The first step in the metadata workflow is the documentation of the questionnaire metadata. This includes questions, answers, instructions, and descriptive text. It also includes the 'flow' of the questionnaire, which describes both the structure of the questionnaire in ordered sections and the addition of conditional logic that describes how users move through the questionnaire. There are a number of ways to complete this work, depending on the source material.
1) The most common way is to physically enter the details of the questionnaire into a tool designed for this purpose. CLOSER has developed a tool for this purpose, Archivist, which supersedes the previously used CADDIES. For older questionnaires, this was the only option available.
2) The second method, which is used more rarely, is to partially populate Archivist from existing electronic sources. This is where some electronic records exist, but are not in a format that they can be systematically extracted to produce a complete questionnaire. Examples include scripts from electronic questionnaires which are not the same as the code behind them. This require bespoke code based on the source material available and so are not further documented here. Additionally, it is possible to create electronic sources by creating spreadsheets from the original paper source. This is most affective for CAPIs which have consistent formatting.
3) Finally, if the questionnaires already have high quality, consistent electronic documentation, such as an existing XML format, Archivist can be bypassed. Transformation of the existing source material may also bypass parts of the mapping processes. This final option is not very common.
The following pages cover the most common process used when entering legacy questionnaires, which is by physically entering each element of the questionnaire using Archivistdocument questionnaire metadata - the various methods used at CLOSER can be found on the Entering Questionnaire Metadata page - all of which require knowledge of the foundational principles and questionnaire elements.