Setting up coding fields and vocabularies

Overview

Set up a new coding field

• Field name

• Field type

  • Number
  • Yes/No
  • Short text
  • Vocab

• Field options

  • Filterable
  • Multi-valued

Vocabularies

• Making a new vocabulary

• Copying an existing vocabulary

Copy Coding Fields From

Overview

Coding fields are fields that users can edit while coding records in a project. You can create new coding fields from scratch or copy existing coding fields. Coding fields are different from fields uploaded with your source data, which cannot be edited within the project.

After creating or opening a project, go to Set Up Coding Fields to create or manage coding fields. The sections below describe the available options.

Set up a new coding field

Open Set up Coding Fields, then click Add a new coding field. A dialog box will open where you can configure the new coding field. See the sections below for more information about the available field settings.

1. Field Name

   Enter a unique name for the coding field.

2. Field Type

   Select the appropriate field type from the dropdown menu:

   • Number: Use for numerical values.
   • Yes/No: Creates a checkbox with Boolean values: Yes when selected and No when unselected. Because the default value is No rather than blank, consider adding a separate Completed field if you need to distinguish records that have been reviewed and coded No from records that have not yet been coded.
   • Short Text: Use for free-text entries, such as comments.
   • Vocab: Use to select values from a predefined vocabulary when coding records. Using a vocabulary can help standardize coding across coders and make the results easier to analyze. Consider the vocabulary options carefully before coding begins.
     • To create a vocabulary, go to the Controlled Vocabularies tab and select Add New Controlled Vocabulary. You can also use All Vocabularies to copy or edit an existing vocabulary for use in the current project.
     • After adding a vocabulary, return to the Coding tab and select it from the dropdown menu for the coding field.

3. Field Options

   • Filterable: Select Yes to make the field filterable. Long-text fields cannot be used as filters. Filtering works best with categorical fields, allowing you to easily view records that share a specific field value.
   • Multi-Value: Select Yes to allow the field to contain multiple values. This is useful when a record can be coded into multiple categories or when you want to separate entries for easier review. For example, Cancer; Cardiovascular; Metabolic can be treated as a single value or, when Multi-Value is set to Yes, as three separate values. This allows you to select or filter by an individual value, such as Cancer. Separate multiple values with a semicolon (;). If Multi-Value is not selected, the field will contain a single value.
     • Default settings
       • Searchable: By default, coding fields are searchable and exportable, so you do not need to change these settings.
       • Field Order: By default, coding fields appear in the order in which they were added. To change the order, drag and drop the field boxes into the desired order.

Note: Each user with the Coder role has their own response for each coding field. Other coders cannot edit that response.

Coding field types

Multi-valued toggle

Vocabularies

The Controlled Vocabularies tab displays vocabularies available within your project. This includes vocabularies created in the current project and vocabularies copied from another project. Follow the steps below to create or add a vocabulary for a Vocabulary coding field.

Making a new vocabulary

1. Go to the Controlled Vocabularies tab, then click Add new controlled vocabulary.

2. Add vocabulary options by clicking Add new item. When you are done, click Save at the bottom.

3. Return to the Coding tab. For the new coding field with Vocabulary as the field type, select the vocabulary you created from the dropdown menu. Then click Save at the bottom of the screen.

Copying an existing vocabulary

1. Go to the Controlled Vocabularies tab, then click See All Vocabularies.

2. Find the vocabulary you want to copy, then click the Copy button in the Copy to Project column. The copied vocabulary will appear as an available option in the project’s Coding tab. Click Close to return to the project.

Return to the Coding tab. For the new coding field with Vocab as the field type, select the new or copied vocabulary from the dropdown menu. Note that copied vocabularies will say (Copy) when going back to the Coding tab and selecting from the dropdown. Then click Save at the bottom of the screen.

Copy Coding Fields From

(in development)

Alternatively, to copy coding fields from an existing project, click Copy Fields From. A dropdown menu will display the projects available to you. Select the project containing the coding fields you want to copy to your current project.

Access to this feature depends on your project role. See the Adding Collaborators article for more information about roles and permissions.