The data forms of the community based surveys usually have a lot of parameters and the sample is quite large (around 2000), so entering the data into MS excel becomes quite time consuming and error prone. Is any alternative way of data entry available?
I would say that the only way to avoid manual data entry for large scale surveys is to have each respondent add their entry to your database/spreadsheet.
This could be done by having a website with a form that then records an entry in a database.
Such a website could be hosted on the internet or run locally on a laptop or, more portably, on a tablet or even smart phone - removing the need for internet access.
One key consideration is that this type of input may increase errors in the database - especially where respondents are free to type/spell in their own style. However many things can be changed to drop-down menus or tick boxes etc to allow freedom of choice but restraining the format of the answer.
If you have to enter it manually, without being able to use a solution like the one proposed by Robert, i would say that one easier alternative would be Access.
You create the table with the desired variables (you also have options to define type of data, size of the field etc) and after that you create a form based on that table. This will give you a better solution than entering data in a table.
If you have categorical data, you can create alternative tables and by using lookup you can create drop-down menus from where you can select what u need (decreases the possibility of errors).
I am also agree with Dr. Davidson, creating a database will minimize the redundancy and error. That will the best alternative way of data entry and data management.
I would say, as Segiou said, that the best way under MS-DOS would be Access, that is from the point of view of large data sets. You could use excel, with separate data files and after that, you can import those data files, for example to SAS.
I do want, however to suggest you, that before inputing your records, you should plan the number of fields on each variable very well, in order, to have small data files. For example, a variable with at the maximun 2 digits, should not be stored in a field with 20 or more spaces, you should define whether the variable is numeric or literal. In summary define very well the properties of each record, before introducing the record into de file,
Dear Batra,
If you have already collected the data there is no other way than directly entering in Excel sheet, SPSS data sheet or Ms Access database. If you are still in the collection stage you can use online sites like google documents to create questionnaires/schedules. Your data sheet will be ready when you complete the survey. You can read the data sheet in SPSS and proceed for data cleaning and analysis.
Sir,
we normally have around 2000- 2500 subjects in our surveys and for each subject the oral health survey form which has about 150 entries plus the socio demographic data....
The exercise here is to determine the rate for data entry and then to work out if you should contract data entry with a professional service or do it yourself. This would be a small job for a contract service with the main expenses being developing the data entry screens and QAing data entry. I can provide this service and return to you an Excel file. I also can provide descriptive and inferential statistics. Please contact me directly by email if you are interested. My email is [email protected]. I also have Skype and will be happy to interact through that.
thank you Bill for your help. The situation which i had quoted was my thesis, i have done the manual entry at that time, so thought of searching an alternative to help out my juniors. Anyways i will contact you via mail whenever i would need help for data management.
Regards
There are many database development software, one can easily use to quickly develop the data entry screen for survey data entry. These software provide option to export the data in to various formats like ms-excel, text, csv etc. MS-Access, EpiInfo and CSPro are the best examples for this.
Are the EXCEL spreadsheets being filled in by the participants electronically, or are you using a hand written pro forma which you transcribe into EXCEL yourself?
My only suggestion would be to move away from EXCEL and create an ACCESS database. You'll still have to manually enter the data, but you can develop the database forms to look like your handwritten pro forma. Using ACCESS will also reduce the probability of entering data into the wrong field or record, which I can virtually guarantee will happen in EXCEL. If you want to contact me directly, I'm on [email protected]. Send me a copy of your pro forma and I'll have a look at it.
Glad that there are answers for my question. Thank you very much for all the contributors
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