Creating a Report and Navigating Explore

Creating a new report or quick report

In the Explore workspace, you can create a new report or quick report by clicking on the New Report button. When in “My Drive” or a Shared Drive, clicking on the New button will show options to create a new report or a new quick report.
After choosing to create a new report or new quick report, the Start report modal pops up allowing for the following sections:
- Name your report - allows for a custom report name to be set, as well as a description of the report, a field that allows for text to describe the contents or purpose of the report.
- Select drive - this section allows for the location of the report to be chosen, either in My Drive or in a Shared Drive (Reports in a Shared Drive are considered shared reports and are accessible by everyone who has access to that drive)
When done, clicking on the Start button advanced to the Select Surveys modal. Note that this entire step can be skipped by clicking the Skip button and advancing directly to Survey Select modal without setting accustomed title or description
In the Survey Select modal, all surveys available to the account are shown. If looking for a specific survey, there are different ways to search, filter and sort the list of surveys:
- Click on the search field and begin typing your query. Hit Enter to trigger your search and if a survey title matches the query, it will be shown
- The search setting on the button on the right of the search field shows you some advanced filters allowing you to filter by provider, language, survey type or year.
- Clicking save applies the filters to the surveys in the modal
- When a filter is applied, black chips are shown to indicate what filter is active on the modal. Clicking on the cancel button of the chip will remove that filter
- Sort surveys by clicking on the dropdown to the right of the search field
- In the survey select modal, hover over the info icon to see more details of a survey such as: trendable status, mappable status and the full title of the survey
- When working with trendable surveys, you can choose up to 5 surveys to trend. As you choose, the provider and trendable chips become greyed out since at this time you cannot trend with different providers and with non-trendable surveys.
  When the max limit of 5 is reached (or for standard surveys, you have chosen a single survey), the rest of the surveys become greyed out
When ready, click on Save to begin your analysis

User Preferences

From the Workspace of Explore, clicking on the settings icon on the left nav bar will open up the User preferences page

Here, you can change the default settings or preferences for each section of the Explore application. Once these are set, they will be used whenever a new report is created (note that these settings are not retroactive, so they will not change the settings of already created reports).

Once you're done making your changes, click on Save changes and the preferences will be used for any new report you create

Clicking on Reset to default will reset all preference to Explore's default setting

Explore’s Top Bar

The top bar in Explore remains consistent throughout the app and has 3 key sections: the left, middle and right section.

Left section

For each module that is actively worked on, if there are different views, they will be shown in this section of the top bar.

Middle section

This section is always the same when working on a report, no matter which module is active. This section has the following:

Title of the report
An Edit button that, when clicked, will open an Update report modal. This modal allows for the Name, Description of the report to be edited, and for Drive of the report to be changed
A survey information button that, when clicked, opens the Survey Information modal to show more details about the survey such as description, total sample size, contact information for survey supplier and other pertinent information (Note that not all surveys will have this information)
The copyright button will allow the copyright information for the survey to be shown

Right section

This section has the following tools and functions that are generally available wherever you are in an open report:

This button allows any action or calculation that was done in the active screen to be undone up to 10 steps back.
A "Change Title" button: clicking on this button allows the global title mode to be changed for all modules of a report. Note that when a report has a mixture of different title modes, the "mixed" option is going to be shown. This option is grayed out until the title mode is set to be the same for all items in the report.
The "Export" button allows for exports of the report. Depending on which module of Explore the report is in, you have different options for the export format. Depending on the format chosen, you have different options when exporting a report, including choosing the selected tablebases for export. You can choose up to 10 table bases for an export. Some formats will only allow for one tablebase to be chosen.
The "Snapshots" button: this allows for snapshots of the report to be taken and saved. Snapshots provide a temporary version of a document that can easily be referenced at a later point in time. Clicking on the "Snapshots" button opens a drop-down that allows for the choice of creating a new snapshot, choosing from an existing list of snapshots to be applied to the report, or opening up the "Manage Snapshots" modal. In the "Manage Snapshots" modal, you have the option of renaming snapshots or deleting them, as well as exporting selected snapshots into an Excel format.
Clicking on the "Save As" button will open the "Save As" modal, allowing the report to be saved with a different name or as a duplicate in a different location. The option also exists to save the report as a quick report.
And then the final option is a "Settings" drop-down. Clicking on this opens a drop-down with different setting options for the report. Options will be explained in a different section.

Explore’s Left Bar

The left bar is the primary way to switch between the different modules of Explore.

By default, all your reports open up in the Data Module, which has the Reports and Coding Grid section.

There's also the Charts Module that has the different kinds of charts that Explore has, including combined Target Charts and single Target Charts.

The P-Maps provides access to the Perceptual Mapping Module, and then, depending on the survey data and if it has geographic data, there's also the Geografix Module that provides access to the mapping tool of Explore.

