Question to store weights
Describes where to store the weights for weighted data in the QPSMR Companion program.
See Weighting respondents for an overview of rim/target weighting.
Companion stores the weight for each individual record in a float (floating point) question. You may need to add this to the QDF. If you need to add more records to the data after this question has been created, use “Suspend” so that users won’t see this during data entry.
Float question described
A float question stores a number with a decimal point. Companion stores this as digits in the data file. The decimal point will not always be in the same place unless you set the number of decimal places.
The precision of a float number is 14 significant digits. This means that only the first 14 digits (0-9) in the number are reliable. For this reason, Companion normally allocates float entries 15 spaces to allow for the decimal point. Individual weights are normally between 0 and 9, for example 0.5743865838473 or 5.7823974922645. This size normally allows for 13 decimal places. A very large weight of say 2765.4738264035 would only have 10 decimal places.
Create new
If you do not already have a float entry for the weight to be stored in the project you can create one with [Targets] [Question to store weights] [Create new]. The Companion program will add a new float question to the project using data locations at the end of the record for fixed format data. Companion shows the Entry details window and you can change the name or the size (number of data locations) and set the number of decimal places if needed. The default name is “Weight”.
When you close the Entry details window, Companion may ask you to extend the record length to accommodate the new question. You should answer “Yes” to this.
Companion places the new weight question at the beginning of the project. If you only intend to use one weighting scheme then you should leave the name as “Weight” because the program will automatically use an entry with this name as the respondent weight. If you intend to have more then one weighting scheme then you will need a different question for each scheme to store the weights. For fixed format data, Companion stores the individual weights in the data locations allocated to this new entry.
If you have used this option it is important to save the revised project with the new weight question added. Companion will prompt you to do this when you close the Weight data window.
Use existing
If you already have a float entry for the weight in the project you can replace the weights in it with [Targets] [Question to store weights] [Use existing]. The program will then store the individual weights calculated in the data locations allocated to this existing entry.
Saving name
If you use [Targets] [Save to weighting file] the the name allocated for weights is stored in the weighting XML file along with the targets set. If you reload a weighting file then you do not need to tell Companion which question to use, it will use the one named in the weighting file.
With the targets set and the float question to store the weights chosen you can calculate the weights.