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Creating reports using instructions

You can create reports in Snap that publish a set of analyses automatically. You do this by creating a batch. You add all the analyses you want in the report to the batch, then run the batch to generate the report. A batch consists of the list of instructions to create the report.

You can:

  • create analyses within the report
  • drag and drop existing analyses into the report
  • set general instructions describing how all the analyses appear
  • use one Table instruction to create multiple cross-tabulations or frequency tables if you want to break down the responses to several questions by the same variable (for example, if you want several responses analysed by age)
  • use Notes to add text describing your analyses

This worksheet shows how to create a simple report about how men and women rate different types of service (using the snSatisfaction survey supplied with Snap). The report will consist of a table summarising the average rating for each service by men and women, plus separate tables for each service showing every rating.

Background

Batches allow you to generate reports by giving Snap a series of instructions. You can define tables, charts, maps or lists to be included in the report. Each analysis can include notes. You can specify the way all the analyses appear.

The instructions allow you to:

  • build analyses
  • include an existing analysis
  • give default analysis settings for your report (e.g, number of decimal places displayed)
  • change the page layout for the printer (e.g, change from portrait to landscape and back)
  • set the size of charts
  • insert text or a picture
  • include another set of instructions or report.

You can also add a filter to the batch specifying which data is used in all the analyses in the report.

If you build an analysis using a batch instruction, they behave slightly differently to the way they do in the Results window. Most importantly, if you have several variables in the Analysis field with a variable in the Break field, Snap creates one analysis for each variable in the list. This is an excellent way of quickly creating multiple tables or charts. You can also drag any existing analyses from the results window into the batch window to convert it into a batch instruction.

The reports are sent directly to a printer. If you wish to save your reports as well as print them, you will need a printer driver that can write pdf files, for example PDF Creator. (This is open source free software available from http://www.pdfforge.org/. Snap Surveys Ltd does not provide support for any third-party software, but if you have a problem creating your reports using a pdf driver, please contact support@snapsurveys.com)

You can also produce a set of analyses to display in the Snap e-Results viewer or export the results to one or more files (including HTML pages), such as a spreadsheet.

Summary of steps

Step 1: Defining your analysis

Step 2: Defining your report

Step 3: Creating your report

Step 1: Defining your analysis

This step shows how to create a table comparing the mean satisfaction values for the different services for men and women. Each respondent has rated each service in Q4 of snSatisfaction from 1 to 5 (where 5 is the best possible).

  1. Open the snSatisfaction survey.
  2. Click Table button to create a new table.
  3. Enter q4a to q4e in the Analysis field and q8 in the break field.
  4. Set the Calculate field to Means and Significances.

    Empty batch window

  5. Click the Notes/Titles tab and enter Ratings by gender as the new title.

    Empty batch window

  6. Click the Cells tab and set the number of decimal places for the Means to 2.

    Empty batch window

  7. Click [OK] to display your analysis.

    Empty batch window

  8. Click Save button to save the analysis.

Step 2: Defining your report

This report will create a series of tables showing people's ratings of the different services by gender, one table for each service. It will then produce the combined means of all the ratings.

  1. Open the snSatisfaction survey if it is not still open.
  2. Click Batches button to display the Batches window. This is where you create reports.

    Empty batch window

  3. Click New button to create a new batch where you put the analyses that you are going to use in the report. A named Batch window opens with a single Tailor Analysis instruction in it.

    Empty batch window

    The Tailor Analysis instruction sets the defaults for all the analyses which follow it. Double-click it to open it. Note that the bottom right corner of the Base/Labels tab shows what information about the analyses is included in the report.

    AT: Reports include corner

  4. Clear the Description box and check the Notes box. This removes the analysis summary from the report, but ensures that information in the Notes box is printed.
  5. Leave everything else at the default values and click [OK].

    This sets the defaults for all analyses until the next Tailor Analysis instruction.

  6. Change the label to Report by gender.

    Empty batch window

  7. Click New button to add a new instruction and select Table from the instruction list. This opens a cut-down Results Definition dialog.
  8. Enter Q8 in the Analysis field and Q4a to Q4e in the Break field. Leave the Calculate field showing Counts & Percents.

    Empty batch window

  9. Click the Notes/Titles tab to enter a title.
  10. Click the [Insert] button and select {Analysis} from the drop down list. Type by and then click [Insert] and select {Break}. (This may have been put in by default but you need to confirm it.)

    Empty batch window

  11. Add text in the notes field. You can put automatic text in the notes. This example shows the {Break} field added by clicking [Insert], then selecting Analysis field from the list and then Break as the Field property.

    Empty batch window

  12. Click [OK] to save the instruction. Since it is an instruction to create the analysis in the report, rather than an analysis definition, you do not get an immediate display of the results.
  13. Click Results window button on the Snap toolbar to open the list of pre-defined analyses. You will add the analysis you created, together with an associated Tailor Analysis dialog to ensure that the definition remains the same (the cells are displayed to 2 d.p. and the Description is included).
  14. Select the Ratings by Gender analysis you created in Step 1 and press down the [Shift] key and drag it into the batch window. The pointer changes to . As you move the pointer over the batch window, it changes again:
    • insert the new analysis before this instruction.
    • insert the new analysis after this instruction.

    Empty batch window

  15. Drag it over the last instruction. Wait until the cursor changes to and release the mouse button.
  16. A Tailor Analysis and a Table instruction will be added to the batch. (Holding down the shift key added the Tailor Analysis instruction. If you had dragged it without holding down the shift key, it would have used the settings defined by the previous Tailor Analysis.)
  17. Click Save button to save the batch.

Step 3: Creating your report

  1. Click Run button in the toolbar of the Batch window to open the Batch Execution dialog.
  2. Leave the Range of instructions box blank, as you want to use all the instructions.

    Set the Output as Printer

    Empty batch window

  3. Clear the Contact Sheet box.
  4. Select Continuous. (Separate pages places each analysis on a separate page).

    Click [OK] to produce your report. It will look something like this. The frequency tables follow one another. The final means table displays with 2 d.p. and is preceded by a Description.

    Empty batch window

  5. If you would like a page break before the last table, you must insert one in the list of instructions.
    • Select the instruction before the page break
    • Click New button on the Batch window toolbar.
    • Select Printer Layout from the instruction list.
    • Click [OK] on the dialog without making changes.
    • A new Page Break Now instruction will be added to the batch.

    Empty batch window

  6. Save the batch by clicking Save button.

Producing the report as a contact sheet

If you wish to proof your report, you can produce a contact sheet with multiple analyses. The contact sheet does not display titles or descriptions. Notes are normally included, but you can remove them to save space.

  1. Open the first Tailor Analysis instruction in the batch.
  2. Clear the Notes box and click [OK].
  3. Click Save button to save the batch.
  4. Click Run button in the toolbar of the Batch window to open the Batch Execution dialog.

    Empty batch window

  5. Check the Produce a Contact Sheet box and specify the number of columns and rows.
  6. Click [OK] to produce your report. It will look something like this.

    Empty batch window

Conclusion

This worksheet has shown you how to create a simple report using batch instructions. It has shown you how to display and remove notes from your report, and how to insert page breaks. It has also shown the difference between a continuous report and a contact sheet.

For more about batches, see the section Introduction to batches .

For more about creating frequency tables, see the section Creating a frequency table.

There is a worksheet available on analysing several variables with a single break in a batch.

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