IN THIS ISSUE:

Using the Count [CNT] filter to Count Responses in Previous Questions
A new CNT filter operator has been added, which counts the number of responses in a previous question. more

SurveyWriter Adds Multicolumn Question Feature
Many clients want to be able to set up long single choice dropdown questions and multiple selection check box questions in multiple rows. Now you can do so. more

E-Consultancy Taps SurveyWriter for "10 Most Important Research Tools" List
E-Consultancy.com is compiling a guide and directory of software focusing on online research tools. The site has more than 18,000 registered users and over 100 corporate
members, including many leading e-commerce businesses in Britain. more

SurveyWriter to offer Chicago Training Seminar
As mentioned in the last newsletter, SurveyWriter plans to offer a 1½ -day training seminar in Chicago, IL, in the 4^th quarter of this year. more

Support Shorts 
Validation Filters Using "NOT" - Valid Zip Code, Valid Email Address
Track order in which branching and rotating items are seen
Quick way to use Reorder tool more

| Past Issues | |

Using the Count [CNT] Filter to Count Responses in Previous Questions

A new CNT filter operator has been added, which counts the number of responses in a previous question. The CNT filter does not replace the Point Value Formula question that can also be used to count responses but provides some of the same benefits for use in your surveys. It also can be used conveniently from the Filter window.

For example, in one question, you may have a list of answer options. You may only want to show the next question if the respondent has selected more than one response in the previous question. To set up a filter in the follow-up question to make this happen, do the following.

1. Click Modify Options for the follow-up question.

2. Click Create Filters for this question.

3. Click Build Pre-Question Filter.

4. Use the Filter Wizard to build your filter.

5. Select Q1 as the question on which to base the filter.

6. Select [CNT] as the comparison operator for this filter.

7. Select the "Greater Than" symbol, >, as an additional comparison operator.

8. Enter 1 as the value for the filter. Your prequestion filter should look as follows:

{Q1 [CNT] > 1}

Because of the CNT filter, respondents will only see Q2 if they selected more than one response option in Q1.

SurveyWriter Adds Multicolumn Question

Many clients want to be able to set up long single choice dropdown questions and multiple selection check box questions in multiple rows. Now you can do so. On the Modify Options screen for both Single Choice Radio Button and Multiple Selection Check Box questions, the field New Column After Row determines where the next column starts. If you select 6 for this option, the first column will contain five options, and the second column will start with the sixth response option at the top. To spread the columns out over the page, change the Table Width parameter.

One additional benefit of this new feature is that it gives you the ability to set up a Single Choice Radio Button horizontally instead of vertically. Previously, you could only set up the Single Choice lists vertically.

To set up a Single Choice Radio Button question horizontally instead of vertically, select 1 as the row after which to start a new column. Make sure your table width is set up to accommodate the space needed to position your response options horizontally. The question will appear to the respondent as follows:

E-Consultancy Taps SurveyWriter for "10 Most Important Research Tools" List

E-Consultancy.com is compiling a guide and directory of software focusing on online research tools. The site has more than 18,000 registered users and over 100 corporate
members, including many leading e-commerce businesses in Britain. This guide will be available to subscribers of E-Consultancy's subscription only premium content website.

The directory is being edited by Tim Macer, a expert on market research automation who is regularly featured in magazines such as Quirks Marketing Research Review and Research Magazine. 

SurveyWriter is one of only ten suppliers to be featured in the category, "Research Tools."

SurveyWriter to offer Chicago Training Seminar

As mentioned in the last newsletter, SurveyWriter plans to offer a 1½ -day training session in Chicago, IL, in the 4th quarter of this year. These training sessions would present detailed information on using SurveyWriter including such items as: Using Formula Questions, Report Writing,  Running Crosstabs, Filtering, Quotas, and many additional topics of interest to our users.

Training sessions would be led by Joel Friedman. Before coming to SurveyWriter, Joel was a partner at Communications Workshop, Inc., a full-service marketing research company located in Chicago. After selling the company to Conway/Milliken & Associates in 1996, Joel served as their Vice President of Internet Services from 1996 through 1998. Joel has 24 years experience in the combined fields of market research and software automation.

Many of you have already communicated with Joel over the phone or through email. These training sessions would provide the ideal setting for you to ask specific questions about your business, pick Joel’s brain for advice about conducting research over the Internet, and get an idea about what the future holds for SurveyWriter.

These sessions would also provide an excellent way for you to communicate the kinds of enhancements that would most benefit your company and improve your ability to sell online research services. 

When you are away from training, shop on the Magnificent Mile, stroll down Navy Pier, and dine at Charlie Trotters -- Chicago is a world-class city that offers anything you need to turn your time here into a memorable event.

If this is something you would be interested in, please click on the following link, and complete a short (three-question) survey. We will use the survey results to plan these sessions.

SurveyWriter Training Seminar Interest Survey

Support Shorts 

This section of the newsletter is devoted to answering frequently-asked questions that have come into our Support Department in the last month. 

Validation Filters Using "NOT" -  Valid Zip Code, Valid Email Address

The NOT operator can be very useful when you want to validate the presence of a particular item in a question. For example, if you want to require a 5-digit zip code in a numeric text box question, you can use the following validation filter to do so:

NOT({ZipCode-C1-R6 [L] 5})
Zipcode must be 5 characters long.

NOT = Returns the logical negation of what you entered in the rest of the filter statement. In this example, the respondent must enter a zip code with a length of 5 or the error message is shown. 

( ) = When using NOT operator, make sure to surround the entire filter statement, including braces {}, with opening and closing parentheses.

ZipCode-C1-R6 = Selects column 1, row 6 in a numeric grid text box question.

[L] 5 = Has a length of 5. 

The next validation filter example checks for a valid email address that contains both an @ symbol and a period.

NOT({Q47-C1-R2 [] @}AND{Q47-C1-R2 [] .})
E-mail address must contain an @ symbol and a period.

NOT = Returns the logical negation of what you entered in the rest of the filter statement. In this example, the respondent must enter both an @ symbol and a period for the email address or the error message is shown. 

( ) = When using NOT operator, make sure to surround the entire filter statement, including braces {}, with opening and closing parentheses.

Q47-C1-R2 = Selects column 1, row 2 in a numeric grid text box question.

[] @, [] = Contains @ symbol, and contains period. 

AND = Both sides of the filter must be true for the whole statement to be true.

Track order in which branching and rotating items are seen

To track the order in which branching and rotating items are seen by respondents, access the Download Data screen by clicking Results>Download Data.

Click Branch Order Identifiers or Random Set Order Identifiers on the Download Data screen.

The tracking information is stored in your data set under headings such as RND-1, which indicates the first item seen in a random set and RND-2, which indicates the second item seen, etc.

Quick way to use Reorder tool

A feature that enables you to quickly and easily change the order of questions involves using decimal points when reordering. You can access the Reorder program by clicking Questions>Reorder. 

In the example below, we take Q16 and move it directly after Q1. To do this quickly without changing any other numbers, enter 1.2 (could be any value 1.1 through 1.9) in the space next to Q16. Click Reorder and then Save.

By using a number with a decimal point, you can reorder Q16 without having to renumber any other fields. SurveyWriter automatically renumbers the questions with Q16 in the second position since 1.2 follows 1 numerically in the list. 

You can use numbers with up to two decimal places in the New Order field.

You are receiving this newsletter because you either are a client of SurveyWriter or registered at the SurveyWriter.com, Web site.

Thank you for your continued support of SurveyWriter. If you have any topics that you would like see addressed in future editions, please email me.