Selecting a format style

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To do: Selecting a format style Placeholder


Within the mTAB environment, many different format styles are supported for the display of various data types. This page contains a few helpful format style tips to help you make the most use of each of them.


Index Columns

Index Columns provide a very quick and simple way to see for example how various car models differ from the entire sample or how the various models differ from a single other model.


To use index columns, add your row and column questions and select the Index Columns format style for the columns. Then run the tab and you will see a column next to each of the formatted question responses. The numbers represent the % of the sample total figure that each response represents. The Index Column for the Sample Total will be 100 since it is the base column which all of the other columns are compared to by default. To change the base column, highlight the column you would prefer to compare all other columns to. Then simply click on the set base column icon on the toolbar. The Index Column for that column response will fill with 100's and the other index columns will represent a percentage of your new base column.


Total Percentages

Total Percent is a rarely used format that allows you to view the percent of the entire respondent base that the intersection of your row and column questions represent. It can only be used by creating a new format style.


To see what this format does it is easiest to just create a Total % format style and run a tab with it. You will notice that each column (or row) does not add up to 100%, but rather, all of the intersections of column and row added up equal 100%, which can be very useful.


Scratch Format

This is a nice feature "hidden" in mTAB which allows you to create quick custom format styles which cannot be saved. If you just want to quickly do a run which includes certain formatting that no currently existing format style contains and which you do not care to save, Scratch Format is just what you need. To access the feature you should right click on a question which is already in row area or column area and click on Scratch Format. After this point, you build the format style exactly like you would any new format style.