Crosstab is short for cross-tabulation (also known as a contingency table). This report type allows users to examine the data by subgroups and create frequency tables cut by the options of the column variables. This reveals the distribution of said variable(s) across the options for the defined row variable(s). The purpose of a Crosstab report is to show the relationship between one or more question/variable rows and the selected columns.
The following table displays an example of a Crosstab. In Crosstab terminology, each column across the top is called a banner point, and the collection of columns are collectively known as a banner. A banner can be comprised of a single question or, as shown in this example, more than one question. The rows, also known as the stub, contain the full distribution of responses. These can be displayed as percentages and/or counts; additional metrics, such as nets that combine responses, or summary statistics (e.g., standard deviations), can be included as well.
Note: As of r8.0+, report viewer permissions have changed. Anyone with the survey role of Manager or higher can view all data cuts and reports. However, all users with lower survey permissions can only see reports and data cuts created by other users within their same organization/domain by default.
Starting in r8.2+, survey Managers+ have the power to grant specific user access on each report, either when saving the report or later, within the Deliverables applet under Actions > User Access.
Creating a Crosstab
To access the Crosstabs Reports applet, select the Crosstabs option under the Reports button group.
The Crosstab Reports applet only interacts with the Published (Pub) version of the survey. If a survey has any unpublished changes (as indicated by the yellow triangle in the screenshot below), these changes will not be represented in the Crosstabs report. To see the most recent version of a survey in Crosstabs, publish the survey again. For more information on Published and Development survey versions, please refer to Dev and Pub Mode.
To create a Crosstab, first specify the records that are to be used for the report by clicking on the Filter button under Report Configuration. The default selection is all Completes, and the number of completed surveys appears in parentheses. Records can also be selected by IDs, Dates/Times, or Data Cuts, and multiple items may be chosen for the filter. For more information about selecting records for inclusion in reports, see Reporting Record Selector.
Next, select the columns and rows to include in the report using the Columns and Rows sections of the Report Configuration. Each of these sections allows for users to either type in the text box or use the pulldown menu to select their options via the Field Selector.
To select columns, click the cursor in the Columns textbox/pulldown menu. In addition to all survey fields, any data cuts within user-created comparison groups will show in the Field Selector option tree under Comparison Groups (see below). Selections can be removed individually by clicking the "X" on each selection in the textbox, or all can be removed by clicking the Reset button to the right of the Columns box.
To select rows, specify the fields by clicking the cursor in the Rows textbox/pulldown menu or click the All Rows button to select all fields. Note that comparison groups (e.g., 'CGrp-101' illustrated above) can only be added to columns, not rows. To add nets to tables, see the Nets & Metrics section below.
Tip! User-created data cuts only show up as column options if they are contained in a comparison group. For more information on creating comparison groups, click here.
Additional configuration options
Next, select any additional pertinent configuration options in the Report Configuration.
The following options are available for additional report configurations:
Display of Values: Data can be displayed in Crosstab reports as Percents Only, Counts Only, or both Percents and Counts. Percents Only is the default display option.
Statistical Significance Tests: Crosstab reports can be configured to identify and display statistically significant differences between values in the columns of the report. Columns are identified with letters, with the first column in the report represented by "A," the second column by "B," etc. The default statistical significance testing option is No sig tests. To show statistical significance between results in the columns, select Show Sig Tests.
Significance testing is performed within questions at both the 90% and 95% confidence intervals, and significant results are displayed by letters.
- A lowercase letter means the value is statistically different from the value in the comparison column at a 90% confidence interval.
- An uppercase letter indicates a statistically significant difference at a 95% confidence interval.
Tip! Crosstab reports use Z-tests for calculations involving closed-end questions (proportions) and T-tests for open-ended numerical questions.
Example of significant difference
The following figure illustrates the display of statistical significance in Crosstabs. As shown, there is a statistically significant difference at a 95% confidence level between the results shown in column D versus those in columns E or F (e.g., a significantly smaller percentage of those under age 35 (column D) indicated that Grooming services were ‘least effective’ versus either those aged 35-44 years old (column E) or 45-54 years old (column F).
