The research and analysis software

that means business!

Use a link to see the QPSMR Reflect Registration pages and to download the QPSMR Reflect Program

Introduction (click NOTES to download this page as a printable Word .doc)

QPSMR Reflect is the revolutionary “end-user” program supplied by QPSMR Limited.  QPSMR Reflect has been especially designed, so that you can access valuable research data using your own PC.  There are two main ways in QPSMR Reflect to see information from your projects -

·         Cross tabulations - these are accumulated tables with one entry as the rows (down the side)  and another as the columns (across the top)

·         Data lists - these are lists of answers given by respondents to particular questions

QPSMR Reflect has numerous tools and facilities to help you get the information you require quickly and easily; and to produce the output in an attractive form, these include -

·        Variables - to restructure data and to build breakdowns or banners (so that a combination of existing entries may be included as the columns and rows of your tables, or in data lists

·         Filters - to produce tables and data lists that are based on just a subset of respondents

·        Format options - to control the layout of your tables and to include table based statistics

·         Exports - to output the information from your project, so that it may be used with other programs

Any data processing supplier working with QPSMR can supply the special Reflect files you need to be able to access your project information, giving you the control and flexibility to produce extra analyses exactly when you need them!

Use a link to return to the QPSMR Reflect, or QPSMR Reflect Program or QPSMR Reflect Registration pages to download your free software!

Program Overview

These notes are designed to give you an overview of the main features available when using QPSMR Reflect.  Keywords have been highlighted in bold; you can reference these in the on-screen help file, within the program itself.  In the on-screen help you will find information about all QPSMR Reflect facilities and detailed instructions on how to use them. 

QPSMR Reflect is just one of the programs available from QPSMR Limited.  All QPSMR programs have been developed in the UK, using the C programming language and are designed for use on computers running Windows (98 or above).

Software licence information

QPSMR Reflect is a distributable product.  This means that there is no licence (and therefore no licence fee) for using QPSMR Reflect.  However, it is not shareware and there are certain conditions attached to it’s distribution.  When QPSMR Reflect is sent to you, or if you send it to another company, or if you download it from the QPSMR Limited website, it should be registered with QPSMR Limited and a copy of these Overview Notes should accompany the program.  

USER TIP:  We recommend that where possible the default installation folder is used to store the QPSMR Reflect program files; please do not install more than one QPSMR product into the same directory. 

Project files

Your QPSMR data processing supplier will be able to send you the necessary QPSMR Reflect files for you to create extra analyses from your projects.  Creating these Reflect files is a very simple process, although we recommend that you always tell your supplier that you would like to receive QPSMR Reflect files before your survey is processed. 

USER TIP:  If your regular supplier does not use QPSMR, the data from your projects will need to be “converted” into Reflect files.  Please contact QPSMR Limited who will be pleased to provide a quotation for doing this for you.

For each of your projects, four Reflect files will be sent to you.  All files have the same name and the types -  .QRF, .ICF, .ILF, .IDF.  The first of these files is the QPSMR Reflect Definitions (.QRF) file, this is the main project file that is opened in order to create your analyses.  The three remaining files contain the compressed data for your project.  Your supplier may also include a QPSMR Tables Definitions (.QTF) file containing definitions for the tables they have created for your project.

The Reflect files for your projects may be given to any number of people within your organisation, along with the QPSMR Reflect software itself.  You may also give QPSMR Reflect (and your project files if you wish) to others outside of your organisation, although you must register their use with QPSMR Limited unless they are already registered users.

Project files installation

Any number of output files (tables, summaries etc) can be created from your Reflect projects.  We therefore recommend that you create a unique folder for each project, in which to store the Reflect files (from your supplier) and the files you create whilst using the program.  We suggest each project has it’s own sub-folder, created under C:\My Projects.   

USER TIP:  If you decide to use another drive, or a network file server, to store your project files, you may wish to change the [Startup folder for projects] when you first use QPSMR Reflect.  

