Poll Reporting
PollMaker's reporting capabilities distinguish it from other data collection applications. PollMaker excels at providing you with information from your polls in real-time. If you desire, you can run reports right at your polling kiosk. PollMaker provides six built-in reports so that you can see your polling data in the way that best fits your needs.
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Gross Results Shows summarized statistics, including number and percentage of responses for each answer and total responses, for the question screens in a poll. |
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Cross-Tabulated Allows you to cross-tabulate the results for two or more question screens in a poll. As a result, you can associate the responses to the answers of two or more question screens (i.e. view how respondents that answered a selected question answered each of the other questions). |
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Results Chart Presents summarized statistics for the question screens in a poll in 3-D pie or bar charts. |
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Detail Break-Down Shows response data for each respondent that takes a poll. |
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Event Log Shows a summary of polling events for a polling kiosk, including successful poll responses, launching of sub-polls and poll errors. |
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Q & A List Shows the text of each question and answer on the polling screens of a poll. |
In addition to these reports, PollMaker also provides an ASCII Export Module that is run in the same way as these reports. This module allows you to export your poll data to an ASCII text file which can then be imported into other database, spreadsheet or statistical analysis applications. With this capability, you have the power to go beyond reporting and share your raw poll data with other applications and personnel within your organization for specialized analysis or other purposes.
Generating Reports
Reports can be accessed in one of two ways in PollMaker. First, you may run reports from Poll Manager by selecting the "Generate Report" button on the Quick Pick Screen (figure 1) .
Figure 1: Poll Manager - Quick Pick Screen
You may also run reports at a kiosk while a poll is running using the Polling Engine. In this case, you access reports by providing the Console Touch Code for that kiosk (see Stopping Polls). Once the Console Touch Code is entered, the Polling Engine stops the poll and displays the Operator Console (figure 2). On the Operator Console, select the "Reports" button.
Figure 2: Polling Engine Operator Console
Using either of these methods, the Poll Reports Dialog Box (figure 3) will be displayed showing a list of reports that may be run for the current poll. When you select the "Run!" button for a report, a wizard for the report will step you through all of the optional settings for that report and will then run the report.
Figure 3: Poll Reports Dialog Box
Some of the report options that you can control through the report wizard include the dates of the polling data, the poll questions and the titles to be included on the report. In addition, you can specify statistical weighting to be applied to your poll data and create report plates through the report wizard's interface (see below).
You have the option of displaying your reports on the screen or printing them to a printer or a file. If you choose to run a report to the screen, the Preview Report window (figure 4) will open containing your report. You will be able to scroll through the report, and you may then choose to print the report on a printer. If you choose to print your report to a file, your report is created in rich-text format (.rtf) so that it may be opened in several different word-processing applications.
Figure 4: Preview Report Window
Report Templates
PollMaker also allows you to save the report settings that you have selected through the report wizard in a report template. In the future, each time that you want to run the same report with these same options, you can save time by running the template, instead of having to re-enter all of the same report options. When you create a report template for a poll, it will be shown in the Poll Reports Dialog Box with the other PollMaker reports (figure 3).
Statistical Weighting
With this feature you can specify that one answer item in the poll should represent a certain percentage of all responses for its question. When this option is selected, PollMaker duplicates the answers of respondents that have already taken the poll until it achieves the proper percentage of the specified answer within the poll results.
Figure 5: Statistical Weighting