Overview

This article provides a comprehensive guide to EFS Reporting+, TIVIAN's solution for evaluating results from EFS Survey and EFS People projects. It covers the basics of creating and managing reports, selecting source data, and importing external data for analysis.

Information

EFS Reporting+ is a comprehensive solution for evaluating EFS Survey and People projects. It features intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces and streamlined workflows for efficiency. Supports all quantitative project types, including anonymous, personalized, panel, and master data surveys. Allows data from open-ended questions and external sources. Offers flexible participant pool definition and customizable evaluation tables. Aggregations, key figures, pie, and bar charts enhance the clarity of reports.

• Report Manager Overview
• Building a report structure
• Selecting source data

Report Manager Overview

To open the report manager, click on the menu item EFS Reporting+ in the survey menu of your project. 

• The head section lists the most important properties of the project.

• The list below contains all the reports of the projects that have been created so far. Listed are the title, the author, and the date of the last change.

• In order to edit one of the existing reports, click on it and select the appropriate button below the list:

  • Open: This will open the report. Alternatively, you can also open a report by double-clicking on its title. Please note: A report can only be edited by one user at a time. If you try to open a report that is being edited by another user, this will prompt a message telling you that the report is currently blocked. Now you can either wait or view the report in read-only mode. In read-only mode, the drag-and-drop function and other actions are disabled and all icons, buttons, and settings are greyed out.

  • Edit: You can change the entries for the title, description, and author in the dialog.

  • Copy: A copy of the report will be created.

  • Delete: The report will be deleted. Please note that any existing export files will also be deleted. Especially if you wish to keep export files of the report available on EFS Survey Status, you should not delete the report.

• If you wish to create another report, select the Create Report button and follow the instructions.

To use EFS Reporting+, you need to write rights to the ACL right report_reporting. Otherwise, you won’t be able to see the EFS Reporting+ menu.

Creating a report

To create a new report, please proceed as follows:

• All standard texts in the new report, e.g. information on the project or the labeling of the first chapter, will be automatically preset in your admin area language. Therefore, before opening the report manager, please set your EFS admin area to the language in which you want to create the report. (Some of the preset texts cannot be changed at a later date.)

• Click on the Create Report button.

• Enter the title.

• Optionally, you can add a description or name the author of the report.

• Your report is automatically created in the default survey language shown in the report dialog under Language. Optionally, you can import all languages available for your report by selecting All Languages from the drop-down list.

• In personalized surveys, you can optionally select participant or panelist data: These data will then be included in the report and will be available for evaluation. Please note that you will not be able to return to this option later on.

• In panel and master data surveys, you can select panel-specific data such as master data or performance data (Chapter 4.3, p. 18). Please note that you will not be able to return to this option later on.

• Furthermore, you can select Panelist base data, Panel tracking data, and Panel group data.

• Confirm by clicking on Create.

• The report will be created. In this process, the current questionnaire structure, the existing result data of the project, and possibly also certain panel-specific data will be included in EFS Reporting+. Upon completion, the report will be opened for further editing.

You can create up to three reports per project.

To create your report in another language than the one predefined, change the default survey language under project information accordingly, before you create your report.

Subsequent updating of reports

When you create a report, the current questionnaire structure and the existing result data of the respective project will be transferred into EFS Reporting+. If you have made any subsequent changes to the questionnaire or if additional respondents have participated after creating your report, you can manually update it. This update includes:

• The latest result data of the project will be included in the report.

• All calculations in the report will be repeated.

• If the questionnaire structure has changed in the meantime, the affected structural elements will be marked.

You will find this function in the Extras → Data update menu. The update process requires considerable resources. Therefore, EFS checks if an update is required and prevents excessive usage.

After performing an update, please check your report and adjust any changed parts accordingly. The following figures show typical markings and messages.

Updating automatically

The update process can be triggered automatically. I.e. if necessary, the data can be updated automatically each night, and in the morning you can work with up-to-date results.