Opening projects  

During the installation procedure, the QPSMR Reflect Definition (.QRF) files are associated with the QPSMR Reflect program, so the easiest way to access a Reflect project is to [Open] the QRF file from the Windows Explorer.

Alternatively, double click the icon on your desktop and from the "QPSMR Reflect" window select [File] [Open project] to locate and open the QRF file).  

Once a project has been opened you are positioned at the “QPSMR Reflect” window where all of the entries which contain data for your project are listed in the window. 

To create a Standard table all you need to do is select the entry which should appear as the columns (across the top) and the entry you would like to see as the rows (down the side) of the table, from the “Table worksheet”.  There are many other optional settings available from this worksheet including, the ability to filter or weight the table. 

If your data is hierarchical (for example: doctor/patient/visit) and your supplier has included an entry called LEVEL in the project, another selection (which allows you to choose the level of data to include in your analysis) will also be available.

USER TIP:  To include more than one entry across the top of your table, you should create a variable combining the required entries and select it as the column entry.

IMPORTANT:  Before creating any tables you should set up a print style to control the layout of your tables when they are printed.  Once you have created a print style, it may be used on any Reflect project, as required.  Before running your tables you should always set the print style you require under Set defaults. 

Tables produced by QPSMR Reflect will normally - 

·         be automatically numbered

·         be fully labelled with question and response texts

·         have a total column and a total row

·         have figures and vertical (row) percentages

·         have an additional unweighted total row if respondent weighting has been applied

·         have mean scores (averages) for each column, if the rows of the table have score values applied to them (often used for rating scale questions); or if the row entry is numeric (an integer or weight entry) 

These standard settings can be altered using format options.  When the rows of a table are numeric (using an integer or weight question) you may choose to “List all rows” to include all of the different values included in the data, or to show only the average score (and other requested statistics). 

USER TIP:  If you select “List all rows” you should ensure that you allocate a high enough number as the “Max rows expected” so that all of the different values can be printed.  

Any number of QPSMR Tables Definitions (.QTF) files can be created for each of your projects and the definitions for up to 30,000 tables can be stored in each.  The definitions in a .QTF file can be altered and copied and pasted to other tables files, if required.  For repeated or continuous projects your table definitions can be re-used whenever new data is available.

Whenever you open a tables file you are presented with the “Tables” window which contains a list of all of the table definitions in the file.

As well as standard tables (described in the previous section) a .QTF file may also include - 

·         Overlay tables - where table definitions are added together (overlaid) into one table

·         Arithmetic tables - where arithmetic is applied to existing tables, for example you might divide one table by another

·         CL syntax - where QPSMR Command Language syntax is inserted to control table output  

For example, format options can be set under global table settings, so that they are automatically applied to all of your tables.  Here you may also set the data file which is used when the program calculates your tables (although this is not normally necessary, unless you have a repeat project in which case you may choose up to 16 different QPSMR Reflect data files).  

Filters define a subset of respondents, for example “only male respondents, over 35 in the North region”.  A filter on a table is sometimes referred to as a base.  Filter definitions can be used to - 

·         restrict an individual table, so it’s figures are calculated using only a subset of respondents

·         restrict all of the tables in a tables file (as above) by applying the filter globally

·         set the conditions under which respondents will be included in data lists

·         determine which respondents should be included in a variable response

Filters can be created from the main “Reflect” window or their contents can be defined directly from the appropriate dialog boxes throughout the program.  You can use menu selections to create filter definitions, or if you prefer you can type syntax to control the definition.  For example, the syntax Q4/2 means that only respondents who selected the second response to question Q4 will be included in the filter definition.  Filters can be simple (as above) or they can be as complex as required; parentheses may also be included in the definition to control the order in which it is processed.  

A variable is the term used to describe a new entry, which is created by referring to other existing entries in the project.  The most common reason for creating a variable is to make a breakdown (banner) to be used as the columns of a table.   

