Q: What are the record/file size limits in WinCross?

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Q: Why doesn't WinCross recognize my variable names?

Q: What are the formulas WinCross uses for its statistical calculations?

Q: Why do I get a “General Protection Fault” error message?

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Q: What is the difference between a table mean and row mean?

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Q: How can I make the best use of glossary statements?

COMMENTS

ADDREC/ADDLEN

ADDREC number of additional records

ADDLEN number of additional columns

DEFINE

COMPUTE

COMPUTEnew variable = card/column operator card/column

COMPUTEnew variable = card/column operator value

COMPUTEvariable = card/column A#, where # = number of columns

TEST

TESTlabel = logic for test condition

Data Cleaning

RECODE

RECODEcard/column (old value1 = new value1,old value2 = new value2,...)

ASSIGN

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Q: How do I use the LOC+ feature?

The filter for this table must include I# or IDX (#) in the logic:

Following are examples of filters to use in place of TN (all respondents) in a table with index logic:
 

Following is an example of a filter used to base the table to one product only:
 

BANNER:

Example of the logic for a banner for Q1:
 

COMPLEX LOGIC:

Indexed variables & non-indexed variables may be combined in logic statements in any order.

Example: I1 (3) & 1/6 (2,4) can also be written as:       1/6 (2,4) & I1 (3)

SCAN:

Scan logic may be used with Indexed variables to scan across more than one consecutive indexed variable. The scan will scan columns or variables in the data, not index columns, .

Example: I8 S3(5)—Corresponds to all “Excellent” ratings in Q13, Q14 and Q15

(Since WinCross cannot “net” a respondent’s data when using the INDEX option, a respondent answering “Excellent” to Q13, Q14 and Q15 in the above example would count as 3 in the “Excellent” row frequency.)

REPEAT:

The REPEAT feature may be used in the index table. This is a form of shorthand only. It does not reduce the number of index table columns, nor does it in any way combine or relate the variables to one another. A string of three variables designated in the index table as “1/101 R3” would still be three separate variables. If you wanted to include all three variables in a table, you would use the SCAN feature (see above example). The variables to be designated by the REPEAT feature must be of equal width.

The above index table example could also be written as:

INDEX {1/10 R2,1/12:2,1/14,1/15:3,1/18,1/100 R4,1/104:4}
INDEX {1/35 R2,1/37:2,1/39,1/40:3,1/43,1/124 R4,1/128:4}
INDEX {1/60 R2,1/62:2,1/64,1/65:3,1/68,1/200 R4,1/200:4}

Columns 1/10 and 1/11 are still designated as “I1” and “I2” just as columns 1/12:2 are still designated as “I3.”

Note: When more than one series of questions needs to be indexed (whether the next series relates to the same products or another variable altogether), all variables must be incorporated into one index table in the glossary. In the above example, Q2 through Q6 (I2 through I6) relate to the product from Q1 (I1). However, Q13 through Q16 (I8 through I11) relate to the store from Q12 (I7).

Because all index rows (IDX 1 through IDX 3 in the above example) must have the same number of variables, “dummy,” or empty, variables must be placed wherever there is no applicable variable. In the above example, Q12 through Q16 are only asked for two stores for each respondent. The index table has three rows, however, because each respondent was asked Q1 through Q6 for three products. Hence, blank variables are used to fill the last row for I7 through I11 (columns 1/200, 1/200 R4 and 1/200:4).

When dummy variables must be used, it is necessary to either use existing variables that are blank throughout your data file or to add length or a record to your data file.
 

A: WinCross allows for the use of variable names. However, some variable names are ineligible in that they are reserved for the exclusive use of WinCross.

NET and SUB are two of these reserved WinCross names. The NET instruction shows the total cases included in groups of rows.

For example:

TOP TWO BOX (NET) NET 2
STRONGLY AGREE 1/16 (1)
AGREE 1/16 (2)

The NET instruction is quick and simple compared to the 1/16 (1,2) logic that would have been necessary to achieve the “top two” box.

SUB is used exactly as the NET instruction is used. SUB shows the total number of mentions for a group of rows. For single-response questions, SUB and NET are equivalent.

IDX is another reserved name. This notation refers to individual levels of indexed variables in an index statement.

For example:

IDX (2,3)

There are also a few letter notations that should be avoided when using variable names. These are as follows:
 

Please refer to Appendix "D" in the WinCross User Guide for a complete list of reserved words and letters.

Note: If using variable data, simply replace the card/column in the examples with the variable name.

A: Numbers don’t look right

Verify your data is clean, your logic programmed correctly, you are using the correct table options and filter and there is nothing in your glossary that is affecting the columns you are checking.

Stray punches/Dirty data

You should first run a marginal to identify any stray punches that might be in your data. If you are checking codes that are more than one digit, it may be easier to run a frequency on those columns.

If stray punches or codes values exist (other than what you believe should exist), your data may not be clean.

To look up respondents, you can use the glossary TEST feature.

Example: If card 1, column 5 can contain valid punches of 1–7 and you have an 8 in your data, you can look up that respondent by using the following TEST statement:

TEST A = 1/5(8)

Once you have identified your respondent, you can clean the data using the ASSIGN statement in the glossary as follows:

IF 1/1:4(0005) & 1/5(8) ASSIGN 1/5 = ( )

where 1/1:4 are the columns for the respondent ID, respondent 0005 having been identified by the TEST statement.
This example cleans the unwanted 8 punch out of that respondent’s data.

