Adapt & Structure INTERACT Data

Doing research basically means exploring something new, so there is no standard system on how to structure your data. Maybe within your field of application there is, but not in general.

Your data structure has impact on the statistics and the original data can be re-arranged, in order to answer specific questions. INTERACT offers many routines for restructuring AFTER you have collected your data!

The most important structural element is the DataSet.

oDataSets, group behavioral Events from the same session, task or person.

oIn statistical calculations, export and graphical representation, the results are split per DataSet.

oOther routines like the co-occurrence filter or sequence analysis are also performed per DataSet.

oTypically, each test session is stored in a single DataSet.

oMultiple observational passes through the video can be stored in the same DataSet.

The most common structure advises are listed here:

oInsert a separate DataSet for each session. See Structure Behavioral Events

oLink your video file(s) to the DataSet that holds the data. See Link Video Files for Analysis

oUse the DataGroup element to group a collection of DataSets. For instance, a DataGroup can be used per subject and each DataSet can represent a different session. See Structure Behavioral Events

oEnter a description into the DataSet and DataGroup description line, for easier identification, especially if you need to merge your data. After a merge, the original file name is no longer available. See Identify DataSets and Groups.

oMerge multiple documents before analysis or other adaptive routines. See Merge Documents.

oUse Independent Variables for easier data selection during analysis, especially if you have a large number of DataSets. See Assign Variables.

oFor large coder groups, define a document template that holds a predefined DataSet structure, available independent variables, Class columns and reference to the Code Archive. This minimizes inconsistencies. See Work with Templates.

Additional Helpful Routines

INTERACT offers so many flexible features, and routines that it is impossible to create an example for every possible application of those routines. Even mentioning them all within this manual is difficult, let alone describe them!

Here is a list of routines that did not make it into this manual:

oCreate Pre- and Post Events - This special extension is able to automatically create Events of a predefined length, just before and after each time a specific key-event was logged.

oMerge Successive Events - Allows you to merge successive events with identical codes into one long event, whenever those events where logged within a specific time frame.

oConsolidate Overlapping Events - To exclude the duration of (partly) overlapping identical codes while using a lexical coding system.

oConsolidate Identical Events - This routine removes all duplicated Events with identical time information. It is especially helpful for time sampling based codings, performed by multiple coders, after they merge their data.

oMerge Codes and Classes Virtually - To manipulate statistics by virtually merging multiple expressions with the help of the Code Archive.

oTranslate Statistical Results - For those who have coded in their mother tongue and now need their results in another language.