Entries included in a variable can be compressed, for example you might wish to reduce the number of age bands for respondents, or to combine similar geographical areas together, by amalgamating existing responses.  Questions are often copied to variables, so that summary rows, or reject categories may be added for analysis. 

In QPSMR Reflect a variable must appear in the list of entries, after all of the entries to which it refers.  For this reason we recommend that all variables are added to the end of the list of entries.  This will also make it easier to copy them to another similar project if required.

Variables can be single coded, multi coded, integer or weight in type.  Single and multi coded variables have responses; each response is in fact a filter definition that defines which respondents should be allocated to the response.  There is a block insert facility so that you can quickly and easily insert all of the responses from an existing question, or a number of questions.  Integer and weight variables have arithmetic definitions in order to set a value for each respondent.

USER TIP:  Response variables should normally be multi coded to allow a respondent to be allocated to more than one response.  This is especially true for breakdown variables where a number of entries are included (such as age and sex).  Arithmetic variables should normally be weight in type so the answers are not rounded if division is used. 

Format options

QPSMR Reflect has over 100 different format options that can be used to control the layout and contents of your tables.  Format options are easy to apply, you simply choose the appropriate three-letter abbreviation for the option you require.  Alternatively, you can type a list of the format codes, if you know which ones you wish to apply.  Format options can be applied to individual tables or globally (any individual settings will override those set globally). 

Format options control many items which make up your tables, including the - 

·         Types of percentages and figures for your tables (including the number of decimal places)

·         Spacing of your columns and rows

·         Many different Statistics and significance tests (including F tests and t tests)

·         Suppression of empty rows, columns and tables 

USER TIP:  If the columns of your tables do not line up correctly when your tables are printed, you should set format option CLG2 (Column Label Gap 2) globally, then rerun your tables, before printing.

Weighting

If your original project required respondent weighting (to targets or to rims), each respondent will have been “counted” as more, or less than 1, when your tables were calculated.  In this case your supplier may include a special entry called WEIGHT, which will be used automatically by QPSMR Reflect to weight the results, when your tables are generated.  You can, however, choose another entry for the respondent weight in Global table settings.  Your supplier may also send you the QPSMR Weighting Targets (.WGT) file which they created in order to set the weights used. 

Any integer, weight or single coded entry can be used as a quantity weight on individual tables.  

Another method of “weighting” the data for your project is to apply value scores (also known as analysis values) to the responses of a question.  This feature is often used to allocate a set of scores, used when the mean score (average) is calculated, for rating scale responses.

Any number of entries can be included, and your lists can be filtered on any subset of the data, as required.  The answers can be shown in the form of response numbers or response texts.  The output can be requested in .CSV form so that it can be used with a spreadsheet program.

USER TIP:  Always remember to include the serial number (called IOBS) in the list, to identify the records included.    

QPSMR Reflect is an “open” system and provides links to other software where appropriate.  For example, you can copy and paste tables, and data lists, to spreadsheet programs to produce graphs.  QPSMR Reflect also has specific exports, so you can easily use the information from your project with other programs.  

Print styles

Before printing from QPSMR Reflect you will need to set up a print style to control the layout of your documents when they are printed.  Once you have created a print style, it may be used on any Reflect project, as required.  

For a simple print style you need only choose the printer, the page orientation (portrait or landscape) and main font you wish to use.  There are, however, many other settings that can be used if required, such as including borders around the edge of the page, and setting different fonts for headers and footnotes. 

·         Data lists - using a portrait page and a fixed pitch (non-proportional) font

·         Tables - using a landscape page and any font (with format CLG2 set on your tables if the font you choose is proportional)

·         Table of Contents - using [Extra fonts] with all information set to [Left] alignment   

USER TIP:  Before running your tables you should always set the print style you require, under Set defaults.  If your tables do not use all of the page when you print them, you should choose the print style you require, under Set defaults, then re-run and print them.

*************************************************************

*************************************************************

Use a link to see the QPSMR Reflect Registration pages and to download the QPSMR Reflect Program

Copyright: QPSMR Limited, Wallingford, UK - 2007