Question Grids
Key Considerations
Only use for multi-column grids. Single-column grids should be entered as question items.
There must be overarching text that can be used as the question literal.
Questions laid out as a table in a questionnaire are not necessarily entered as grids.
All questions (Y axis) in the grid must have the same response(s) (X axis). Note that, in some cases, questions with different responses may be broken off from the grid and input as a separate question.
When entering groups of related questions, lists of questions, or tables in Archivist, you can use a question grid to express the information rather than separate question items.
It is important to remember that information appearing in a table does not mean that it should always be represented as a question grid. The intent of metadata archiving is to record the semantic meaning and order of the questionnaire, not the exact style of presentation.
The key feature to look for when assessing whether a question is a grid or not is whether the question has an overarching question with multiple sub-questions or statements. In Example 1, if the overarching text "How many of the following paid teaching staff work with your class? (Do not include teachers who do individual tuition for music or special needs)" is removed, the overall question would lose meaning, becoming an abstract list.
Example 1
Questionnaire: ALSPAC About your Class
Questionnaire layout:
Archivist view (alspac_00_ayc):
Grid architecture
Grids work by translating related questions into positions on an X and Y axis. When deciding what aspects of a question to assign to which axis/header, the X axis usually hosts the answers/response domains, and the Y axis usually contains the questions.
Code lists are used to construct these axes, usually labelling both with the question number followed by '_X' or '_Y'. In some cases, these code lists are labelled differently according to the structural needs of the grid (see Construct a Label).
Single-column grids
In the past, we have entered lists of sub-questions as single-column grids, like Example 2 below. Current protocol is to enter these as single question items by concatenating the overarching question text (“How noisy if your school classroom usually? Noise from outside the school (tick all that apply)”) and the sub-question question text (“Continuous loud noise (e.g. heavy traffic, machinery, etc)”). The examples below may still be useful in understanding the grid structures, but would no longer be entered as a grid.
A protocol that does still apply in this example is what to do when there is no clear label for the column. In this case, a dummy heading is used to maintain structure. This is done by creating a code list with a single category of a hyphen ( - ), which the required code answer is attached to. This is always labelled cs_dash.
The cs_dash code list used to structure the X axis of the grid (boxed in red), with the code answer '1 - Yes' attached to it.
Example 2
Questionnaire: ALSPAC About Your Class 2000
Questionnaire layout:
Archivist Build / Code Lists:
Archivist view (alspac_00_ayc):
Multi-column grids
Example 3 shows a grid with multiple columns. It is collecting various pieces of information about multiple hospital admissions (age of child, reason for admission, and number of nights child stayed in hospital). These pieces of information are collected using a mixture of response domains: two numeric answers and one text answer (Age, Generic Text, How Many).
Example 3
Questionnaire: ALSPAC My Son/Daughter's Health
Questionnaire layout:
Archivist Build / Code Lists:
Archivist view (alspac_00_msdh):
Sometimes a grid looks like it has multiple columns because of the way a code list is laid out, but pay attention to what the columns represent. Example 4 may look like a grid at first glance, but actually each column is a different code list option, so would be entered as multiple questions each with the same code list response domain (1 = Yes I insist always, 2 = Sometimes I insist, 3 = I never insist).
Example 4
Questionnaire: My Son/Daughter at Home and at School
Questionnaire layout:
Archivist view (alspac_00_msdhs)
Corner labels
On occasion, groups of questions are laid out in such a way that they have a small sub-heading which adds information to one of the axes of the grid. This is not quite overarching question text, or wouldn’t be considered an instruction, and would be out of context as a statement. In this case, we can use the corner label function of question grids.
The corner label is added to either axis, and this is done by naming the code list label the corner label text, and selecting a corner label when building the grid for either the X or Y axis.
Example 5 shows how a corner label appears in the original questionnaire, and how this is entered in Archivist. The corner label "A4 In the past 12 months:" is entered as the code list label. Note the question number has been entered in addition to the corner label text, as "In the past 12 months:" is used in several questions throughout the questionnaire. The label must still be unique, therefore a unique identifier is added, which is stripped out before being deposited in CLOSER Discovery. A tab separated file is created, which contains the label as entered in Archivist, followed by the correct sequence name.
Note Example 5 would no longer be entered as a question grid as it is a single-column grid. It would now be entered as separate question items with the question literal concatenated to the corner label and list text: "In the past 12 months, has he had any of the following infections? In the past 12 months: measles"
Example 5
Questionnaire: ALSPAC My Son/Daughter's Health 2000
Questionnaire layout:
Archivist build / Code Lists:
Archivist Build / Question Grid:
Archivist view (alspac_00_msdh):
Break-off questions
If the question grid has multiple columns on the X axis, and there is a Y axis question with an additional text answer, the item is left in the grid with the response domain it has in common with the other Y axis items. However, it is also repeated as a single question item after the grid to address the additional text answer. See Example 7 below.
Pay particular attention to how item d) is inside and outside of the grid in the Archivist view. This also occurs with l) 'Bitten by animal or human (please tick and describe) ...' further down.
Example 7
Questionnaire: ALSPAC My Son/Daughter's Health
Questionnaire layout:
Archivist view (alspac_00_msdh):
Entering repeated questions as a grid
Both loops and grids can be used to input series of repeating questions. In most cases, a loop would be the preferred choice. For a group of questions to be input as a grid, there must be overarching text to add as the question literal (see Example 8 below). When this text is missing, a loop can be used to input the repeating questions (see Example 2 on Loops).
Example 8
Questionnaire: NCDS Age 23 Cohort Member Interview
Questionnaire layout:
Archivist view (ncds_81_i):
Rosters
Rosters represent situations where the respondent extends the Y axis with further information that meets the requirements of the question. These were previously known as editable rows. In Example 9, the respondent is asked to list up to nine extra members of their household after the stated member ('Study child'), and then give repeating details about them, in this case their name, sex and age. Study child is entered into the Y axis code list, and then rosters are used for the remaining 9 spaces in the Y axis.
Example 9
Questionnaire: NCDS Parental interview form 1974
Questionnaire layout:
Archivist build / Code Lists
Archivist build / Question Grid:
Archivist view (ncds_74_pq):