Creating a Multi-Dimensional Report

Transcription

1 Creating a Multi-Dimensional Report Chapter 3 A multi-dimensional report counts and analyzes data across multiple dimensions and displays counts, averages and other statistics in a tabular format. To create a new multi-dimensional report, follow the steps below. Be aware that you need sufficient access privileges to create a multi-dimensional report; otherwise the option will not appear on your screen. Step 1: Log in and select Standard Reports from the Reporting menu. If this option does not appear, you do not have the necessary access privileges. Step 2: Click New Multi-Dimensional Report. 23

2 Step 3: Enter a unique name for the report that clearly identifies what information the report will contain. Step 4: Depending on your security privileges, you could have the option of creating a public report and/or a private report. When creating a new public report, you can select an existing category for the new report, or you can create a new category by selecting (new category) (see the notes below). The use of report categories can make reports much easier to find. Step 5: By default, the report focuses on students. You can change it to focus on staff, locations, etc. FYI About Report Ownership: Depending on your access privileges, you may have the option to create a private or public report. Private reports can only be viewed by you, the creator. Public reports, by default, can be viewed by anyone with sufficient access privileges to view public reports. It is also possible to specify exactly which security groups can view a particular public report. This is covered in the Adding Security to a Report section later in this chapter. FYI About Report Categories: When creating a public report, the report can optionally be placed into a category (e.g. NCLB Reports ). Categories are used to organize reports into groups on the main screen that lists all available reports. Reports that are not placed into a specific category are displayed in a generic category such as Student List Reports. 24

3 Step 6: Next you will prepare a formula that selects the overall set of student (or other) profiles that will appear in the report. Click Quick Formula or Formula Builder for assistance building a formula. Quick Formula was introduced in the previous chapter and will not be covered again here in detail. FYI About Selection Formulas in Multi-Dimensional Reports: For a multi-dimensional report, the selection formula should select a broad population because you will later create report dimensions that divide that population into more specific groups. For example, you might prepare a selection formula to select all seventh graders and then define report dimensions that divide the population of all seventh graders into specific categories using various fields. You can also leave the selection formula blank, in which case the report will run across the entire student population. However, if you are analyzing test scores, you may want to focus on comparisons within a particular grade level because, in many cases, it is more meaningful to compare test score statistics within a particular grade level. 25

4 FYI: In this example, we are selected students in grades 01 through 08. Step 7: Depending on the type of information being reported, other options may appear here that allow you to restrict the selection further. Important: Next you will categorize the selected set of data across up to three dimensions. For each dimension, you typically select a demographic field or information field that divides the data into groups or categories. If you want to analyze statistical measures, you will select those later. Step 8: Click Select Field here to select the field that you want to use for the first dimension. The field selection popup will appear to allow you to select a field. This popup was described in the previous chapter and will not be covered again here. Advanced users should note that the dimension could also be defined using a calculation formula. For each dimension, there is also a checkbox that enables you to indicate whether totals should be included across that dimension. Step 9: You can optionally supply a field for the second and third dimensions. These can also be added later. Generally, it is helpful to experiment with different combinations of dimensions. 26

5 Step 12: The dimensions you defined are listed here. If you wish, you can drag and drop the row for a dimension to another position in the list and see how that affects the layout of the grid below. Step 11: The multi-dimensional report grid appears. Initially it shows student counts based on the dimensions. Later you will see how you can add additional numeric statistics to the grid, and also how you can have the information display by default as a chart. FYI: You can click any numeric count to drill-down and see the underlying details. You can also click any category or dimension header to chart the corresponding data. Step 13: If you are only interested in counts, the report is now complete (the end of this section contains information on how to display the report as a chart). If you want to analyze aggregate (statistical) measures based on numeric data, click Add New Measure. 27

6 Step 14: Click Select Field to select a numeric field to use for this measure. Step 15: Click the name of the numeric field that you want to use. 28

7 Step 16: Select the aggregate (statistical) function that you wish to apply to the numeric data. Step 17: Enter a descriptive title for the measure. You can optionally enter an abbreviated label that will appear next to the numbers when displayed in the numeric grid. Click Accept to add the measure. Step 18: When a public multi-dimensional report is ready for end users, you will want to enable one or more security groups to access the report. Click Security here. FYI: The grid now shows the average numeric value (in this case, absences) for all groups. A default abbreviated Number Label (in this case Absen ) is shown as a label for the average value. You can modify the label by editing the measure you just added and setting the Number Label field (see previous screen). If you now drill down into any group, you can see the underlying numeric field data used to product the aggregate values. You can also add additional measures to the report, if you wish. 29

8 Step 19: Select the security groups that should be able to access the report and click Accept. 30

9 FYI About the Drilldown Columns: By default, any fields referenced in the report definition will appear when the user drills down into a report count or statistic. However, you can override the default and control exactly what columns appear when drilling down. To select specific columns, click the Set Drilldown Columns link when the report is in edit mode. To customize the drilldown columns, select the Use Columns Selected Below option, and then transfer columns from the Available Columns list on the left to the Drilldown Columns list on the right. 31

10 FYI About Displaying the Report as a Chart: By default the report displays in a tabular data form. If the report has one or two dimensions, you can follow the procedure below to display the report as a chart. A report with three dimensions cannot be displayed as a chart, but it still supports drill down charting as described earlier. The following procedure illustrates how to make the chart view the default view of a multi-dimensional report. Step 1: Make sure you are in edit mode so that you can save changes to the report. Select the chart format from this dropdown menu. If this dropdown menu does not appear, the report has three dimensions (refer to the notes above). 32

11 Step 2: Try out the various chart options and decide which you like best. Step 3: Click Set as Default 33