Complex "notes"

[eric couper]

Hello again,

First, in case you are interested.  We have a tentative timeline for our survey here at AfSIS.  We are developing our training materials and logistics plan over the next two weeks, and we'll begin training after that on the 15th.  

I'm currently fine tuning our survey, and I thought I'd ask about complex "notes."  At one point we have our enumerators leaving ODK to record the area of a plot on the farm with another app.  They then return to ODK to insert the value in meters squared.  After this we want to tell the farmer the size of their plot in whatever unit is most useful to that person (meters squared, acres, hectares, etc.).  I was going to have the enumerator leave ODK again to use a conversion app, but I was hoping this could be down in ODK.

So my question is: 

Can I create a note that refers to a previous variable

For example,

type=decimal, name=plot_area, label= Please leave ODK, open the Distance and Area app, record the area, and return here to enter that area in meters squared.

type=note, name=convert, label=Please tell the farmer that his plot is [plot_area*1] meters squared, [plot_area/10000] hectares, or [plot_area/4047] acres.

Thanks,

--
*Eric A. Couper, MPA DP <http://mdp.ei.columbia.edu/>*
ICT & Agriculture Coordinator
African Soil Information Service

c. +255 076 490 7683

e. eric....@gmail.com

s. eric.couper

[Matt Berg]

Eric,

Just a quick thought.  You probably want to have them do the calculation first so they don't have to exit and reenter the survey.  I see that causing a lot of problems.

Matt

[eric couper]

Hi Matt,

I have the same concern and we are definitely going to play around with that very issue to see what works best.  

We've had the plot size question and the GPS coordinate-reading at the end of the survey for two reasons.

1. Right now all of our questions are set as mandatory (default within xls2xml).  I imagine there is a way to change that, but I haven't inquired yet. (anyone?)  Because each question has been mandatory, we put the GPS related things at the end, so we could test the rest of the form while inside (where the GPS features don't work).  There is even a chance the GPS fails when out in the field, so we wanted it at the end.

Whenever I learn how to make questions optional, this purpose becomes irrelevant.

2. The timing and flow of the survey lends itself to recording area at the end.  Often, especially here near Arusha, a farmer's largest plot (what we are measuring) is a good 5-10 minute walk from the home.  Because enumerators will meet at the home, we wanted to conduct part of the survey while walking to the plot thereby shortening the time between greeting and goodbye.

3. We are treating the area reading as an incentive to the farmer for participating.  We are hoping that delaying the reading into the end will keep the farmer more engaged and motivated to respond.  If the reading is taken at the beginning, we might lose this advantage.

-Eric  

[Andrew Marder]

Hi Eric,

On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 4:06 AM, eric couper <eac...@columbia.edu> wrote:

> Hello again,
> First, in case you are interested.  We have a tentative timeline for our
> survey here at AfSIS.  We are developing our training materials and
> logistics plan over the next two weeks, and we'll begin training after that
> on the 15th.
> I'm currently fine tuning our survey, and I thought I'd ask about complex
> "notes."  At one point we have our enumerators leaving ODK to record the
> area of a plot on the farm with another app.  They then return to ODK to
> insert the value in meters squared.  After this we want to tell the farmer
> the size of their plot in whatever unit is most useful to that person
> (meters squared, acres, hectares, etc.).  I was going to have the enumerator
> leave ODK again to use a conversion app, but I was hoping this could be down
> in ODK.
> So my question is:
> Can I create a note that refers to a previous variable
> For example,
> type=decimal, name=plot_area, label= Please leave ODK, open the Distance and
> Area app, record the area, and return here to enter that area in meters
> squared.
> type=note, name=convert, label=Please tell the farmer that his plot is
> [plot_area*1] meters squared, [plot_area/10000] hectares,
> or [plot_area/4047] acres.

You might try the following:

type=decimal, name=plot_area_hectares, label=Plot area in hectares:,
bind:readonly=true(), bind:calculate=${plot_area} / 10000

[Andrew Marder]

On Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 5:04 AM, eric couper <eac...@columbia.edu> wrote:
> Hi Matt,
> I have the same concern and we are definitely going to play around with that
> very issue to see what works best.
> We've had the plot size question and the GPS coordinate-reading at the end
> of the survey for two reasons.
> 1. Right now all of our questions are set as mandatory (default within
> xls2xml).  I imagine there is a way to change that, but I haven't inquired
> yet. (anyone?)

Try bind:required=false()

> Because each question has been mandatory, we put the GPS
> related things at the end, so we could test the rest of the form while
> inside (where the GPS features don't work).  There is even a chance the GPS
> fails when out in the field, so we wanted it at the end.
> Whenever I learn how to make questions optional, this purpose becomes
> irrelevant.

I like putting the photo and gps questions in the beginning of the
survey because those seem to be the most common crashers of the phone.
I've been keeping all questions required and using 'menu' > 'go to
prompt' to skip over the gps question when I'm inside, where the gps
won't work.