7.1-1.)

Step 2: On the first screen of the Report Agent, choose the type of report to preview or print. Choose a report of either Responses by Respondent IDs or Responses by Question Number. After making a selection, click on Next. (See figure 7.1-2.)

Step 3: On the next screen, select the desired Respondent IDs or Question Numbers depending on the type of report. To select all of the Respondent IDs or Question Numbers click on the double-arrow, or to select one or more Respondent IDs or Question Numbers click on the single-arrow. After making the selection, click on Next. (See figure 7.1-3.)

Step 4: The third screen provides the option of previewing the report on the screen before printing. Turn the screen preview on or off by selecting/deselecting Preview Report, and then click on Finish. (See figure 7.1-4.) If preview is chosen, the report will appear on the next screen along with the option of printing by clicking on the appropriate Print button. (See figure 7.1-5.) If preview is not chosen, clicking on Finish will start the report printing.

7.2: Creating ASCII Text Files and Numeric Matrices with the Data Export Agent

The Data Export Agent is used to export information from the database in one of three formats. The first format copies some or all of the data to an ASCII text file. This file can be viewed in a word processing program or imported into other qualitative data analysis software. The agent's dialog screens help users specify the desired content of the file by requesting combinations of ID numbers, open-ended question responses, Interview Information variables, and assigned codes along with their short definitions.

The second and third data export formats produced by the Data Export Agent create files containing ASCII comma delimited or tab separated matrices. The matrix files can be imported later into a spreadsheet or statistical software for further analysis. By use of a common ID number, researchers might link EZ-Text matrices with other quantitative data generated for the same respondents with another program such as SPSS® (e.g., merging an EZ-Text matrix with a second file containing socioeconomic, medical, psychometric, or other similar variables). In creating the matrices, users request combinations of ID numbers, interview information variables, and codes assigned to open-ended question responses. The comma delimited output file contains one row for each requested ID, and one column for the selected interview information variables and codes. (See figure 7.2-1.)

Matrix cell values either contain the data that were entered for the individual information variables, or they contain ones and zeroes which indicate whether or not a code was assigned to an open-ended question response. Each column is labeled with the original interview information variable name, or a slightly modified version of the code name used in the codebook. When requesting coding data for more than one open-ended question, EZ-Text places single letters (A, B, C) as a prefix to the code name. For example, if an EZ-Text codebook contains three codes named CODE1, CODE2, and CODE3, each code might be assigned to responses for either or both Question 1 and Question 2. Matrix column labels for the two questions in this example would be ACODE1, ACODE2, ACODE3, BCODE1, BCODE2, and BCODE3. Because codes in the codebook can be no longer than seven characters, insertion of the single letter prefixes yields column labels no longer than eight characters. Since the matrices may be imported into statistical software, this convention corresponds to the eight character variable name limit within programs such as SPSS® or SAS®.

To Export questions, responses, and assigned codes to a Text File:

Step 1: On the Interview Information Screen, click on Agents on the Menu Bar and click on Data Export Agent. (See figure 7.2-2.)

Step 2: On the first screen, select the first option: Export Questions, Responses, and Assigned Codes to text file. Click on Next. (See figure 7.2-3.)

Step 3: On the second screen, select the desired Respondent IDs and click on Next.

Step 4: On the third screen, select the desired Question Numbers and click on Next.

Step 5: On the fourth screen, select the desired Interview Information Fields and click on Next. (See figure 7.2-4.)

Step 6: The fifth screen provides the option of Exporting Assigned Codes and Short Definitions. To enable this option, select the empty white box. Click on Finish.

Step 7: Name the file to be exported. It is recommended that the file have the ".txt" extension. Once the file is named, click on OK. To exit the fifth screen, click on Cancel. (See figure 7.2-5.)

To Export Interview Information and Coding Data to a comma delimited data file for use with a statistical package:

Step 1: From the Interview Information Screen, click on Agents on the Menu Bar and click on Data Export Agent.

Step 2: On the first screen, select the second option: Export Interview Information and Coding Data to a comma delimited data file... Click on Next. (See figure 7.2-6.)

Step 3: On the second screen, select the desired Respondent IDs and click on Next.

Step 4: On the third screen, select the desired Question Numbers and click on Next.

Note: As a result of the alphabetical prefix placed before the code name (which can be up to seven characters), there is a limit of twenty-six questions that can be exported at any one time.

Step 5: On the fourth screen, select the desired Interview Information Fields and click on Next. (See figure 7.2-7.)

Step 6: On the fifth screen, select the desired Codes and click on Finish. (See figure 7.2-8.)

Step 7: Name the file to be exported. It is recommended that the file have the ".txt" extension. Once the file is named click on OK. To exit the fifth screen, click on Cancel. (See figure 7.2-9.)

To Export Interview Information and Coding Data to a Tab Separated data file for use with a statistical package:

Step 1: From the Interview Information Screen, click on Agents on the Menu Bar and click on Data Export Agent.

Step 2: On the first screen, select the second option: Export Interview Information and Coding Data to a Tab Separated data file… Click on Next. (See figure 7.2-10.)

Step 3: On the second screen, select the desired Respondent IDs and click on Next.

Step 4: On the third screen, select the desired Question Numbers and click on Next.

Note: As a result of the alphabetical prefix placed before the code name (which can be up to seven characters), there is a limit of twenty-six questions that can be exported at any one time.

Step 5: On the fourth screen, select the desired Interview Information Fields and click on Next.

Step 6: On the fifth screen, select the desired Codes and click on Finish.

