Snap 9 Professional’s Scanning Module - Miami University · 2008-09-04 · Scanning Methods –...

Miami’s Quick Start Guide for Using

Snap 9 Professional’s

Scanning Module to Create a ‘Scannable Paper Survey’

Miami’s Survey Solutions http://survey.muohio.edu

1 Miami’s Survey Solutions

http://survey.muohio.edu

Snap 9 Professional – Scanning Module Overview

The Snap Scanning Module is an add‐on to Snap 9 Professional enabling you to scan in completed paper questionnaires. Snap Scanning Module is based on OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and OMR (Optical Mark Recognition).

Scanning

Detection via locator block or calibration to specify location of boxes Distinguishes between a check and a box that is crossed out Recognition of numbers and hand‐printed text Density of marking can be tailored Images of responses for written literal and quantity responses can be printed into a data report Can detect and accommodate flaws in printing of questionnaires Questionnaires can be "de‐skewed" Once the questionnaires are detected, data is stored in Snap for analysis Can be used with other methods of data entry

Data collection

Scanning system compatible with most scanners Scan responses to paper questionnaires automatically. Automatically orients individual pages. Handles

questionnaires of virtually any size. Reads multiple‐choice and number fields. Records images of open‐ended responses for later keying. Includes a comprehensive data cleaning section which maintains a record of which cases have been

scanned and interpreted and which have outstanding issues. Reads multiple choice replies, numbers and hand‐printed text. Records images of open‐ended responses for printing, searching, coding or keying. Automatic recognition of altered/crossed out replies. Comprehensive data cleaning features to search for errors or miscoding.

Dos and Don’ts of Scanning

Dos

Before sending out your survey, always test a few questionnaires for scanning. Scan in batches of between 10 to 50 pages. Make sure the numbers add up to the total number of

Cases listed in Snap after each batch. If numbering is used, make sure that the survey has been numbered correctly, i.e. Q1, Q2, etc., by

using the re‐number option in the Questionnaire Design window.

Don’ts

Use a shadow or colored background for boxes. Design questionnaires with backgrounds or colors that might conflict with the scanner. Change a questionnaire once it has been locked and used for scanning. Change the printer used for producing the printed copies and scanned image.

Miami’s Survey Solutions 2 http://survey.muohio.edu

Snap 9 Professional – Scanning Module Overview (continued)

This Quick Start Guide is intended to help you become familiar with creating a scannable edition of an existing Paper: Keyed questionnaire using Snap 9 Professional’s Scanning Module by walking you through the steps to:

create a scannable ‘Edition’ of an existing questionnaire,

print a paper version of the questionnaire for scanning,

publish the questionnaire,

use locator blocks or calibration for data collection,

scan completed questionnaires,

key and clean the data,

create tables and charts, and

print a report.

Please Note: The Scanning Module requires a software purchase and installation on a Windows computer. Please visit IT Help at http://ithelp.muohio.edu for purchasing details and/or temporary installation availability.

Launching the Snap 9 Professional Desktop Application

After installation on your Windows computer, the Snap 9 Professional group will appear in your All Programs list and as a shortcut on the desktop.

1. From the Start menu, select “All Program”, “Snap 9”, and then click on “Snap 9 Professional”.

NOTE: If you prefer you can click the “Snap 9 Professional” shortcut ( ) on your desktop.

2. The following Survey Overview screen will appear listing all your surveys:

TIP: In Snap, a Variable is equivalent to a question on the questionnaire or a field in a database. A Case is the collective term for the response given to all questions by (or for) one respondent.



Snap 9 Professional – Scanning Module Overview (continued)

Accessing Help

You can access Help option at any point while using Snap. This option provides detailed instructions for using Snap’s features.

1. From Snap’s main application menu, click on the “Help” menu and then select “Contents”. NOTE: If you prefer to use keyboard shortcuts, you can press “F1” to access the Help facility.

2. The Help facility, displayed to the right, will appear.

3. To close the Help facility and return to Snap, select “Exit” from the Help facility’s menu.

Exiting Snap

Be sure to always save your changes before exiting Snap.

1. From Snap’s main application menu, select the File menu.

2. Select “Exit”. NOTE: If you prefer to use keyboard shortcuts, you can press “Alt+F4”.


Creating a Scannable Paper Survey

This guide will walk you through creating a Paper: Scanning edition of an existing Paper: Keyed questionnaire.

