Introduction

Introduction

U-Tab is an intuitive software tool that allows you to report, analyse, and chart data. Whilst its primary use is intended to be to analyse data from quantitative surveys, it can equally well be used to analyse and report data from other sources.
Typically, most of the data contained within any U-Tab project will be numerical, but there is also a facility to incorporate free-form comments collected within a survey, or external information that is linked to survey results.
Analyses of the data produced within U-Tab can be exported to MS-Excel, MS-Powerpoint, charted, or copied to other applications via the Windows clip-board. There is also a powerful export facility that allows you to export part or all of the database into MS-Access.

More practically, U-Tab offers a simple 'click-through' method of analysing quantitative data, allowing the user to plot any field against any other based on the full sample or any sub-set. The example project file that comes with U-Tab is perfect for learning the ropes and contains enough information for the new user to experiment with all the functions of U-Tab without risking sensitive data files.
Project file do not come with any pre-formatted tabulations of the data. Instead, users create their own cross-tabulations to suit the needs of the particular enquiry they have at the time. These can be continuously refined, allowing users to investigate significant results from one cross-tabulation by drilling further down into the detail. This avoids having to specify tables in advance by anticipating the results of the research, and also saves having to specify additional cross-tabulations after the results have been produced.
Users specify their cross tabulations by selecting the title for the table they wish to run, and the breaks, or banner, with which they wish to analyse that data. The title determines the row headings, or side heads of the resultant table, while the banner determines the column headings.
Cross tabulations can be further refined by adding up to three additional bases (or filters) to the existing natural bases for the variables shown, each of which may have been derived from any existing information within the data set using U-Tab's powerful variable creation facility.
The title, banner and bases are all selected by picking a variable that the user is interested in from an easily accessible pop-up list held in the project file which can be further extended by specifying new variables constructed from data already held.

See also: Getting started