(Hint: I recommend you try these procedures with a tiny portion of your data set, say the first 5 cases and the first 5 variables, to make sure you know how to make the procedures work--and how to save a data file once created.)

1. Load MicroCase. When you get to the FILE MANAGEMENT menu, select NEW FILE.

A. The default option identifies the new file as a STANDARD file which is just as you want it to be.

B. The NEW FILE screen will ask you to describe the file (up to 80 characters, e.g., problem drinking survey block8, 1999). After you’ve described the file, click on the NEXT button at the bottom of the screen.

C. The next screen just confirms your description; click on the FINISH button at the bottom of the screen.

D. When the file has been created, MicroCase will give you a small window, saying that the file has been created. Click on OK to return to the FILE MANAGEMENT menu.

E. Note that the bar in the bottom taskbar says "MicroCase–untitled." Until you save the file, it is untitled.

F. To save the data file: From the FILE MANAGEMENT menu, click on SAVE AS. Do not try to save your file in the DATA folder. Instead use the drop down menu to indicate you want to save the file in the A drive (or the zip drive or the hard drive). Once MicroCase knows to save on some other drive, then click on the FILE NAME space and type the name of your file (up to 8 letters). Click on SAVE. You have now saved the file on your floppy (or some other drive); further the bar in the bottom taskbar should now say "MicroCase–<file name>.mc4." I recommend that as you first define the variables and then enter the data, after every 5-10 variables or every 5-10 cases, you come back to the FILE MANAGEMENT menu and resave the data file. In the event the system crashes or you have some "illegal operation" that shuts you down, you will have most of your previous work saved.

2. Select the DATA MANAGEMENT option from the menu on the left (blue) side of the screen. From the DATA MANAGEMENT menu, select DEFINE AND EDIT VARIABLES. The screen that appears highlights the word UNDEFINED. This is where you type the name (up to ten characters, including spaces) of the first variable. You can follow the model of the GSS and use word names or you can follow the model of the Core Survey and use question number names. Hit the TAB key.

A. Describe the variable. I recommend you type in the question asked. Hit the TAB key.

B. MicroCase now asks for the minimum and maximum values. E.g., for a question that asks class standing with five possible responses (First year, sophomore, junior, senior, other) you might assign "1" to the "first years" ... "4" to "seniors," and "5" to "others." In this case your minimum value would be "1"; hit the TAB key. Your maximum value would be "5"; hit the TAB key.

C. As long as your response codes are whole numbers, you hit the TAB key to skip the space for the number of digits. (If you use decimals, you would indicate the number of decimal places to the number of digits question. E.g., if your variable is GPA such as 3.15, 2.79, etc., you would indicate "2" digits. Then hit the TAB key.) I recommend you use only whole numbers; thus, if your variable is GPA to two decimal places, multiply each response by 100, e.g., 3.15 becomes 315, 2.79 becomes 279.

D. MicroCase now gives you the opportunity to define a label for each of the numerical response codes (up to ten characters). E.g., "FirstYear" for "1," "Soph" for "2," etc. Hit the TAB key in between defining each response code. After you’ve defined the last code, if you discover you’ve made a mistake, click on the word you want to change. Click on CONTINUE at the top of the screen to tell MicroCase that you are finished with one variable and ready to move on to the next one. If your variable has numerical responses (e.g., age, #drinks) you do not need to define the labels for each numerical code; just click on CONTINUE to move to the next variable.

E. A new UNDEFINED appears and you repeat this process until you have entered all the variable names and descriptions and codes and labels. When you are through defining all the variables, click on MENU at the top of the screen to return to the DATA MANAGEMENT menu. Return to the FILE MANAGEMENT menu and save the new version of the data file.

F. If you have a long variable list and don’t have time to define all the variables at one sitting, you can define some of them, SAVE the file, and come back at a later time to finish defining the variables. To do this, select the OPEN A FILE option on the FILE MANAGEMENT menu. Use the drop down menu to indicate the file is saved on a floppy disk (or wherever you saved it), and open the file you have previously saved. When the file is open, switch to the DATA MANAGEMENT menu and then select DEFINE AND EDIT VARIABLES; you can either define more variables or edit the variables already defined. After you’ve entered more variables, be sure to save the new version of the data file.

3. From the DATA MANAGEMENT menu, click on ENTER DATA. Accept the defaults for NEXT CASE and ALL VARIABLES. Click on GRID ENTRY as the way to enter your data. Click on OK. The resulting screen gives you a grid of columns and rows. The columns represent variables, and the rows represent subjects or cases.

A. Starting in the upper left hand corner of the grid, type in the first case’s (person’s) code on the first variable. Hit the ENTER key. MicroCase moves you to the cell for the first case’s code on the second variable; type that number and hit the ENTER key. MicroCase moves you to the cell for the first case’s code on the third variable; enter that number and hit the ENTER key. Continue this process until you have entered all the data for the first case; when you hit ENTER after typing the first case’s code on the last variable, MicroCase will then move you to the second row, first column and you repeat this process for the second case.

B. Be very careful typing in the numbers. Typos are easy to make, but destroy the value of the data. If you type a code less than the minimum or greater than the maximum that you indicated when you defined the variable, MicroCase will prompt you that your code is out of range. Click on OK to get rid of this prompt; then click on the mistyped number to correct it.

C. If a respondent didn’t answer a question, you have "missing data." When you get to the column for that variable, hit the ENTER key to skip the column. MicroCase will assign the case to a missing data category.

. D. When you have entered the last variable for the last case, DO NOT hit ENTER. Hitting ENTER will move you to the next row, and even though you enter no data, MicroCase will recognize that row as an additional case with all missing data.

E. When you have entered all the variable codes for all the cases, click on MENU at the top of the screen. Be sure to SAVE this version of the data file on your floppy disk.

F. If you do not have time to enter the data for all cases in one sitting, you can save the partial data set and come back at a later time to finish entering the data. When you come back, you open the file you’ve created using the OPEN A FILE option from the FILE MANAGEMENT menu. (Follow the directions in 2F above.) Then switch to the DATA MANAGEMENT menu and select ENTER DATA from the DATA MANAGEMENT menu. Select GRID ENTRY. MicroCase puts you at the end of the data you’ve already entered ready to enter the data for a new case; you can look at (or edit or add a new variable to) the already entered data by clicking on the up arrow on the scroll bar on the far right side of the screen. When you are through entering or editing data, be sure to save the new version of the data file.

4. LIST DATA on the DATA MANAGEMENT menu allows you to look at the data file. This may be useful if your initial analysis gives you unexpected results and you suspect a coding error of some sort.