How much training is needed to get the most from MRDC’s products?

This is a guide to help you understand how easily you can adopt our four leading software products – Snap Surveys for online surveys, QPSMR for data entry and crosstabs, MRDCL for data management, tabulations, and automated reporting at a more advanced level and Resolve for secondary analysis. Learning how to use a new software product can often be frustrating. At MRDC Software, we like to be transparent and give you a clear picture of how much effort you will need to go through the familiarisation and learning process. For each product, we will provide you valuable information about:

• How long it takes to become familiar with each product
• How long it takes to become proficient
• How long it takes to become an expert
• Training and resources available
• How easily you can move an existing project into our products

So, let’s get started.

   1. Learning to use Snap

Getting started

Snap has an intuitive user interface, making it easy to learn. However, it covers a wide range of tasks, from designing your questionnaires and deploying surveys to running tables and charts and making reports available online, using Snap’s powerful Smart Reporting tools. That’s a lot to learn, so finding everything you need to complete your first project can take time, particularly if one person carries out all or most of those tasks.

Next steps

We usually find that you will be proficient after completing two projects. There may be features you need after this point which are not always readily apparent, but our support desk can quickly direct you to these tools. The powerful Smart Reporting tools generally take a little longer to master, but generally, you will find designing and deploying questionnaires easy, and most analysis tools are intuitive to use. Most Snap users become experts in the types of work they usually do, but if you have varying needs, there is plenty to learn.

Resources

To help you get started, MRDC Software offers a free online orientation session designed to help you with basic tasks and understand how all the parts of the process fit together. You will also find that there are a large number of videos and documents that explain how to use the various features. Once you have mastered the basics, you may need occasional support to learn how to solve day-to-day problems that may arise. In our experience, most users become self-sufficient quickly when they adopt Snap as their platform for online surveys.

Transferring projects to Snap

 

Taking projects from other systems is generally straightforward. Snap has excellent import tools from the three most common data formats – SPSS, Triple-S and spreadsheet data. You can also link Snap to external databases. Imports will successfully transfer question and text specifications and routing instructions where present. You may need to re-enter detailed options unsupported in Triple-S and SPSS.

      2. Learning to use QPSMR

Getting started

The core of the QPSMR system comes in the QPSMR Companion package. QPSMR Companion is intuitive to use and takes you through questionnaire preparation, data entry and tabulations in a methodical way. Questionnaire preparation is generally easy to understand, although some tasks, like complex randomisation, can take a little longer to understand. Tables are generally straightforward, but handling data can be confusing initially, particularly if you are editing or updating data from another file.

For customers who extend their licence to QPSMR CATI, questionnaire preparation does not require much more knowledge. However, understanding how to manage sample files, manage (potential) respondents and arrange callbacks requires a second level of learning. However, once mastered, this entails carrying out the same processes for every project. The supervisor function, which contains these tools, is logical to use. Training staff to use the CATI interview module is easy, but staff need to understand how to use this module proficiently to ensure a smooth operation.

Next steps

Becoming more expert in QPSMR will depend on how deeply you wish to dive into the program’s functionality. QPSMR handles complex tasks, such as data merging, rim weighting, and complex significance testing. QPSMR also has a vast number of crosstab options you can apply – some users make full use of these options, others much less so. QPSMR’s methodical approach to survey processing means that learning is generally quick, although support is always available for specific or unusual needs.

Resources

New users of QPSMR Companion and QPSMR CATI are given a free orientation session and basic induction. Support is always available, but this is augmented by our complete video library, which offers over 50 videos, ranging from basic introductory tutorials on how to get started to detailed videos explaining how to carry out more complex tasks. The video resources can be found at www.qpsmr-learning.com.

Transferring projects to QPSMR

QPSMR Companion allows you to import data from Triple-S, transferring all the questions, their associated texts, and the data to the QPSMR platform. To extract data from SPSS, you will need an SPSS licence and then use a free SPSS subroutine to generate the QPSMR files. There may be some work to piece together SPSS variables, particularly for multi-response questions.

   3. Learning to use MRDCL

Getting started

MRDCL is not aimed at casual users; it is aimed at data processing professionals who are comfortable with using a scripting language. The speed at which someone will learn to use MRDCL will vary from person to person and is likely to depend on whether they have used a similar product, come from a programming background or have little or no relevant experience.