• You cannot select today as the first day of execution. It can be the following day, at the earliest.

• The update is only executed as long as the project is in one of the following statuses: “created”, “survey compiled”, “active”, and “no further participations”. Once the project status has changed to “inactive”, “finished” or “archived”, the update is triggered one last time. Afterward, the rule will be deleted and the automated update deactivated.

You will find this function in the Report → Report settings menu on the General tab. Please proceed as follows:

• Tick the “Update report data automatically” checkbox.

• Specify the first day of execution and the time. It is recommended to use periods when the server traffic is low.

• Define the execution interval. You can select x days, weeks, or months.

• Confirm with Save.

Completed report files can be updated as well. This is useful, for example, if you want to offer fresh results for download on EFS Survey Status. Additionally, you will have the choice to save the last ten exports. If this option is checked, the latest export will not be overwritten by a later one.

Just go to the export dialog, select Automatic export update, and configure the update process as explained above.

Restricting access to Reporting+

The rights system of EFS provides you with the means to control access to both Reporting+ and the created reports.

• Access to Reporting+ is protected by the new ACL right report_reporting. Your staff needs to write access to see the menu item EFS Reporting+ and to use the tool.

• With the new EFS ACL right reporting_plus_only it is possible to restrict the EFS user interface to Reporting+ only. With this user right being active, any other functionality is disabled. Your staff needs read access for at least one EFS project. Users with this right will jump directly to the project list after login. By clicking on a project Reporting+ will be launched.

• This right should not be used, if users need to have additional rights on top of Reporting+, such as access to the field report.

• area www is needed for accessing /www. In this context, your staff needs read and write access.

• If you handle the distribution of the reports created with EFS Reporting+ using EFS Survey Status, you can control access to the individual files via ACL and object rights as usual.

• The conventional EFS Reporting continues to be protected by the right report_onlinereport.

The recommended ACL rights combination for Reporting+ is the following:

• area_www

• report_reporting

• reporting_plus_only

Building a report structure

A report can only be edited by one user at a time. If you open a report that somebody else is already working on, it will be displayed in read-only mode. The
drag-and-drop function and other actions will be disabled, and all icons, buttons, and settings will be greyed out. Creating a new report or opening an existing report via the report manager will take you to the actual edit dialog of EFS Reporting+.

• The Sources window on the left-hand side contains all available source data, recodes, and structuring elements such as filters for restricting the base and split dimensions for creating contingency tables.

• In the Structure window, you build your report.

• In the Workpad on the right-hand side, you can open and edit individual tables and charts.

• In the View menu, you can define how the questions shall be labeled in the sources and structure windows. By default, the question types and titles are displayed. Alternatively, you can have the question texts or question IDs displayed. Please note that this function only serves as an aid to orientation. Which information will be displayed in the report will be configured elsewhere.

• The toolbars of the source and structure windows provide various functions needed for editing the respective contents:

  • Preview: Opens a preview of the contents or results of the selected element. Please note: The preview for the entire report in the structure window contains only predefined test data.

  • Create element: Opens the dialog for creating a new element such as a chapter or a filter.

  • Delete: The selected element will be deleted.

  • Copy: The selected element will be copied.

Basic rules for building report structures

Preparing complex reports in EFS Reporting+ quickly and efficiently requires only a few basic functions.

• Drag-and-drop: Source data and structural elements are dragged from the source window into the structure window, where they are arranged in the desired order.

• Structuring: Structuring functions, such as filters for restricting the number of participants or split dimensions for creating contingency tables, are created as separate elements which are then dragged to the desired position in the report. All tables and charts that are to be subjected to a split dimension - i.e., for which contingency tables are to be created - are subsequently dragged into this split dimension, thus creating a separate branch.

• Detail view: To open a table or chart in the workpad, simply click on the selected element.

The report structure can be up to ten levels deep, i.e., it is possible to nest up to ten elements.

