When finished creating the data dictionary application, you will see the screen divided into two windows. The screen on the left displays the
dictionary tree:
CSPro created the dictionary shown (Poverty) with one level (Poverty questionnaire), and that level contains a set of ID Items (Id Items) and one record (Poverty record).
The screen on the right displays detailed information for the highlighted object in the left-hand screen. For example, if in the left-hand screen the focus (cursor or highlight) is on the first line (
), the right-hand screen will display information about the dictionary as a whole. If the focus in the left-hand screen is moved to the second line (
) questionnaire level, the right-hand screen will display information about the questionnaire (case), which is the basic element of the file. As the focus is moved down the dictionary tree, the right-hand screen changes to reflect the different items of interest at each successive level.
Note the tabs at the bottom of the left-hand view marked "Files" and "Dicts". Clicking on either of these tabs will bring up the appropriate tree. Within each tree,
Ctrl+T toggles the view. For the File Tree, the two views will show either the internal or external names of the files; for the Dictionary Tree, the two views will show either the unique dictionary
name or the dictionary
label of each element.
The following is a good strategy for building your dictionary to reflect the data to be collected from your questionnaire:
- The first thing we suggest you do is to change the level properties to reflect your intended usage.
- Next, determine what ID items are necessary—remember that ID Items set will appear on each record in the current level, as well as all records in any lower levels.
- Third, create any additional records for the level, before changing the record properties as needed (e.g., setting the maximum number of occurrences for each record, stipulating whether the record is required or optional, and adding a record type, should you have 2+ records).
- Fourth, you're ready to add in dictionary items—these generally have a 1-to-1 correspondence to each question on your questionnaire.
- Finally, you're ready to make a final pass to add in value sets and values for each data item. This is a critical step, especially for numeric items, and should not be ignored. It determines the valid range of responses for each data item.