NOTE: If you have a high‐volume print job, consider contacting the IT Services Print Center, at 513‐529‐6065 or [email protected], to schedule the printing and/or scanning of your questionnaire.

Open an Existing Survey

1. From the Survey Overview menu, double‐click on the name of the questionnaire. The Survey Details dialog box for the selected questionnaire will appear as shown to the right.

2. Add any details to about the questionnaire in the fields provided

3. Click “OK”.

4. You may see an alert box that asks to change the questionnaire size to match your printer. Click “Yes” to proceed.

5. The Questionnaire window, similar to the following, opens in Design Mode.

In the above example a tab labeled “Paper: Keyed” is visible at the bottom of the window.

Note:

In this example, we have a “Paper: Keyed” edition available. You can create a Paper: Scanning edition from a Paper: Keyed or Web: Snap Online edition. Be aware that signification changes may need to be made to the resulting Paper: Scanning edition due to the nature of the Web: Snap Online edition.



Creating a Scannable Paper Survey (continued)

Create the Paper: Scanning Edition

1. From the File menu, select “Editions…”. The

Editions and Style Templates dialog box appears as

shown to the right.

2. Click “New…”. The following New Survey Edition

dialog box opens.

3. From the first Publication Medium drop‐down menu, select “Paper”.

4. Select “Scanning” from the second drop‐down menu.

5. Click “OK”.

6. Then, click “OK” in the Editions and Style Templates dialog box.

7. The Questionnaire – Design Mode

screen now contains two tabs; Paper:

Keyed and Paper: Scanning.

8. Prepare the Paper: Scanning edition by

editing question design such as:

Use only square or rectangular

boxes.

Remove shading from boxes.

Do not use background images.

Be sure to use ‘single’ for Multi

Choice questions where

appropriate.

Use boxes in place of radio buttons.

Etc.

9. Save your changes by clicking the “Save” icon ( ).


Scanning Methods – Locator Blocks vs. Calibration

Using Locator Blocks

The Locator Blocks feature places a small square on each corner of every page in your questionnaire. Snap uses these small squares when scanning the questionnaire for alignment to insure that data is collected correctly.

1. From the Questionnaire – Design Mode, click on the

“Questionnaire Properties” icon ( ). The

Questionnaire Properties – Paper: Scanning dialog

box is displayed.

2. If the Page section is not highlighted, select “Page”

in the Section panel.

3. Click “Headers/Footers” to display the

Headers/Footers dialog box

4. Select the “Locator Blocks” option. This tells Snap to print a block on each corner of each page included

in the questionnaire.

5. Verify that “First Page” and

“Subsequent Pages” are all selected,

so that all the pages will have the

Locator Blocks printed on them.

6. Click “OK” to return to the

Questionnaire Properties – Paper:

Scanning dialog box.

7. Click “OK” in the Questionnaire Properties – Paper:

Scanning dialog box to return to the Questionnaire –

Design Mode screen.

8. Click the “Print Preview” icon ( ) on the

Questionnaire toolbar to view the resulting Locator

Blocks.

9. Close the Print Preview screen.




Scanning Methods – Locator Blocks vs. Calibration (continued)

Using Locator Blocks (continued)

Locking the Questionnaire

At the end of the questionnaire design stage, a copy of the questionnaire needs to be published.

1. With your questionnaire in the Questionnaire – Design Mode, from the File menu, select “Publish…”.

2. The option marked Use for Scanning in the Printing Options dialog box will be selected to inform the scanning system this questionnaire is ready for scanning. NOTE: If this option is not selected, the scanner will not know how to find the questions and/or boxes for alignment.

3. Click “Publish” to lock the questionnaire.

Printing the Questionnaire

Questionnaires can be printed directly from the Snap 9 Professional desktop software. From the Print Preview screen you can view individual pages and the total number of pages will be displayed in the Printing Options dialog box.

You can print copies of your questionnaires using a personal or office printer or have them printed by a commercial printer. In either case, if additional copies are needed, you will need to have the copies printed using the original printing source.

NOTE: Photocopiers are not as accurate as printers and do not always produce an exact copy of the original. Using a photocopier is not recommended.