If you have several punches that are the outside the accepted range you can clean them all with one ASSIGN statement:

IF 1/5(8) ASSIGN 1/5 = ( )

This cleans all the 8 punches from card 1, column 5 for the entire dataset.

Respondents don’t add to 100

Check to see if you have your filter set for Total. If it is set for Total Answering, your “No Answers” will not add into the total.

Double check your logic to be sure you are including all valid punches/codes.

A: WinCross tables can be output to several spreadsheet formats. When the Run|Tables|Spreadsheet option is selected, WinCross creates a spreadsheet file(s) in addition to the WinCross ASCII output file.

Other considerations in Run|Tables:

Make sure you have also selected the Create tables option.

Choose the Directory where you want WinCross to write the spreadsheet file(s).

From Write files as type, choose a spreadsheet file type from the dropdown list box. There are these choices: 

The spreadsheet file is automatically saved by WinCross in the specified directory using the same name as the first table that is run when the spreadsheet is being created. The file extension is the extension of the spreadsheet file type being created. (For example, if tables Q1 through Q13 are run to an Excel file, the spreadsheet file is named Q1.XLS)

If more than one banner is run, a spreadsheet file is created for each banner. WinCross cannot output more than one banner to a single spreadsheet file. (For the above example, the names for additional files for two more banners would be Q1_2.XLS and Q1_3.XLS)

If the Write each table as a separate spreadsheet file option is selected, the above naming conventions still apply, but each file is named after its corresponding table.

When selected, a separate spreadsheet file is written for each table.

When selected, all tables are written to a single spreadsheet file.

Note: If more than one banner is run, a separate spreadsheet file is created for each banner.

Note: If the Run|Tables|Interweave banners option is engaged, all of your tables will be written to separate files regardless of the number of banners you are running or the output option chosen.

Format percents as percents or Format percents as numbers

Write all text for a row in one cell
Text is written as a continuous line when engaged. This prevents text from wrapping to multiple cells.

Write significance testing to the right of the cell
Significance annotation is printed in the column to the right of the cell when engaged.

Suppress blank lines in the spreadsheet
When engaged, blank lines are removed within the spreadsheet file(s).

Remove
When engaged, the spreadsheet option is removed (deselects the spreadsheet option).

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A: WinCross has the ability to weight your crosstabs. This is done in the Setup|Banners dialog box and must be done after banner creation.

Weights can be created in three ways:

1. Weight variables can be part of your original data file

2. You can use glossary statements to create weighted variables

3. You can specify an actual value for a weight

For example: 

Calculation is TARGET/ACTUAL = WEIGHT

  80 / 62 = 1.290

120 / 138 = 0.869

For example:

IF MALE ASSIGN 1/100:5 = (1.290)

IF FEMALE ASSIGN 1/100:5 = (0.869)

(1/100:5 is the weight field that would be applied for all banner columns.)

An actual weight value can have up to 12 digits, can be positive or negative and have decimal places. The negative sign and decimal place count as digits.

Choose the banner column to be weighted. then enter the weight or weight field in the (left) Wgt. variable field. If the same weight or weight field is to be applied to the entire banner, enter the weight or weight field in the Wgt. variable field appearing in the center of the dialog box.

If the weights in your data do not have decimals, indicate the desired number of decimal places in the Implied decimal places field.

Note: If using variable data, simply replace the card/column in the examples with the variable name.

A: To create a mean summary table, your rows will be the question text for the series of tables you are summarizing. Your logic will be the range of values included in the mean calculation.

Mean Summary

Example—Summarize this series of questions:

Please rate the customer service representative on the following, where:
 3=Low, 2=Medium, 1=High and 4=Don’t know

Knowledge – 1/35
Professionalism – 1/36
Empathy – 1/37

The mean summary table would be defined as follows: 

Then choose the mean row option for each of the three rows.

If the scale needs to be reversed, your syntax would be defined as follows:
 

Again, choose the mean row option for each of the three rows.

Top Box Summary

If you want to create a summary of just the high score your rows would be defined as follows:
 

The first three lines are the “basing” lines. The last three lines are the lines indicating respondents saying “High.” The “High” lines need to be percentaged off each corresponding “basing” line using the Setup|Tables|Options| Percentage off option.

Since the first three rows are only used for the calculation, you don’t need to show them on your output and can use the Setup|Tables|Row Options|Suppress row option.

A: WinCross significance testing is performed using two-tailed tests.

A: The option to include statistical testing has been added at the banner level, but has not been selected at the table level.

Choose Setup|Tables, then select the table to which you want to add statistical testing. Next, choose Statistics, followed by the preferred tests to run. This process only adds statistical testing to the selected table (as opposed to the banner).

Another way to globally add this option to multiple tables is to modify the table statistics. First, choose Modify|Table statistics. Choose Means, Percentages and/or Chi-Square. Next, select the tables to apply this to (or choose Select All), then choose the Add to existing settings option.

Make sure statistical testing has been selected at the banner level. If comparison groups have not been chosen at the banner level, statistical testing selections will not be saved.