Step 7: Name the file to be exported. It is recommended that the file have the " .txt" extension. Once the file is named click on OK. To exit the fifth screen, click on Cancel.

7.3: Merging Files with the Database Merge Agent

The third option on the menu is the Database Merge Agent. This agent is used to append another EZ-Text file into a currently open database (e.g., merging files containing two sets of interviews, collected in two cities in a multi-site research project). The merge process is successful only if two conditions are met:

1. There is no overlap in the ID numbers used in the two files, and
2. Identical template versions have been used to create the two files.

To ensure that data files created on separate computers can be merged, project managers should assign a different ID number series to each interviewer. In addition, each interviewer should check the date and time information for his/her copy of the database, available under the About Menu on the Interview Information Screen. By comparing the dates and times of the last template modification, project managers can verify that all interviewers have exactly the same revision on their computers before data entry begins.

To merge data:

Step 1: After opening one database, from the Interview Information Screen, click on Agents on the Menu Bar and click on Database Merge Agent. (See figure 7.3-1.)

Step 2: On the first screen, select a different database file to merge into the currently open database and click on Next. (See figure 7.3-2.)

Note: Even though the two files being merged were created from the same template, the two files being merged should have different file names. (e.g., file1.mdb and file2.mdb.) It is necessary for both files to have the same file structure.

Note: If the codebooks in the two files are identical, users have the option to include assigned codes during the merge. If this option is chosen and there is any discrepancy between the codebooks, EZ-Text generates an error message and the two files will not be merged. Users can verify that the codebooks are the same by comparing the date and time fields for the codebooks in the two files (select About Menu on the Interview Information Screen).

Step 3: On the next screen, select whether to merge coding data into the existing database by clicking the selection box. Click Finish.

7.4: Copying a Subset of Records with the Subset Agent

The Subset Agent allows selection of a subset of the records and copies them to a new EZ-Text database file. The database can be subset by Respondent ID or by Interview Information.

Example of using the Subset Agent to subset by Respondent ID:

Step 1: From the Interview Information Screen, click on Agents on the Menu Bar and click on Database Subset Agent. (See figure 7.4-1.)

Step 2: Click on the circle beside Respondent IDs and click on Next.

Step 3: On the second screen, select the desired Respondent ID numbers and click on Next.

Step 4: The third screen lists subset options. Select whether to copy the codebook to a new database, copy both the codebook and the coding data, or to copy neither. Continue by clicking on Next or to cancel by clicking on Cancel.

Step 5: On the fourth screen, enter a file name for the subset database and click on Finish. Finally, click on Cancel return to the Interview Information Screen. (See figure 7.4-2.)

Note: The new file containing the subset of the original record should be given a file name different from the original database.

Example of using the Subset Agent to subset by Interview Information:

Step 1: From the Interview Information Screen, click on Agents on the Menu Bar and click on Database Subset Agent.

Step 2: Click on the circle beside Interview Information and click on the Next Command Button.

Step 3: On the second screen, select the Field to subset the data on and set the Value to match on. To select the field, use the selection list by clicking on the arrow to the right of the box and selecting the appropriate field name. To set the value, type in the desired value for the field as it appears on the Interview Information Screen. After typing in the value, click on Next. (See figure 7.4-3.)

Step 4: The third screen lists subset options. Based on the first selection, a category has already been chosen. Decide whether to continue by clicking on Next or to cancel by clicking on Cancel.

Step 5: On the fourth screen, enter a file name for the subset database and click on Finish. Finally, click on Cancel to return to the Interview Information Screen.

7.5: Check Spelling with the Spell Check Agent

The Spell Check Agent checks the spelling within the text of one or more questions for one or more Respondent IDs.

To check spelling:

Step 1: On the Interview Information Screen, click on Agents on the Menu Bar and click on Spell Check Agent. (See figure 7.5-1.)

Step 2: Select the desired Respondent ID numbers and click on Next.

Step 3: On the second screen, select the desired Question numbers and click on Finish. The Spell Check Agent will begin checking the text of the questions selected.

Step 4: When the Spell Check Agent finds a misspelled word or a word not in the Spell Check Dictionary, the Spelling Check Screen will appear displaying the misspelled word. (See figure 7.5-2.) The Spelling Check Screen displays six Command Buttons.

Ignore - ignores the misspelled word once, and the spell check continues.

Ignore All - ignores the misspelled word for that entire spell check session, and the spell check continues.

Change - changes the misspelled word to a word selected from the dictionary or one of the suggestions. The first word selected from the dictionary appears in the "Change To" box. Another word may be selected by highlighting the word in the " Suggestions" box. If the correct spelling of the word is not listed in the "Suggestions" box, place the cursor in the "Change To" box and type the correct word. After clicking on Change, the spell check continues. (See figure 7.5-3.)

Change All - changes all of the words spelled like the misspelled word for that entire spell check session, and the spell check continues.

Add - adds the selected word to the Spell Check Dictionary, and the spell check continues. Use caution when adding words into the Spell Check Dictionary, because words cannot be removed from the dictionary.

Cancel - cancels the spell check session.

Once the spell check session is complete, a Spell Check Complete Screen will appear. (See figure 7.5-4.)

Note: As the misspelled words appear in the Spelling Check Screen, they are also highlighted in the actual text of the question. The Spelling Check Screen can be moved to see the context of the word in question by clicking on the bar at the top of the Spelling Check Screen with the mouse and dragging the screen in any direction until the highlighted word is visible.

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