Finally, there is the Segmentations Module, and within that, you have the option of navigating to Cluster Analysis, Factor Analysis, Correspondence Analysis, or Audience Effects.

The left bar also allows access to the help site at the bottom left, provides a quick way to navigate back to the workspace, and at the very top, you have a button that allows you to view your available apps. This enables you to switch from one app to another quickly.

Report settings

When in the reports section, on the top right, is the settings dropdown. Clicking on that shows you a few different settings and preferences that can be set for your currently active report.

Data Items: Clicking on "Data Items" will open up the Data Items modal. In this modal, you have the option of choosing to see more or fewer data items depending on your currently selected survey, or you can reorder the data items to any specific order that you want. In the Data Items modal, you can also toggle on the "Show Percentage" option, which will show percentages for values that are percentage-based. The default decimal places can also be defined for the report here. Additionally, you can choose to "Reset to Default," which will go back to the explore default setting, as well as click on the "Save" option to confirm your choices.
Clicking on the "Manage Report Items" setting will bring up the Manage Report Items modal. Here, you have a quick and easy way to make adjustments to your rows, columns, and table bases by changing their order or deleting multiple items.
Data Context: "Data Context" opens up the Data Context modal that would allow you to specify how many layers or levels of categories or subcategories title to be shown for each item in your report. Once you click "Apply," Explore will change the title mode to Data Context and apply the relevant settings as chosen from the Data Context modal.
Highlight Values: The "Highlight Values" option opens up the Highlights modal. Here, you have two choices: you can either apply a custom highlight or a gradient highlight. Custom highlights allow for setting up to five highlight rules with different filtering combinations for each of them. It also allows for specific colors to be given to each of the highlight rules. Gradient highlights allow for a gradient highlight to be set across the entire report. This can be applied to the table as a whole, or to only the rows, or to only the columns. The Highlights modal also allows for whichever highlights have been defined to be applied to all report views or to only the active report view.
The Heat Maps modal allows for defining different heat map options based off of the index value across the report. There are options for quartiles, quintiles, and a custom option that simply assigns an index value that is either less than or greater than the specified custom value.
The Stability Flag and Ignore Zero Weighted Respondents toggles are options that affect the display of data within the report. In certain surveys, these options may be grayed out and not accessible to you, while in others you may have the option to toggle them on or off.
Significance Testing allows for statistically significant cells to be highlighted on columns or rows and allows for the choice of the color for the ranges to be displayed to you. The significance is based on the standard t-test for two samples of different sizes. The colors reflect:
- White – no significant difference
- Red – Significant at 90% level
- Orange – Significant at 95% level
- Green – Significant at 99% level
The Manage Custom Audiences option allows you to view all custom audiences that you have created across your entire account. However, you will only be able to edit custom audiences that are compatible with the active survey. In the Manage Custom Audiences modal, you can search for a specific custom audience by title. You can also import a local custom audience JSON file from your system. There's also a filter option that can allow you to choose to see either all custom audiences in your account or only the custom audiences that are compatible with the active report. You can also view custom audiences that are saved in a shared drive by choosing that drive.
Send to Plan: For users who have access to our Plan application, when you are working in a survey that also has media items, you are able to pick and choose audiences to send to Plan so that you can create them in Explore and be able to work with them directly in Plan. Clicking on the "Send to Plan" button will send those audiences to a new reporting plan and open that up for you in a new tab. You can also preview your selected audiences before sending them to Plan.
The Save Custom Audience option allows for you to choose to save any of your columns, rows, or table bases as a custom audience within either your drive or a shared company drive. You can also give a custom name to the custom audience.

Codebook

The codebook is the source from which audience and insights are added to the rows, columns and tablebases. Audiences or targets are usually added to the columns while insights are added to the rows, usually. Additional audiences can be added to the table base, which will act as a filter on the report.

Codes (which are the answers to questions asked) are organized in categories and sub-categories, and clicking on the arrows next to each category or sub-category will open them to view the contents within.

To choose a code, category, or sub-category, click on the checkbox next to the desired item and it will be selected. Multi-select is also possible. When the desired items are chosen, they can be added to the report by clicking on the Add To buttons for the desired location (rows, columns or tablebases) and choosing the method to add the items. The methods are:

Separate: Adds each selected item in its own column or row or tablebase
Combined: When multiple items are selected, presents different options to combine and calculate the selected items into one column, row or tablebase
Volumetric: Opens the Volumetric Modal which allows for the following calculations to be applied either combined to one row, column or tablebase, or separately with each calculated code in its own line: TOTAL, MEAN, MEANZ, MEDIAN, MEDIANZ
Add to Multiple: Opens the Add code to multiple modal which allows selected codes to be applied en masse to multiple items within the codebook.
Count: Applies a Count coding calculation which is a special calculation that only shows respondents who responded to the defined Count number. For example, Count > 3 means that only respondents who answered to more than 3 of the selected codes will be shown

Categories, sub-categories, answers or codes can be searched for by using the search field. When a search is performed, the codebook displays all applicable matches as defined by the search settings. The search settings allows for the following controls:

Toggle to define if searching by code or titles of the codes/categories/sub-categories
Advanced search options to define the match modes which can be one of the following: Any keyword, All keywords, Exact Phrase, Starting with

The filter button next to the search field toggles the filter bar to be active in place of the search bar (the search bar is collapsed into a search icon that can be clicked to bring it back). A filter will only display items within the codebook that match the filter term.

