Microsoft Word research method fm doc

Coding conventions
Common responses should have the same code in each question, as this minimises 
mistakes by coders. 
For example:
Yes (or positive response) 
code - Y or 1
No (or negative response) 
code - N or 2
Don’t know 
code - D or 8
No response/unknown 
code - U or 9 
 
Codes for open-ended questions
(in questionnaires) can be done only after examining a 
sample of (say 20) questionnaires. You may group similar types of responses into single 
categories, so as to limit their number to at most 6 or 7. If there are too many categories it is 
difficult to analyze the data.
2. Summarizing the data in data master sheets, manual compilation, or compilation by 
computer 
 (1) Data master sheets
If data are processed by hand, it is often most efficient to summaries the raw research data in 
a so-called DATA MASTER SHEET, to facilitate data analysis. On a data master sheet all 
the answers of individual respondents are entered by hand. 

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Research methodology 
71
To illustrate the use of master sheets, we will give an example of a rapid appraisal carried out 
by students of a nursing school about the smoking habits of the inhabitants of their town. The 
questionnaire had only 17 questions, of which 9 were asked of everyone, 4 exclusively to 
smokers and 4 exclusively to non-smokers. It was therefore decided to process the data by 
hand, divided in two groups: smokers and non-smokers, which were again subdivided in 
males and females. For each of the four groups, master sheets were prepared, on which all 
the answers of individual respondents could be recorded. 
Master sheets can be made in different ways. For short simple questionnaires you may put all 
possible answers for each question in headers at the top of the sheet and then list or tick the 
answers of the informants one by one in the appropriate columns.