CONDUCTING AN ACASI INTERVIEW

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1 Use of Social Media to Improve Engagement, Retention, and Health Outcomes along the HIV Care Continuum Initiative ACASI Quick-start Guide Version 1 CONDUCTING AN ACASI INTERVIEW Installation (details given in Appendix A) Each computer will need a separate license Software downloaded directly from Nova Research website after purchasing software Website link, serial # and password provided Download.EXE files o QDS_30B.exe contains modules you purchased (install first) o att_natural_voices_v4.2_crystal16.exe contains voice of Crystal for English versions of assessments (otherwise default computer voice will be used) o att_natural_voices_v4.2_rosa16.exe contains voice of Rosa for Spanish translations Voice files are very large (~ 500MB). Don t install when you re in a hurry! Folder setup Open new folder in a location where you want your data files to be stored Copy and save the ACASI interview files provided by the ETAC to this folder o ACASI interview file (.QSI) o Dictionary file (.DICT) You will also be provided with a codebook and paper-version of the ACASI interview as a back-up that you may store in the same folder or another location (both.rtf files). You should create a shortcut to the folder on the desktop o Right click on.qsi file and select Create shortcut from dialogue box o Use mouse to drag and drop shortcut to desktop 1

2 To start a new interview Double-click on.qsi file shortcut. You will be taken to the first interview screen. To hear the audio, you need to turn on your volume control. Click Next Question to go to the next screen. 2

3 The first several screens are completed by the staff member. o Participant ID number will have 10-character limit o Interviewer initials or identification determined by demonstration sites o Site ID Afterwards the ACASI self-entry portion of the assessment will be begin Activation of special commands during an interview o Commands are not visible during normal course of an interview. o Access to special commands should NOT be shown to study participants. o Please try to mask their use in the presence of study participants. o e.g., Face laptop away from participant so they cannot see key strokes. Refuse to Answer option button o Click the left and right mouse buttons simultaneously in the upper right-hand corner of the ACASI screen. o If you are using a tablet without a mouse, press and hold in the upper right hand corner. o A Refuse to Answer button will appear on the right side of the screen that can be clicked to advance to the next question. 3

4 Interviewer s comment box to record notes o Click the left and right mouse buttons simultaneously in the middle top of the screen. o If you are using a tablet without a mouse, press and hold in the middle top of the screen. To interrupt an interview before it is complete o Press Alt-F4 or click both the left and right mouse buttons simultaneously upper left hand corner of the ACASI screen. o If you are using a tablet without a mouse, press and hold in the upper left hand corner of the screen. NEVER USE Ctrl-Alt-Del or Task Manager to interrupt or end an interview. This may corrupt the data in the.qad interview file. 4

5 o If you click Yes, another window will appear asking you to enter a password. Please enter: 1234 and click OK. o After you enter password and click OK, another window will appear telling you that the responses have been saved to a text file and ask you if you want to view the text file. To save the ACASI interview At the end of the interview a dialogue box will appear and request a password: To go back or restart an incomplete interview You CANNOT simply click on desktop shortcut as this will initiate a new interview. Two step process 1. Open ACASI program. 5

6 2. Select Resume a prior interview in dialogue box, change file type to.qad, then select incomplete interview file. o Change file type to.qad. o Select incomplete interview file. 6

BACKING UP YOUR DATA An overview of the different file types Interview data file (.QAD) is saved in the same folder as interview control file that is used to administer interview (.QSI).

7 BACKING UP YOUR DATA An overview of the different file types Interview data file (.QAD) is saved in the same folder as interview control file that is used to administer interview (.QSI). By default, the name of the data file will be the same as the name of control file. o The extension for interview data file is.qad o The extension for the interview control file is.qsi o You will also find a log file (.LOG) where interviewer comments are stored. The.LOG file will not contain any text unless comments are entered during the interview; the file is usually empty. An overview of how QDS interview is saved into the data file (.QAD) When you begin an interview, ACASI will look to see if a.qad file with a corresponding file name already exists in that folder. If it is not found, a new.qad file will be started. If it is found, the new interview is appended to the end of the existing.qad file. New interviews will continue to be added to the end of the existing.qad file until the data file is moved, renamed or deleted. Data backup Backup files DAILY from ACASI computers to local file server via encrypted USB drive At the end of each work day, save your.qad and.rtf data files into a backup folder. Rename the.qad file using the following naming convention o Site_lanugage_follow-up month_date, e.g. Friends_English_m00_ QAD, Friends_Spanish_m06_ QAD If you are backing up on a daily basis, you should hypothetically have 5.QAD data files for a 5- day work week from one device. 7

Creation of warehouse manager database 1. Create a separate database for each time point (baseline, 6 month follow-up, etc.). 2.

8 Upload.QAD files WEEKLY from local file server to the ETAC web portal -> we will provide more instructions once the data portal is set up. WAREHOUSE MANAGER NOT REQUIRED: For sites that would like to look at their own data and / or conduct their own analyses. Creation of warehouse manager database 1. Create a separate database for each time point (baseline, 6 month follow-up, etc.). 2. An empty warehouse file cannot be saved; wait until you have.qad files to create one. 3. Open Warehouse Manager. 4. Click on File and then New Warehouse to create a warehouse database file (.QDW). 8

9 5. Select location to store.qdw file and type file name. 6. Click on Open and you will see a blank Warehouse file like this. 9

10 To transfer data to the Warehouse from a single.qad file 1. Go to File and click Open Source Data File. 2. Select.QAD type in file type box. 10

You will see two windows like this: o One window is the Warehouse.

11 3. Select the.qad file that you would like to add to the data Warehouse and click open. You will see two windows like this: o One window is the Warehouse. o The other is your source data files. 4. To transfer interview data from source data files to Warehouse, first select the interview(s), then go to Edit Copy to Warehouse. 11

You can now close your source data file.

12 5. The status of these interviews has changed to Transferred in the Source data window. Your interviews are now in the Warehouse window. 6. You can now close your source data file. Be sure to Save changes so the status of the source data is preserved (that the.qad data has been transferred to the Warehouse). 12

Select multiple files by pressing Ctrl+Shift keys

13 To transfer data to the Warehouse from multiple.qad files 1. Go to File Transfer Multiple Data files 2. Select multiple files by pressing Ctrl+Shift keys while left clicking on selected files. Click Transfer button. 13

Finishing the transfer: single or multiple.qad files 3. If duplicate interviews are detected (i.e., interviews with the same Subject ID), you will be prompted to keep both of them or replace one.

14 Finishing the transfer: single or multiple.qad files 3. If duplicate interviews are detected (i.e., interviews with the same Subject ID), you will be prompted to keep both of them or replace one. If you are unsure of what is going on, choose the conservative option: keep both of them! 4. A dialogue box will tell you how many interviews were transferred from your source files. 14

5. The status column will show if each interview is complete, a duplicate, incomplete or deleted. 6. If you wish to exit the Warehouse (e.g., you do not have any remaining.

15 5. The status column will show if each interview is complete, a duplicate, incomplete or deleted. 6. If you wish to exit the Warehouse (e.g., you do not have any remaining.qad files to import), click on the Save icon and close. (It is IMPORTANT to click on the Save icon to retain data from.qad files, otherwise they will not be recorded in warehouse file) To open and view an interview from within warehouse database to look at it 1. Double click the interview. This will open a dialogue box for the interview. 2. Click the Variables tab 15

16 To edit an interview from within the Warehouse 1. Highlight interview you wish to make changes to by clicking on it. 2. Click on Edit tab. 3. Click on Details from pull-down menu (Alternatively, click on paper/pencil Modify icon) 16

17 4. Enter your initials. (Any values can be entered as this is to keep track of changes.) 5. A dialogue box will open similar to box for viewing interviews, except that you can change responses to variables. 17

6. Double click variable for response you wish to change. GENDER is shown as an example. 7. If you make changes, you should indicate the reason (e.g., participant indicated different response after interview was completed ).