Selecting source data

Depending on the type of project, various source data can be used for evaluations in EFS Reporting+:

• Automatically available are all the results of the respective project including answers to open-ended questions and text input fields, as well as GET parameters (p variables), user-defined variables (c variables), and important survey variables.

• The participant variables (u variables) of personalized projects can be used optionally.

• In panel and master data surveys, you may also use panel-specific data such as master data or performance data.

• Data collected outside of EFS can be imported as well.

• Up to 100 additional external variables can be generated via import and filled with data.

• A report may contain up to 50,000 data records.

The complexity of a report depends on both the number of variables and the number of data records. Depending on the size of these two factors, you may experience extended calculation times below the thresholds mentioned above.

Overview of source data

In the header section of the sources window, you will find several tabs with all the data that is available for evaluation.

• Tab Survey: automatically available data from the respective project, i.e.,

  • all questions of the projects (v variables) including open-ended questions and text input fields. Exception: the unsupported question type text matrix 363.

  • loop result data: can be imported optionally when creating the report. If this is necessary. Please mind: Up to 1,000 loop variables can be imported. However, a high number of variables may have a negative impact on the installation’s performance.

  • GET parameters (p variables)

  • user-defined variables (c variables)

  • important survey data: disposition code, quota assignment (quota_assignment), sample number.Additionally available: language, browser identification (user_agent), output mode (output mode), http_referer, JavaScript version (javascript), Flash plugin version (flash), and quota ID of the respondent (quota).

  • participant data: can be imported optionally in personalized surveys when creating the report.

• Tab Panel: in panel and master data surveys, optionally available panel-specific data such as master data or performance data

• Tab External: external data that were manually uploaded into the report

Various display features and icons help you locate the desired source data quickly:

• To see more information on a question and a simple frequency distribution of the answers, mark the respective question and then open the Preview.

• Questions located in a filter branch, i.e., questions that have been viewed and answered by selected participants only, are marked with a filter icon.

• Text input fields for open-ended answers to closed-ended questions (e.g. “Other:...”) are listed as separate elements and marked [A+T] (“answer and text”).

• Survey data containing no values will be greyed out. For example, the sample number will not be filled in anonymous surveys.

• Unsupported question types like the text matrix 363 question type will be greyed out as well. Until EFS 9.0, the multi text fields 143 and 144 and the user-defined question type 911 were not being supported either.

Please note that Reporting+ does not support depot questions and reference questions. They will not be displayed and will not be grayed out!

Using participant data

When evaluating personalized surveys, you may optionally use participant data (u variables).

• To have them available in the report, please include them when you create your report. It is not possible to include them at a later date.

• You can find the data on the Survey tab in the Participant Data section.

Metanames

If data is available from the Org Processor it will be imported when creating the report. This data includes a participant‘s entire set of metaname-variables and will be displayed separately by spaces.

Using panel-specific data

To import panel-specific data or to access them via the Panel tab in the source window, you need appropriate ACL rights. Panelist data: read rights to “panelsexport”; master data: read rights to “panelstats”; panel basic data, tracking data, and panel group data: read rights to “panelstatus”. Please note that the ACL rights do not restrict access to the existing report structure or existing filters, recodes, or split dimensions.

When evaluating panel and master data surveys, you may also use panel-specific data. In general, the following data types are available:

• Panelist data: participant data of the panelists (u variables)

• Master data (m and md variables)

• Panel basic data: important system variables (mode of entry, language version, way of entry, PCI value, panelist status in the master data survey, and panel status)

• Panel tracking data (track variables)

• Panel group data: membership of panelists in panel groups

To have these panel-specific data available in the report, you have to include them according to the following instructions when you create your report. It is not possible to include them at a later date.

