Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use Windows® Vista® with the Perception Analyzer?
Version 7.1 will run with Vista with the following restrictions:
- The VillageTronic® VTBook® and Margi® Display-to-Go PC-cards are not compatible with Windows Vista. (There is a new device available that is Vista and 7 compatible. Please contact us for details.)
- The Help files, accessed by pressing the F1 key, are not available.
- Digital video linked with Moment-to-Moment questions will not play properly.
A new version of the software that addresses the second two items above will be available in autumn of 2008.
Why won't my respondents' question display properly fill the monitor screen connected to the participant display PC-card or USB-VGA adapter?
This problem results from an incorrect configuration of the respondentas' question display position set in the Perception Analyzer software. Please refer to the following instructions for proper configuration of the external respondents' question display:
My notebook computer doesn't have a serial port. How do I connect my Perception Analyzer console interface?
You can use a USB-to-serial adapter available from a local computer retailer. A USB 1.1 port can be used; a high-speed USB 2.0 port is not required.
We recommend this adapter available from Cables to Go.
Drivers for this adapter are available here.
To configure the USB-to-serial adapter:
- Start the computer and install the adapter drivers as instructed in the adapter's documentation. Reboot your PC, and then connect the USB to serial adapter to the computer. Windows executes the Found New Hardware wizard.
- Determine the COM port in use by the adapter. On the Windows desktop (Win95/98/ME) or the Start menu (Win2000/XP) right click on My Computer and select Properties. Select the Hardware tab, and then open the Device Manager dialog window. Open the Ports section of the list and locate the listing for the installed adapter. Make a note of the COM port number used by the device (e.g. "COM5"). If the USB-to-serial adapter is not listed here, then the adapter is not properly installed.
- In the Windows Start menu, select Programs, then Perception Analyzer, then Setup. The Perception Analyzer Setup dialog will open. Click the Advanced button. The Advanced Properties dialog window will open. In the Default Comm Port field, enter the number of the COM port used by the adapter. Click OK when finished.
Notes:
- If the Collect software module is unable to connect to the console, and if the adapter is plugged in to a different USB port than was used when the adapter was installed, the adapter may have switched to a different COM port. Check the COM port used in the Device Manager after reconnecting the adapter.
- Some adapters that are specifically marketed for connecting personal digital assistant (PDA) devices to a computer's USB port are not compatible with Perception Analyzer use. One problem that can occur is that Perception Analyzer communication with the dials is unacceptably slow.
My notebook computer doesn't have a PC-card slot, or it only has one of the newer ExpressCard slots. How do I connect my Margi Display-to-Go or VTBook card?
These PC-card displays will not work with an external USB PC-card adapter. You must use a newer USB-VGA display adapter. Please contact us for availability.
I created question rotations for my project, but the questions did not appear in the rotated order when I opened my project in Collect.
This problem occurs if the question rotations that were created are not assigned to be used for specific sessions of respondents. The assignment of rotations to sessions is done in the Edit Sessions dialog accessed from the Project drop-down menu in the PAEdit software.
How do I edit some of the data I collected or create data for a new question that wasn't asked with the dials?
Perception Analyzer data may be edited by hand in two ways when the project is open with the PAReport software.
- You may use the Clean Data>Advanced function available in the File menu to view dial responses on a question-by-question, respondent-by-respondent basis. This is the easiest choice for making spot edits to individual responses.
- You may export all your data from the Report software module to an ASCII-text file for editing in a text editor or Microsoft® Excel®. Microsoft® WordPad® is one text editor that is available for free in Windows' Programs>Accessories menu. Save the data using the Save As command in the Report software. After editing, the ASCII-text file may then be re-imported to the data files using the Report software's File>Import command.
You can create a new question and enter the data manually using either of the methods mentioned above. Simply return to the PAEdit software and enter the question as you would have before data collection. When you reopen the project in the PAReport software, you can enter the data for the question using the Clean Data>Advanced function or by exporting the empty question to an ASCII text-file, recoding the data in a text editor, and then importing the data to your data files.
While PA automatically makes backups of your session data files when they are changed in any way, it is also a good idea to copy your original data files to another location for safekeeping.
What can I do to fix too small or too large question text when printing tables to Adobe PDF Writer?
You can use Adobe® Acrobat® to create a PDF file of selected Perception Analyzer cross-tabulated tables and graphs. When you have Acrobat installed on your Perception Analyzer computer, use the Perception Analyzer Report software's Print Setup dialog to select Acrobat as your printer. Best results may be achieved using the Acrobat Distiller print driver rather than the PDF-Writer driver. In some instances you might also need to adjust the font sizes of the question text. Verify before printing with Print Preview. A PDF file will be created containing all the questions selected in the question list. If desired, use Acrobat's page insertion feature to create a PDF file containing a combination of graphics and tables.
PDF files are convenient because they can be distributed electronically to your clients, and all tables and graphs contained within can be printed with one click from Acrobat Reader.
What do I do when certain functions in Report, like 'Clean Data' and 'Editor', are not available (grayed-out)?Please contact us for assistance in resolving this issue.
I frequently have to adjust the size of the subset labels on Moment-to-Moment questions. Is there any way to make this easier?
A challenge in formatting Moment-to-Moment graphs has been in setting the font sizes for subset labels at a size that is large enough to be clear on a video overlay but not so large as to be truncated by the edges of the available display area. Beginning in Perception Analyzer version 7.0, a feature called Auto-Resizing can be activated to automatically optimize the font size of subset labels. Auto-Resizing automatically reduces the font size of the labels to fit the space, no matter the number of labels, the length of text, or whether or not you are in Full Screen View. In fact, you can set your subset labels to the largest possible size (72 points) and let the Perception Analyzer software do the rest.
Activate Auto-Resizing on the MtM (moment-to-moment) tab of the Display Properties dialog window. Note that in version 7.0, that dialog is only available from PA-Report.
