Creating a variable or calculated question (askiaanalyse)

Creating or modifying a variable or calculated question (AskiaAnalyse)

While you cannot change existing variables (questions) in AskiAnalyse, it is possible to create new custom variables for use in your analysis, based on the data in the existing variables.

To create a new variable, do one of the following:

in the edit menu, click create a variable...;

right-click in the questionnaire tab and select create a variable...;

Your new variable is known as a calculated question.

To modify an existing variable, right-click it in the questionnaire tab, and select modify....

Whether you are creating a new variable or editing an existing one, the create a variable window appears.

Note: It is possible to copy and paste variables from one QES to another; in the question list, simply select the variable/s you want to copy, select copy from the edit menu, then switch to the other QES and select paste.

Note: if the number of data records changes, askiaanalyse automatically recalculates the content of variables. However, in the following situations, you need to manually recalculate variables by selecting the command recalculate all variables from the edit menu:
- if the data has been modified (for example in AskiaEntry, or by running edit scripts), but the number of interviews has not changed;
- for questions where the list of responses depends on the data (e.g. where find all values is used), you need to recalculate to see new responses appear.

Note: from askiaanalyse version 5.3.4.3, all calculated questions are stored into the inverted data directory, which is a subdirectory of the directory containing the QES.

The fields in the window are as follows:

Shortcut: Specify a question name.

Caption: Specify a question title (this will be displayed in any tables in which the variable appears).

After: Select the question after which the new variable will be inserted. If you do not specify anything in this field, your new variable will appear at the end of the question list.

Sub-population: Select the sub-population to apply to this question. Only the data for the selected sub-population will be present in this variable.

Level: Select the analysis level at which you want the new variable to operate. Normally, this would be interviews, but you might want to place the new variable at the level of loop items, in which case you would select items.

Type: Select the type of variable that you wish to create. Follow the links below for more details: