Protobi

Protobi's autogroup helps you get a head start when setting up your project. The autogroup algorithm organizes similar questions together based on column names, and appropriately formats question types (i.e. checkbox grid, rating question, numeric open-ends, etc.). In this guide, we'll walk you through how to use autogroup.

Why autogroup?

Saves time

Autogroup helps users save time when they are setting up a Protobi project.

Intelligently reads SPSS metadata

SPSS data files contain not only the response data, but also metadata for question text and formatted response values. Protobi reads this data and suggests a structure to organize the questions.

When to autogroup?

We recommend you use autogroup at the start of each project, before applying any manual edits, because autogroup will cover most of the initial question setup.

How to autogroup

1. Select the group to autogroup

In new projects, all the survey questions are put into a catch-all tab called "Fields", which is the group you will select to autogroup. However, you can also use autogroup in an existing project (i.e trackers), in which case you might select a different group to autogroup.

Select "Fields" by pressing on it, either in the element tree or in the center panel. You will know it's selected when the header turns blue like in the image below.

2. Select "Autogroup" from the Advanced menu

After you select fields, go to the Advanced menu options in the toolbar and select "Autogroup".

3. Choose "Autogroup" options

After you press "Autogroup", you will see the dialog has options you can select/de-select. The defaults are tuned to handle most projects, but you can cusotmize the selections to fit your project. Below are descriptions of what each option does.

Remove keys from titles

This option will remove the question number from the titles during autogroup. Some SPSS files have the question number in the titles (i.e. S1: What is your speciality), this is commonly seen in Decipher SPSS files.

Extract common title text

A group or "battery" of similar questions will have the same parent level text. Select this option if you want to extract common title text everywhere applicable during autgroup. Otherwise "Extract common title text" is also an Advanced menu option that you can apply to questions individually.

Before extract common title text:

After:

Roundup “black sheep” subgroups

A "black sheep" subgroup is a group within a group where all of its siblings otherwise have the same scale and dimension. If you choose to roundup subgroups, then Protobi will move the subgroup (i.e. Q21a) out of the group (i.e. Q21) and up one level.

Move single-letter groups to top level

This option will move groups like "S" and "Q" to top-level tabs. If you de-select this option, then groups like "S" and "Q" will remain in the Fields tab, and you can manually move them out.

Use suffix if key exists

Take a survey that has questions S1, S1_1, S1_2, S1_3. Since S1 already exsits in the data, a different parent key should be used to group S1_1, S1_2, S1_3 together. Specify a suffix to add when the key already exists, so instead of using S1, Protobi will use S1# to group S1_1, S1_2, S1_3 together.

Grid text delimiter (Decipher)

Define the delimiter when extracting the parent-level question text from questions in a Decipher SPSS file.

Decipher's question text pattern is often in the following structure: Key: Option level text - Parent level text. The delimiter between option level text and parent level text is the first instance of a dash.

Note: If you select this option, make sure "Grid text regex (Confirmit)" is not selected. Otherwise, Protobi will seperate the text at the delimiters specified in both options. If your SPSS file is neither Decipher nor Confirmit, you can select the "Grid text regex (Decipher)" option and just change the delimiter to whatever delimiter is used to seperate option level text and parent level text in your file.

Grid text regex (Confirmit)

Define the delimiter when extracting the parent-level question text from questions in a Confirmit SPSS file.

Confirmit's question text pattern is often in the following structure: Option level text (Parent level text). The delimiter between option level text and parent level text is the first instance of an opening parentheses.

Note: If you select this option, make sure "Grid text regex (Decipher)" is not selected. Otherwise, Protobi will seperate the text at the delimiters specified in both options. If your SPSS file is neither Decipher nor Confirmit, you can select the "Grid text regex (Decipher)" option and just change the delimiter to whatever delimiter is used to seperate option level text and parent level text in your file.

4. Apply "Autogroup"

Once you choose all the options you want, press “Ok” to start the autogroup. Protobi will automatically organize and format the questions based on your selections.

Once autogroup is complete, you will see a "Autogroup complete" notification in the upper right hand corner of the screen.