If you have a high‐volume print job, consider contacting the IT Services Print Center, at 513‐529‐6065 or [email protected], to schedule the printing and/or scanning of your questionnaire.

1. On the Questionnaire toolbar, click the “Print Preview” icon ( ). The Print Preview screen will open where individual pages can be viewed and the total number of pages will be displayed in the dialog box shown to the right.

2. The option “All Pages” will be selected by default, but “Current Page” can be selected to print just the page currently shown.

3. Multiple copies of the questionnaire can be printed by clicking “Number of Copies…” and entering a value greater than 1.

4. Use the “Print Setup…” option to select the desired printer and settings.

5. Clicking “Print” will send your questionnaire to the printer.

Note:

Once you have completed the questionnaire design and printed copies for distribution, be sure not to alter the layout of the questionnaire again within Snap. If you do, the Scanning Module will not be able to scan in the data results correctly.



Using Calibration

Calibration can be used to ensure the accuracy of the scanning process. Calibration involves marking the points at each corner of a ‘locked’ questionnaire by clicking into the nearest four outer code boxes across a page.

Locking the Questionnaire

At the end of the questionnaire design stage, a copy of the questionnaire needs to be published.

1. With your questionnaire in the Questionnaire – Design Mode, from the File menu, select “Publish…”.

2. The option marked Use for Scanning in the Printing Options dialog box will be selected to inform the scanning system this questionnaire is ready for scanning. NOTE: If this option is not selected, the scanner will not know how to find the questions and/or boxes for alignment.

3. Click “Publish” to lock the questionnaire.

Printing the Questionnaire

Questionnaires can be printed directly from the Snap 9 Professional desktop software. From the Print Preview screen you can view individual pages and the total number of pages will be displayed in the Printing Options dialog box.

You can print copies of your questionnaires using a personal or office printer or have them printed by a commercial printer. In either case, if additional copies are needed, you will need to have the copies printed using the original printing source.

NOTE: Photocopiers are not as accurate as printers and do not always produce an exact copy of the original. Using a photocopier is not recommended.

If you have a high‐volume print job, consider contacting the IT Services Print Center, at 513‐529‐6065 or [email protected], to schedule the printing and/or scanning of your questionnaire.

1. On the Questionnaire toolbar, click the “Print Preview” icon ( ). The Print Preview screen will open where individual pages can be viewed and the total number of pages will be displayed in the dialog box shown to the right.

2. The option “All Pages” will be selected by default, but “Current Page” can be selected to print just the page currently shown.

3. Multiple copies of the questionnaire can be printed by clicking “Number of Copies…” and entering a value greater than 1.

4. Use the “Print Setup…” option to select the desired printer and settings.

5. Clicking “Print” will send your questionnaire to the printer.

Note:

Once you have completed the questionnaire design and printed copies for distribution, be sure not to alter the layout of the questionnaire again within Snap. If you do, the Scanning Module will not be able to scan in the data results correctly.




Calibrating

The following steps must be completed before the scanning of the completed questionnaires can begin.

1. With your ‘locked’ questionnaire open, click on the “Data Entry” icon ( ) located on the main toolbar.

2. Next, click the “Interview Mode” icon ( ) on the Data Entry toolbar to switch the display to Data Entry – Interview Mode, if not already displayed. Test Case will appear at the top of the window as shown to the right.

3. Click the “Tailor” icon ( ) on the Data Entry toolbar. The following Data Entry Tailoring dialog box will appear:

4. In the Data Entry Tailoring dialog box, click the “Scanning” option and then click “Scanning Tailoring” to display the Scanning Tailoring dialog box.

5. Highlight “Scanner” in the left‐hand list, click the “Use Calibration” option and then click “Calibrate”.



Calibrating (continued)

6. The Manual Calibration dialog box will appear. Select “Scanner”, if not already selected and then click “Check Sheet Map”.

7. In the Sheet Mapping dialog box, you can select the questionnaire orientation, number of sheets to be included, single or duplex, etc. Select the desired options and click “OK” to return to the Manual Calibration dialog box.