Weights: Weights can be applied to the data in Crosstab reports via the Weights box in the Report Configuration. Unweighted is the default setting for Crosstab reports, but clicking on the Weights box will display any existing weights in the data set that can be applied to the report. When weights are applied to the Crosstab report, both the weighted and unweighted base sizes will be displayed.
Note that the Weights box will be grayed out/unavailable if there are no weights in the data set. For more information on creating and using weights, refer to Using weights.
Actions
Once fields have been selected for the columns and rows, the Actions menu will become active, and (up to) the first 10 tables will be generated for on-screen display.
Saving reports
To save a Crosstab report, click Actions > Save. The Save Report modal will appear, prompting the user to add a file name in the Description field and to add any additional users in the User Access section. Click Save to finish saving the report.
The User Access option allows users with the correct permissions to designate which users may access the report. Currently, survey Managers+ have the ability to grant access to other users. If not set, anyone with the survey role of Manager+ can view all reports; meanwhile all other users with lesser survey permissions can only see reports created by users within their same organization/domain. The modal is broken into three sections - Domain, which lists all domains from all users with access to the survey (with the exception of IntelliSurvey); Individuals, which lists all individual emails in alphabetical order; and Default, which is an un-editable section of users with permanent access to the report. Any users that already have access by default will be included at the bottom of the list, and their access cannot be removed. Lastly, a user must already have access to the survey to be added to the report. To provide access to a user, simply check the box next to the individual's domain or next to the individual's email.
Tip! If a client typically asks to add more users at various stages of a project (e.g., adds new colleagues for data analysis at the end of a project) it is helpful to grant access to the client's domain so that all current and future users from that organization have access.
Click Save to continue.
To check or amend which users can access a file post-saving, go to Actions > User Access. Note this option will not appear in the Actions menu unless the report has been saved. To add or remove users, check or uncheck the boxes next to their names as needed. Click Save to continue.
Once a report has been saved, the filters will disappear, and a light blue bar will appear below the applet menu bar. The Saved Report banner contains the report description, the Copy Client URL button, and the Edit Report button.
Tip! Saved reports can also be accessed for viewing or editing via the Deliverables applet.
Download
Exporting is the only way to generate Crosstab reports containing more than 10 fields. Users may also elect to download the report as either an Excel spreadsheet or PDF. To download the report, select either Excel option or PDF from the menu.
Excel single sheet report
The Excel (single sheet) option creates a set of Crosstabs (a.k.a., a "tab book"), where all tables are on a single sheet. Additionally, a Table of Contents sheet is included with hyperlinks that allow the user to jump to each table.
Excel multiple sheet report
The Excel (multiple sheets) option creates an Excel workbook where each table is on a separate sheet in the book. This export type also includes a Table of Contents with hyperlinks that allow the user to jump to each table.
PDF report
The PDF button creates a typical tab book in PDF format.
Save export
It is also possible to save a Crosstab report after downloading. Immediately after the export file has successfully ran and downloaded, the Save and Notify pane will appear. If the report wants to save the export to re-run and export again, the user can check Save this Crosstab run under exports as <fill in name here> or can simply click the Save as export button to save the export with a system generated file name.
Nets and metrics
A variety of pre-defined and user-created nets and summary statistics can be added to a Crosstab report. To add, click on the Nets & Metrics button in the Report Configuration, which will open the Nets and Metrics window on the right side of the screen. Selecting Add Metric opens a menu with the nets and metrics available to the Crosstab report.
Pre-defined nets
Nets are commonly used to combine either high or low response options from scale questions (e.g., 5, 7, or 10 point scales). The following pre-defined nets can be selected and added to a Crosstab report:
- Top 2 Box net combines the results from the highest two points on a scale (e.g., a top 2 box net on a 1 to 5 scale combines the '4' and '5' responses).
- Top 3 Box net combines the results from the highest three points.
- Bottom 2 Box net combines the results from the lowest two points on a scale (e.g., a bottom 2 box net on a 1 to 5 scale combines the '1' and '2' responses).
- Bottom 3 Box net combines the results from the lowest three points.
To add pre-defined nets to the Crosstab report, click on the Add Metric button under the Nets and Metrics pane, and select the desired Top/Bottom Net.