18 6. Double click variable for response you wish to change. GENDER is shown as an example. 7. If you make changes, you should indicate the reason (e.g., participant indicated different response after interview was completed ). 8. Once change has been made and reason for change has been entered, click on OK for variable dialogue box. 9. Click on OK for main dialogue box for interview unless you wish to change responses for other variables. 10. This takes you back to main warehouse window. 18

Enter a name in the File name box, then choose the type of file you would

19 To export interviews for analysis 1. Go to File and click on Export Interviews. 2. Enter a name in the File name box, then choose the type of file you would like to export to, from the Save as type drop down box. Common file types include Excel, SAS, Stata, SPSS, and Access. Then click Save. 19

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21 Notes on exporting data Options: You can click on Options after you enter a file name in Step 2. above. One option you will find is the ability to recode the special code values to values that work best with the software you are exporting to. For example, for SPSS you can select the Recode to Specified Values button, and then you can use the specified values over at the right or you can input your own values. Reconciling interview versions: In the examples we have shown, there is only one version of the interview. If there are multiple versions of an interview, you will first need to reconcile all interviews to a standard version. When you export, only the standard-version interviews will be exported. Reconciliation procedures are not covered in this quick-start guide but can be found through the Nova Research website that is discussed in Appendix B. 21

22 Appendix A: How to install QDS Software on your computer ***********************DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS************************************* To Download QDS 3.0 software: 1) Go to following URL: 2) Enter the following password along with other required information: (provided in ) You will also need your serial number (provided in upper right corner of your invoice) (e.g. Q300W XXX) 3) Click the Download button to download the software. 4) Click the Save button to select a location on your machine to save the setup file. ***********************INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS************************************* PLEASE NOTE: You must be logged on to an account with administrative privileges to install software and run the setup file below. To unzip the QDS setup files and Install QDS, follow these steps: 1. Double-click on the file that you have downloaded, QDS_30B.exe. 2. Click the Setup button. 3. Next, enter the password: (provided in ) 4. Once you have entered the correct password, the QDS setup files will automatically be copied to your system. 5. The setup program will start. When prompted, enter your QDS serial number. 6. Follow the directions on each screen 7. When you reach the Setup Type screen, you will have a choice: Typical: Select to install all modules purchased with this serial number on this computer. Compact: Select to install with minimum required options. This setup type doesn't install the Help system or any sample files, including.bmp files. Custom: Select to install a sub-set of modules purchased with this serial number on this computer. This should be used when modules from a single order need to be installed on multiple machines. This will take you to the Select Features box where you can un-check any modules that are not to be installed on this computer. 8. Continue following the screens until the installation is complete. 9. As a final step, check for any maintenance patches for 3.0 at URL: Getting help for QDS: Technical support: support@novaresearch.com QDS online help: QDS tutorial videos: ***************ADDITIONAL ACASI INSTRUCTIONS******************************** If you have purchased a license for the ACASI program and plan to use computer generated audio, you should also download one or more of the following voice font setup files: att_natural_voices_v4.2_crystal16.exe att_natural_voices_v4.2_rosa16.exe (American English) (Spanish) Be sure to only install these after installing QDS, otherwise the text-to-speech feature will not work properly. 22

23 Appendix B: Additional resources A good repository of videos on using ACASI and the warehouse manager: There are also numerous tutorial videos on Youtube. Go to Youtube and search for QDS ACASI. The following video is one example that shows you how to work with an ACASI data file, create a warehouse in data warehouse manager and export your data. The next Youtube video show you how to modify QDS data in the Warehouse, including how to track changes in the correction log. 23

QDS V4.0. New Features Documentation. NOVA Research Company

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