8. Click “Next” in the Manual Calibration dialog box. An alert will appear requesting that you place a blank questionnaire in the scanner. Insert a blank questionnaire in the scanner and then click “OK”. NOTE: if you are scanning a ‘duplex’ questionnaire and your scanner does not provide the option for automatically scanning both sides of your questionnaire, you will be prompted to place ‘front’ sides in scanner first. Insert all of the front sided pages in the scanner and click “OK”. Follow the prompts to complete the ‘back’ sides.

9. Follow the on screen prompts to scan in and calibrate the questionnaire, being very careful to follow the instructions displayed at the bottom of each screen. Click “Next” after each step.

10. Click “Finish” in the Manual Calibration dialog box when you have completed the calibration.

11. Click “OK” in the Scanning Tailoring dialog box.

12. In the Data Entry Tailoring dialog box, click “Keep” to save the scanning settings for future use with this questionnaire.

NOTE: If you selected “Duplex” in the Sheet Mapping dialog box shown to the left, be sure to select “Duplex” again in the Manual Calibration dialog box shown above.



Scanning the Completed Questionnaires

By default, the Snap Scanning Module will scan a questionnaire, deskew it, check for any misalignment, and then detect the values on the questionnaire creating Case data. The scanning of questionnaires is controlled by the Acquire dialog box.

Scan and Detect Process

For small volumes of questionnaires, 50 or less, scanning your questions and detecting the values at the same time is satisfactory. For large or high‐volume questionnaires, you may want to run these two options separately. It is recommended to scan in your questionnaires in small batches to help you identify errors if needed.

1. With the Paper: Scanning questionnaire open, click on the “Data Entry” icon

( ) on the main toolbar.

2. The Data Entry – Questionnaire Mode will appear. Test Case will appear at the top of the window as shown to the right.

3. Click the “New Case” icon ( ) on the Data Entry – Questionnaire Mode window.

4. The Acquire dialog box will appear.

5. Select “Scan” and “Detect” to complete both steps.

6. Select “Print Batch Header” to print information related to the batch of scanned questionnaires.

7. Place your completed questionnaires in the scanner as instructed by the scanner manufacturer.

8. Click “OK”.

9. When the scanning is complete, the Snap Scanning alert will be displayed asking you to check that the sheet feeder is empty. Press “OK”.

10. The Snap 9 alert will appear informing you that the ‘auto detection’, if selected in the Acquire dialog box above, is completed and will list the total number of sheets read and detected. Click “OK”.

NOTE: A useful option is Print Batch Header, which generates a Batch Report listing the questionnaires that have been scanned from the current batch. The report lists date and time, together with the name of the survey, and the case numbers allocated within the survey. It is advisable to attach the Batch Report to each batch of questionnaires that have been scanned. They can be stored together so that, should there be a need to examine the questionnaires, it will be possible to confirm when the documents had been scanned, along with the case numbers to which they refer.


Verifying Data Results

With the completed questionnaires scanned and detected, the next step would be to verify the data by using the Keying/Cleaning option.

Keying involves the manual keying‐in of those replies that cannot automatically be detected by the scanner, for example open‐ended responses, dates and times.

Cleaning checks that the replies recorded by the scanner are accurate and consistent. This looks for multiple check marks for the same question that is set for a ‘single response’, non‐numbers in a box designated for numbers, etc.

Manually Verifying the Data Results

1. With the Paper: Scanning questionnaire open, click on the “Data Entry” icon ( ) on the main toolbar.

2. Click on the “Prompted Mode” icon ( ) on the Data Entry toolbar to switch to the Data Entry – Prompted Mode, if needed.

3. The total number of Cases will be listed at the top of the Data Entry – Prompted Mode window. An image of your scanned questionnaire will appear in the left‐hand panel with the data responses appearing in the right‐hand panel.

4. Clicking on a question in either panel will highlight the question in the left‐hand panel and select the

response in the right‐hand panel.

5. Double‐click a response in the right‐hand panel to access the Coded Response view and edit the response, if needed.

6. Press “Enter” to return to the Full Response view.

7. Save your changes by clicking the

“Save” icon ( ).

Full Response View

Coded Response View



Verifying Data Results (continued)

Using the “Keying /Cleaning” Option to Verify Data Results

In the Keying and Cleaning viewing mode you can select which questions you wish to check via the Variables option by clicking the down arrow and selecting the variable you are interested in.