It is possible to group imported yes-/no-master data in Reporting+. For this purpose, master data must correspond to the following pattern: md_[group name]_[numerical value]. Master data of the same group name are combined into one group in Reporting+. The groups are displayed in „Sources“ on the tab „Panel“ in the section „Master data grouped“. Corresponding data will be automatically updated to the group when being added.

Including all available panel-specific data in a report can have adverse effects on the performance. However, by carefully selecting the panel data to be included according to the respective objective of your evaluation you can keep the number of variables in your report small, resulting in improved processing times.

Performing an import

When creating a report on a panel or master data survey, an additional “Options” section will be displayed in the create dialog. Select the desired data. The following figure shows the imported data in the sources window (in the example, all data were imported).

Importing external data

If necessary, you can import data collected outside of EFS into EFS Reporting+ and subsequently use those data as source data for your evaluation.

• You will find the import function in the Extras → Import external data menu. In the following, the import will be explained in detail.

• Upon completion of the import, the data will be available on the External tab of the sources window.

Advice for your planning

The following advice will help you in preparing your import:

• You can import up to 100 additional variables per report. These variables will be created anew. It is not possible to import any values for already existing variables, neither for EFS variables nor for previously imported external data.

• When importing, you can specify whether the values of the imported variables shall be treated as codes or as text. External variables of the “code” data type may have up to 25 answer options. If you have to import variables with a greater number of answer options, you may alternatively declare those variables as being of the "text" data type: The data will then be displayed in the report as open-ended answers. They cannot be used for crossbreaks, calculations, etc.

• The usual missing values (“-77”, “-66”, “-99”) can be used in the import file: They will be treated as user-defined missings in the report.

• If the imported variable names are displayed in the report, the labels can be subsequently adapted via the table editor. It is not possible to subsequently edit the imported values or the data types.

• When importing answers to multiple response questions, it may make sense to use the recoding function to combine multiple variables into one question or to display the 0/1 encoding (“selected” / “not selected”) as desired.

• If an import file contains two columns with identical labels or if you import the same variable twice, then two new variables will be created. Internally, EFS will assign unique names to all columns of the import file, there will be no duplicates check.

• When performing multiple imports, a dedicated, dated file for each import operation will be created on the External tab, containing all variables imported within this operation.

Creating an import file

The import file should be structured as follows:

• The import file should be in CSV or Excel format.

• One column is used for each variable to be imported.

• A column should contain the consecutive numbers of the participants (“lfdn”) so that the imported data records can be linked to the data records in EFS Reporting+.

• The first row should contain the labels of the variables.

• The following rows contain the external data records of the participants.

Performing an import

Please proceed as follows:

• Please make sure that your report contains all current data records. If not, you can trigger an update via Extras → Data update.

• Open the menu Extras → Import external data.

• Select the appropriate character set.

• Use the Browse function to select the import file on your PC.

• To start the import process click on Execute.

• Specify which column of the import file contains the consecutive numbers of the participants (“lfdn”).

• Assign the appropriate data types to the imported variables.

  • Code (integer): This data type should only be selected if the values of the variables are as suitable for calculation as are the codes of EFS. Upon
    completion of the import, the values will be available for calculations in EFS Reporting+.

  • Text: The values will be stored in the database as strings, i.e., they will be displayed as open-ended answers and will not be available for crossbreaks, calculations, etc.

• Confirm by clicking on Execute.

• The assignment will be executed.

  • If the system reports that data rows cannot be assigned, it means that no data record was found for the values of the linking variable in those rows. Check whether the values of the linking variable have been entered properly.

  • The message “Data type does not match” signals that a column contains text while it was selected for the “code” data type.

• Upon clicking on Import, the new variables will be created and the data uploaded.

• You will find the external data on the External tab.

FAQ

How many reports can I create per project?

You can create up to three reports per project in EFS Reporting+.

Can I import external data after creating a report?

Yes, you can import external data at any time using the "Extras" → "Import external data" menu option.

How often can I update my report data?

You can update report data manually as needed or set up automatic updates at specified intervals.