Table design help!
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From: Hannah on 16 Nov 2009 04:56 Thanks for your in put and apologies for my lousy explanation! You are right Fred in that I don't feel particularly clear on the fundamentals of what I'm doing really at all. And thanks Jeff for suggesting Duane's database, I've downloaded a copy and tried to look closely at what he's done. My main problem is that I've come to this project halfway through and my Access training has been limited. During training, we set up the tables for the first questionnaire (and unfortunately, this doesn't resemble Duane's database much) but I'm now trying to do the second one by myself and I just felt a wee bit confused about what exactly goes where. My entities include multiple surveys, each with different questions and multiple answers, and details about the organisation filling in the survey. Answers can be in a variety of forms (yes/no, write in the blank, multiple choice and multiple choice where they can choose 'other' and specify). My structure at the moment is (and I apologise now for the dreadful explanation): a table with the name of each questionnaire and notes about it. For each questionnaire, this links to a table with the contact details and country of respondent. This links to a table for each of the overarching questions and then I've grouped the smaller questions around these by theme. I know this is nothing like Duane's but it's what we were advised to do in training! What I was wondering about in my earlier post is if it's okay to have a one field table. I've got a smaller question (yes/no) and I wasn't sure whether the question that leads from it ("if yes,...) should be in a separate table. I thought instinctively yes but my training lady put the fear into me about one field tables and I tried reading up on it on the internet but I just seem to tie myself more in knots. I appreciate I'm probably beyond help at the moment (and doubly bad at explaining my problems!) but anything you can offer would be really appreciated. Thanks again for your help already, it's really given me more to think about. "Hannah" wrote: > I'm a bit of an access novice (training on basics, searching for help on the > rest) building a database for a research project. I've tried having a wee > look for this question but I can't spot it anywhere (probably because it's > obvious to everyone else). > > I'm designing my tables and what to put in them and I've hit on something > I'm not very sure about. For some questions there's a yes or no question > (e.g. "do you eat cheese?) and a follow up if they say yes, theres an "if > yes, which of these types..." follow up question. I'm not sure whether I need > to structure these into two different tables or whether I can use one table > for both? I was planning to use tick boxes for these but if there's a better > way, please let me know! Thanks very much for help in advance - I don't know > where I'd be without these groups (well I do, somewhere not very good!)
From: Fred on 16 Nov 2009 08:22 Hello Hannah, First, answering your specific question, one-field tables are seldom useful and seldom "the answer" for what you are trying to do. The one notable exception is to to create a "pick list" for dropdowns etc. One thing that you didn't tell us, but I'm presuming is the case.....will this application be where they actually participate in the survey? I.E. the person sits at the computer, and looks at the questions and answers them through the Access application that you are going to write? - - - - That said, your mission as you describe it is very complex. For you to do it yourself as described would probably require sever years of teaching rather than a post in this group. I think that you are going to have to either simplify it, or else have someone more expert work on it for you. (like pay a developer or something.) But don't use anyone who solicits for business in these forums. Just being honest, which is hopefully helpful.
From: Hannah on 16 Nov 2009 10:07 Hello Fred, Your honesty is very much appreciated - every bit of advice is really useful and I dread to think where I'd be without the amazingly helpful people in this group. In response to your question, this application won't be where the person participates in the survey - they've already filled it in on paper. It will be mainly me that inputs the data but I'm hoping that I can make the application easy enough to use so that other people could use it too (ambitious as this seems given my access skills!) I think this is part of the problem in that the people who designed the questionnaire didn't make it very clear or give much thought to how they were going to analyze the data at all! The other key bit of information I should have written in my description was that after I've put all the data in, it won't be changed or updated in anyway (it's part of a one-off research project). I want people to be able to use the application and see how it's set up but there will be no need to add/change data in future. I definitely agree that this needs simplified but I'm not really sure how to go about it? unfortunately there's no budget for getting someone else to develop it. At the moment, I've got a rudimentary application but I'm far from sure that I'm going aboout it in the best way. Anyway, thanks again for all your help (and patience!) - I genuinely can't tell you how much I appreciate it. "Fred" wrote: > Hello Hannah, > > First, answering your specific question, one-field tables are seldom useful > and seldom "the answer" for what you are trying to do. The one notable > exception is to to create a "pick list" for dropdowns etc. > > One thing that you didn't tell us, but I'm presuming is the case.....will > this application be where they actually participate in the survey? I.E. the > person sits at the computer, and looks at the questions and answers them > through the Access application that you are going to write? > > > - - - - > > That said, your mission as you describe it is very complex. For you to do > it yourself as described would probably require sever years of teaching > rather than a post in this group. > > I think that you are going to have to either simplify it, or else have > someone more expert work on it for you. (like pay a developer or something.) > But don't use anyone who solicits for business in these forums. > > > Just being honest, which is hopefully helpful. > >
From: Fred on 16 Nov 2009 11:54 Hannah, What you just said DOES simplify it: A. The database doesn't have to direct the process of which questions cause which followup questions. Since it is past tense, they are all just questions that may or many not have been answered. B. Your users of the DB will be at least partially skilled or familiarized. That makes things easier. So here are a few more questions after which I or someone could take a guess at a structure to get you started: 1. Do you want the database to "know"/record what the possible / allowable answers are for each question? 2. Do want the database to "know" record the "if then " linkages between questions? 3. Does the DB have to guide the data-enterer along those paths/linkages? (your answer should be NO on this if you want to simplify) 4. Are the same people taking multiple surveys? Are there several "fields" with information on the person (address, city, state, phone etc.)
From: Fred on 16 Nov 2009 12:07
Also: 5. Do you already have a real-world numbering system for people (Like PersonIDNumber) 6. Do your already have a real world naming or numbering system for the questionaires? 7. Do you have a real world numbering system fo the questions. Is it unique across ALL questions, oor just across the questions within on questionaire? |