1. With your Paper: Scanning questionnaire open in the Data Entry – Prompted Mode, click on the

“Keying/Cleaning” icon ( ) on the Data Entry toolbar.

2. In the Keying/Cleaning dialog box, click on the “Key From Image” tab, if needed, and select the options you want performed. See description of each below:

Needs Keying – is for open ended question responses to be keyed by hand.

Validation Failure – will find any questions where a pattern matching has failed and so keying is also required.

Validation Uncertain – is where Snap has tried to find a pattern or spelling match and is unsure whether the answer given is correct.

NOTE: If there are a lot of questionnaires to enter, a Filter can be applied to limit the range of cases to process.

3. In the Keying/Cleaning dialog box, click on the “Cleaning” tab and select the options you want performed. See below for a description of each option:

Unrecognised – detects entry boxes.

Errors – data value is out of range

No Reply – no value has been selected

All Reply – every box has been selected for a multiple choice question

Multiple Response to a Single – more than one answer to a single response question

NOTE: If there are a lot of questionnaires to enter, a Filter can be applied to limit the range of cases to process.

4. Click “OK” to begin keying and cleaning the data results.

5. If found, the first issue Snap identifies will appear in the Data Entry – Prompted Mode window. Edit as needed pressing “Enter” after each edit.



Analyzing Data

Snap enables you to analyze data in several ways. This tutorial will cover viewing data in the form of tables and

charts.

Create a Frequency Table

Frequency tables are the quickest and easiest method of tabulating single questions, e.g. calculating

percentages, filtering results to look at subsets of data and applying scores to results.

1. From the Survey Overview Window, open your survey.

2. On the main toolbar, click the “Results Table”

icon ( ) to create a table. The Results Definition window appears shown to the right.

3. The Label field now contains the text {ANALYSIS} which will give the table the same name as Question 2.

4. The Style field has automatically applied a style for the table, in this case “Default”.

5. The Calculate field shows “Counts & Percents” by default.

6. In the Analysis field, type a question number, for example, Q2.

7. In the Options section, ensure that “Absolute Values” (how many cases fall into each category) and “Base Percents” (i.e. total number of respondents) are selected.

8. Click “OK” to build the table. It will look similar to the example shown to the right.

9. Save the table by clicking the “Keep Changes” icon ( ) in the table window.

Accessing Saved Results Tables and Charts

1. From the Questionnaire menu, click the “Results” icon ( ). The following Results window appears displaying the saved tables and charts.

2. To view a table or chart, click the “Properties” icon ( ) on the Results toolbar.

3. Click the “Print” icon ( ) to print a table or chart.



Analyzing Data (continued)

Produce a Bar Chart

Snap incorporates a range of 2‐ and 3‐dimensional charts: bar, pie, line, area, step and doughnut charts, to name

a few. These can be printed directly or incorporated within a report.

1. From the Survey Overview Window, open your

survey.

2. On the main toolbar, click on the “Results Chart”

icon ( ). The Results Definition window

appears.

3. In the Analysis field, type a question number, for

example, Q1.

4. The Label field now contains the text {ANALYSIS}

which will give the table the same name as

Question 1.

5. The Form field is set to “Chart”.

6. The Style field has automatically applied a style

for the chart, in this case “Bar 3D”. You can

choose different chart types from this menu.

7. The Calculate field shows “Counts & Percents” by default

8. Click “OK” to build the chart. It will look similar to the example

at right.

9. Save the chart by clicking the “Keep Changes” icon ( ) on the

report toolbar. The name Frequency of visit will appear in the

chart’s Title Bar.


Printing a Report

The output of the report will depend on the current mode:

In Design or Style modes, a blank questionnaire will be printed.

In Data View mode a questionnaire will be produced showing either Absolute or Percentages for each

question on the questionnaire.

If the current mode is Data View then the report will either be for each selected data case in the survey

or for an absolute or percentage summary count, depending on whether Case Data or Counts is

selected in the questionnaire window.

1. From the Survey Overview Window, open your survey.

2. Create your report and then click the “Print” icon ( ) on

the report window.

3. The Results Report window will appear similar to the one

shown on the right.

4. Click “Print” to send the report to the printer.

Sample of Printed Report



NOTES


NOTES

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Snap 9 Professional’s Scanning Module - Miami University · 2008-09-04 · Scanning Methods –...

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