This will open the Net/Metric Editor pane. Click the cursor in the Questions box and select the first question to which the net should be applied. Note that the initial question selected will restrict additional selections to questions that share the same format (e.g., if the first question selected is a 5 point rating scale question, only other 5 point rating scale questions will be available for selection thereafter).
Once a net and question(s) have been selected, the metric, its description, and parameters will be displayed in the Net/Metric Editor. Users may change the description by clicking in the Description field and typing a new description. Additional metrics can be added to the existing set of questions to which the first net has been applied by clicking on the Add Another Metric to Set button.
Once all desired metrics have been selected, click on the Submit button at the bottom of the page. The question(s) and metrics applied will be displayed in the top half of the Nets and Metrics pane. Click on the Close button at the bottom of the screen to see the metrics in the Crosstab.
Note: In order to see the applied metrics in the Crosstab report, the question(s) to which they have been applied must be included in the Rows box, and the Nets & Metrics display must be set to one of the "ON" options. See Nets & Metric Display Options for more information.
Custom nets
Users who need to create nets other than the pre-defined nets listed above can also create custom nets. To add a custom net to the Crosstab report, click on the Nets & Metrics button. Then, in the Nets and Metrics pane, click on the Add Metric button and select Custom Net.
This will open the Net/Metric Editor pane. Click the cursor in the Questions box and select the question(s) to which the net should be applied.
The metric, description, and parameters will then be displayed in the Net/Metric Editor.
Initially, the Description field will be Custom Net and Parameters will display all options in the question. To edit the description and adjust the parameters, either doubleclick on the cell in the Description column or click the Edit button to bring up the Add Metric: Custom Net modal.
Metrics
In addition to nets, there are a number of other metrics/descriptive summary statistics that are frequently used in data analysis.
The following metrics are available from the Add Metric menu in the Nets and Metrics pane:
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Max | The highest or maximum selected value in a numeric question. |
| Min |
The lowest or minimum selected value in a numeric question. |
| Mean | Also known as the average, is calculated by summing all the values and dividing by the number of values. |
| Median |
The value that would be in the middle if all values were in an ordered list. |
| Std. Dev. | Standard deviation, also known as standard error, indicates how widely values vary from the group mean. If individual values vary considerably from the group mean, the standard deviation is large; conversely, if individual values do not vary much from the group mean, the standard deviation is small. |
| Range | The difference between the largest and smallest values. |
| Percentile |
Uses the Nth percentile of a data set as the value at which N percent of the data is below it (e.g., 90th percentile displays the value at which 90% of the data is below it). |
To add any of the listed metrics to a question or questions:
From the Nets and Metrics pane on the right side of the screen, click on the Add Metric button and select the desired metric. Click the cursor in the Questions box and select the question(s) to which the Net should be applied.
Note that when adding the Percentile metric to a question or questions, the default percentile that will be displayed in Parameters is '50'. To change the percentile, double click in the Parameters cell and the Add Metric: Percentile pop-up will appear, allowing the user to either edit the Description or Percentile fields.
Users may also edit the percentile by selecting the metric in the Net/Metric Editor, and then select the Edit button.
Once the metric definition is completed, click on Submit at the bottom of the screen, and then Close at the bottom of the next screen. The Crosstab preview will now appear, displaying the new metric (provided the question(s) to which it applies is/are in the Rows box in the Report Configuration and the Net & Metrics Display has been set to one of the ‘ON’ settings). See Nets & Metrics Display Options (below) for more information.
Nets and Metrics display options
The way in which nets and/or metrics are displayed is configurable via the dropdown box next to the Nets & Metrics box in Report Configuration. The default option is OFF: No nets/metrics displayed.
There are, however, four other options that allow nets and metrics to be displayed in the Crosstab report:
- ON: Nets/metrics displayed on both summary & individual tables.
- ON: Nets/metrics displayed only on summary tables. Hide individual tables.
- ON: Nets/metrics displayed only on individual tables. Hide summary tables.
- ON: Nets/metrics displayed only on summary tables.
Training video - Nets and metrics
Review the following video to see custom nets and metrics applied to real survey data. This video is for software releases prior to r9.
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