Report views

Explore has different ways to view the data in your report. The crosstab is the default view, but you can switch between all views as you wish.

Crosstab

The crosstab is the default view for reports in Explore, and allows you to examine the relationship between two or more variables (or data items) simultaneously. It typically performs the following functions:

Creates a Cross-Tabulation (Crosstab) Table: It generates a matrix, or table, where the categories of one variable (e.g., demographics like Age) are displayed in the columns, and the categories of another variable (e.g., survey responses like Brand Usage) are displayed in the rows.
Calculates Intersections: It calculates and displays the count, percentage, or index value for the respondents that fall into the intersection of each row and column category. For example, the number or percentage of respondents who are "Aged 25-34" and "Use Brand X."
Data Analysis and Insight: It is fundamental for data analysis, allowing users to quickly identify patterns, correlations, and differences between subgroups within the data. This is crucial for segmentation and targeting efforts.
Supports Statistical Testing: Often, a crosstabbing tool integrates or supports features like Significance Testing to determine if the observed differences between groups are statistically significant (as mentioned in the "Report settings" section).
Base and Data Display: It manages the display of different metrics (like counts, column percentages, row percentages, and total percentages) and the base size for the calculations.

In short, a crosstabbing tool organizes raw data into an easily digestible table format that highlights the co-occurrence of different data points, making it the primary method for most quantitative report viewing and analysis.

Separated rank

The Separated rank view, also known as the Separated rank report, is one of the alternative ways available in Explore to view and analyze your tabulated data, distinct from the default crosstab view.

The Separated rank view organizes the report data by presenting each column in its own table. The rows are included in these individual tables.

The primary utility of the Separated rank view for data analysis is that it allows for easier analysis of data items on a target by target basis.

By separating each column into its own ranked table, the Separated rank view helps users focus specifically on the insights and data items relevant to a single target segment or variable at a time.

Combined rank

The Combined rank report, also known as the Combined rank view, is one of the alternative formats available in Explore for visualizing and analyzing your tabulated data.

The Combined rank view provides a combined view of all the columns and rows in a single table format, with the data items listed as a sub-column.

Presenting all columns, rows and data-items in a single, combined table aids in overall synthesis and comparison across all data segments simultaneously, allowing users to rank and review all variables together in a simpler table format.

Grid report

A grid report allows you to enter a set of codes from different categories/sub-categories as rows and then, if there are identical titles, stacks them for you for easier analysis. These items are typically common responses to different question groups. It is useful for comparing attitudes to magazines or TV channels or even games side by side.

The table is similar to a crosstab table, with an additional sub-column that is the title of the questions/category.

Affinity rank

The Affinity rank (or Affinity report) is a specialized report view in Explore that analyzes the correlation between a target rows or insight and all others within the report.

The term "affinity" in market research refers to the natural relationship or correlation between two variables, representing a specific consumer segment's inclination or preference towards a particular product, service, or brand.

The Affinity Report view is characterized by its use of the Affinity Score:

Calculation: The Affinity Score on a given row is calculated as the sum of squared differences between the %Row values of the subject row and the specified base target.
Setup: To produce the report, a user designates attributes (like gender, income, social grade) in the columns. The affinity targets (the brands or entities being assessed) are positioned in the rows.
Ranking: When the report is created, the platform prompts the user to pinpoint their primary target. Once this is done, Explore will automatically rank the rows based on their Affinity Scores.

Coding Grid

The Coding Grid is a section of the Data Module within Explore that allows for more advanced coding of audiences (targets), and insights within a report. The coding grid has three tabs for the table base, columns and rows. Audience (targets) are typically coded in the columns and Insights or attitudes are typically coded in the rows.

Within each tab is a table that has up to 5 columns for:

Title: the title of the item/code
Code: the raw coding on the item/code
Resps: The number of respondents for that item/code, based on the active tablebase
Population: the total population/audience of the item/code, based on the active tablebase
Group name: the assigned group name of the item/code, usually defined by the category or sub-category of the item/code.

The coding grid has 2 views specific to it, the Standard view and the Treeview. The Treeview allows users to group items in their coding grid by their Group Name and analyze their data easily, while also allows for mass actions to be taken on those items and for certain groups to be hidden for simplified analysis.