It is possible to create custom questions for your tables based on the questions and categories in a data set. You may also create custom numeric indexes using arithmetic operators. This tool can support with several different calculation types outlined below.
NB: users who have at least some understanding of syntax will get the most out of this tool.
To access the custom numeric variable builder:
Step 1: Click on “Created questions” at the bottom of the A&R Cross Table tool.
Step 2: Click on “Create” (top left) then choose the first option, “Numeric question”
Step 3: You can add each variable one-by-one in the left-hand builder and clicking “Add to Builder” and then “Add as row”, but you will need to make adjustments to the syntax and enter a calculation, so it will likely be easier to use the syntax builder on the right side and enter each row and its calculation as required. To do this, click on “Add empty row” on the right and fill-in each box to your requirements.
Basic view:
Finished example:
Please note that the below is not from a real study, these examples are design to show users how to set-up the calculations and get the most out of this tool:
Calculating volumes consumed over a time period:
Say you want to know how much different beverage types are consumed each year. For example: beer, wine, milk, and tea. In this example study, respondents were asked: how often they drink each beverage, how many units they consume each time they drink that beverage, and finally, what they perceive a normal unit of each beverage type to be.
Starting with “beer” you would enter the following into each box in row 1:
Text: Beer
Filter: \frequence.a.1=0:360
Calculation: (\frequence.a.1*\units.a.1*\volume.a.1)/10
Note: This study defined a year as 360 days. 10 to transform the unit size (in deciliters) to liters.
You can then use the “copy” icon on the right and edit the variable number needed e.g. 1 = beer, 2 = wine, etc… When finished, click on “Add Question” and your variable will be created. If you need to make any edits, select the question so that it is highlighted in blue and click on “Edit”:
The result is a table that tells you the volume in litres of each beverage type respondents consume annually:
Satisfaction and Importance Index
In this example, you would do the following to create a satisfaction x importance index:
Text: The relevant label for each variable that’s part of the filter e.g. Service, Price, Quality
Filter: the relevant satisfaction variable (1:5 is all of the codes at the satisfaction questions)
Calculation: each satisfaction variable multiplied by each satisfaction variable.
Example:
Text: Service
Filter: \satisfaction.a.1=1:5
Calculation: \satisfaction.a.1*\importance.a.1
Then copy and update the variable code:
The result is a satisfaction x importance index:
Total Index scores
In this case, we would do two different calculations that appear in the same table:
Row 1
Text: Total score satisfaction
Filter: \satisfaction.a.1:4=1:5
Calculation: (\satisfaction.a.1+\satisfaction.a.2+\satisfaction.a.3+\satisfaction.a.4)/4*100
This gives us the average satisfaction score.
Row 2
Text: Total weighted score
Filter: \satisfaction.a.1:4=1:5&\importance.a.1:4=1:5
Calculation: ((\SatImpIndex.a.1+\SatImpIndex.a.2+\SatImpIndex.a.3+\SatImpIndex.a.4)/4*100
This gives us the average satisfaction score weighted by its importance.
Resulting table:
Creating a variable for Detractors, Neutrals, and Promotors:
In this example, we set-up a variable with each of the Detractors, Neutrals, and Promotors. To calculate NPS, see this article.
Text: Detractors
Filter: \promotorscore.a=1:6
Calculation: -100
Text: Neutrals
Filter: \promotorscore.a=7:8
Calculation: 0
Text: Promotors
Filter: \promotorscore.a=9:10
Calculation: 100
Resulting table:
Profits
Say you wanted to know how profitable a UK company was for each of its products. In this example, we used oranges, apples, and bananas.
For each row:
The text was the relevant label e.g. oranges, apples, and bananas
The filter was the fruit price: \fruitprice.a.1=*
And the calculation was: (\fruitprice.a.1*0.8-\fruitcost.a.1)*\fruitvolume.a.1/1000
Note: 0.8 brings in the impact on price of a 25% VAT charge and “1000” will give us the total profit in ‘000m GBP per year.
Interface example:
Resulting table:
