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I am having individuals write an essay, but their essay data doesn't write to the data file. Do I need to click on something specific to make it do so? They have 10 minutes to write the essay and they also see the 10 minute clock countdown, so a d-600 parameter is specified in both the experiment file, and the individual questionnaire file to make it do so. Could this be affecting it?
Are you looking in the individual essay data text files?
See: http://www.empirisoft.com/medialab/help/data_faq.htm#dataessay
Also search on "essay data" here in the forums for some related issues..
Hello,
I have essay questions also, and simply wanted the participants to have 2 minutes to respond, but no longer. Since they were essays and i did not want them to be abruptly terminated, I was happy to see the countdown option. I placed (d-120) in the .exp file and left the que file alone, but then the continue button remained on. I tried the inverse with (d-120) in the que file, but no countdown clock. At last I decided on (d-120) in the exp file and (d120) in the que file. Now, I have a countdown clock and no continue button...good. BUT data saved irregularly. So, I removed the parameter from the que file. All seemed fine, i ran this morning a trial run- data all there good. BUT no... when the participants came- no data but for 2 of the 18 short essays... not sure if it is the timing- but it seems to be where the problem is. Does the parameter of the que file need to match the parameter of the exp file?
Thanks so much,
Oriana
I see the problem here. Does it make a difference if you set the que duration longer than the exp duration? I'm guessing the exp duration will have priority and so even if you set a d500 duration for the essay, it ought to still end at 120 seconds if you use d120 in the exp file for questionnaire. This way you wouldn't see the continue button and you'd get the countdown and the 2 minute limit *and* possibly would avoid any data problems of having two simultaneous timers of equal duration. Never tried it myself though so let me know if it works. I do know that sometimes data have failed to write in the past as a consequence of conflicting timers on the same item. This can be caused by an item not wanting to "finish" until all timers have been satisfied--but that one timer has caused the item to become disabled--sort of holding it in a state of helplessness. This may or may not apply here--you just have to try it and see. Hope that helps!
Just wanted to follow up on this--any luck?
Hi there,
actually, I started the study with no timer just to be safe. i have not had a chance to tweek it and i am not wanting to change anything once the study has started...but, I so appreciate your answer. I will make a mock file and see if that fixes the problem this week, and get back to you. Thanks for the great support!
No problem. Glad to hear you were able to get started running subjects.