The learning curve will be quite steep for someone with little or no relevant experience. The best way to get started is to follow MRDCL’s introductory videos (see Resources below), which have proved successful at teaching the basics of MRDCL. The first two or three projects will seem slow to prepare and may be frustrating until syntax becomes familiar. However, anecdotally, new users report that as MRDCL is a logical language, the learning progresses steadily with new shortcuts learnt in the early weeks.

For those with some experience, getting started is usually quicker and moving on to the different techniques available becomes the first challenge. Former users of Quantum sometimes report that the language feels more difficult than Quantum at first but that MRDCL’s consistency and logical language mean that, after initial orientation, progress is quick.

Next steps

MRDCL comes with advanced productivity tools and has some powerful techniques available. The video library describes how to handle every common need in sufficient detail; additionally, there are downloadable working examples to support the video tutorials. MRDCL has a unique productivity feature, EPS (Excel Productivity Scripting). This allows templates to be built to automate repetitive or complex tasks. Programming EPS is quite complicated at first, but if a team of users exists, only one person needs to understand how to program EPS; the others can benefit from the templates generated. However, despite the complexities of using this power feature, there are only a small number of techniques to learn. Once learned, these techniques give teams enormous power in simplifying complex or repetitive tasks.

Resources

MRDCL has a comprehensive set of over 75 videos, covering everything from getting started to tutorials on specific topics. Most videos have downloadable files used in the videos. Users of MRDCL (even experienced MRDCL users) have complimented us on the thoroughness of our video tutorial library. The video library can be found at https://mrdcl.com/videos/.

Transferring projects to MRDCL

MRDCL comes in two parts – the traditional MRDCL Classic program, which is for hardcore scripting and running analyses, and MRDCL Central. The newer MRDCL Central program has many tools for importing data and automating processes. The Intelligent Import function within MRDCL Central allows you to read data directly from SPSS SAV files and Triple-S, automatically building MRDCL scripts for variables, texts and tables. The Intelligent Import function means that variables split in several fields in SPSS can be conveniently concatenated in MRDCL, making analysis easier. It is possible to get crosstabs and charts generated by MRDCL Central from SPSS in less than one minute! For projects created in Quantum, it is possible to export from Quantum to SPSS and then use the Intelligent Import function. However, the import from SPSS will generate the variables proficiently but may not automatically generate some of the more complex table structures used in Quantum. However, most of the MRDCL script will automatically be generated in all cases, with 100% in some cases.

  4. Learning to use Resolve

Getting started

With minimal orientation needed, you can quickly produce crosstabs and charts using Resolve. Projects must be processed in MRDCL or QPSMR before you can use them in Resolve. If you take data from another source, such as SPSS, you can prepare files for Resolve in minutes. Resolve Base is free to distribute to clients and colleagues. As it is free to use, the provider of the Resolve project will usually be responsible for support.

Next steps

Although many table output options exist in Resolve Base, most users generally wish to produce simple tables or charts, sometimes applying filters. A premium version of Resolve (called Resolve Premium) gives users access to extra tools (called add-ins) that help to produce complex or repetitive tables and charts. Some of these tools require users to understand their functionality before using them. It is also possible to build your own add-ins to Resolve, although this is a skilled task requiring a high level of knowledge of MRDCL and an understanding of how Resolve handles add-ins. We can help you with this on an ad hoc basis. Resolve Premium is available for a moderate additional licence fee.

Resources

Given the ease of using Resolve, there are only a small number of videos to help users get the most from the software. Resolve is usually unsupported by MRDC Software. However, support contracts can be purchased separately if required. In most cases, we find that the provider of the project is usually best placed to support users of Resolve.

Transferring projects to MRDCL

You will need an active MRDCL or QPSMR licence to supply a project in Resolve. The tools in MRDCL and QPSMR will allow you to take data from other sources, including Snap.

Finally…

We pride ourselves on our responsive support, which, coupled with our video tutorials, makes our support outstanding. We are always interested in hearing about any topics where new videos would be helpful, so please let us know. If you want further details about learning our products, please contact nikki.sunga@mrdcsoftware.com.