Degree Table Generator Help

Overview

The Degree Table Generator is a tool that allows internet users to access aggregate information about degrees awarded by GVSU.   Using the table generator, getting the information you want about GVSU degree conferrals is a simple drag-and drop process, but the tool has the flexibility to help you get exactly the data you need without a lot of unnecessary information.

The table generator consists of two principal parts:

1. About a dozen blue boxes which represent the characteristics that can appear in your table ("Pods");
2. A gray table diagram (at the bottom of the page), with white boxes representing the ways the data can appear in the table ("Slots").

For example, if you put the Level pod into one of the of the slots labeled "Row", it would specify a table that looks something like this:

The table shows the number of degrees awarded by level, with the levels listed down the left side of the table. (You specified Level as a "Row" variable, so the table has a row for each level.) If you put Level in one of the slots labeled "Column" instead, the table would look like the following, with the levels listed across the top of the table:

When you've designed your table the way you want it to appear, click the "Submit Request" button, and your table will be created exactly as you've requested, and you can read it in your browser, print it, go back and modify the specifications, or open it up as a spreadsheet.

The parts of the window:

The available pods -- Here you'll find all of the variables you can use to design your table. The table diagram -- This is where you create your table layout. The white boxes are empty slots. Help and Table options -- The buttons on the left side of the page allow you to (a) access this help page, (b) specify whether you want an HTML table or a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, (c) save or restore a pre-defined table layout, (d) submit your table request, or (e) reset all parameters to their initial values.

How to move a pod:

The easiest way to move a pod is just to click it and drag it to where you want it to be. Use the left mouse button to click and drag the pod, and release the button over the desired location to drop the pod. Pods can only be dropped in appropriate slots or in their "home" location. If you drop a pod anywhere else on the page, it will return to its "home" location. The home location is the space reserved for the pod in the list of available pods (the upper 2/3 of the page).

You can also move a pod by using its options menu. Left click on the pod to view the list of actions you can take with the variable. Among the options listed will be a list of places where the pod can be moved. These options will include some, but not all, of the following:

• Make it a COLUMN variable -- puts the pod in the highest available "Column" slot.
• Make it a ROW variable -- puts the pod in the highest available "Row" slot.
• Make it a PAGE variable -- puts the pod in the "Page" slot.
• Make it a DATA variable -- puts the pod in the highest available "Data" slot.
• Promote it -- Moves the variable to the next higher slot within the same table dimension. For example, a pod in the second "Row" slot can be promoted to the first "Row" slot.
• Demote it -- Moves the variable to the next lower slot within the same table dimension. For example, a pod in the first "Row" slot can be demoted to the second "Row" slot.
• Remove it from the table -- sends the pod back to its "home" location.
  
  For information about the difference between higher and lower slots within a table dimension, see the section on slot order below.

If you move a pod (either by drag-and-drop or the pod options menu) to a slot that is already occupied by another pod, the pods will trade places, with the displaced pod going to the place where the pod you moved started. (If the pod you moved was in its "home" location, the displaced pod will go to its own home, not to the exact spot where the new pod was located.) If the displaced pod is not allowed to occupy the slot from which you moved the new pod, the displaced pod will go to its home location instead.

Other things you can do with a pod:

In addition to moving a pod into, around in, or out of the table, there are several other useful actions available from the pod options menu. Not all options are available for all pods, and some options are context-sensitive -- they only appear on the options menu when the situation makes them appropriate.

The following actions may be available from the options menu:

• See more details about it in the data dictionary -- Opens this help page to the Data Dictionary entry for the variable. The data dictionary contains more extensive information about the variable, its values, and its formatting.
• Control the way values will be grouped in the table -- Opens the Formatting Window for the variable. The formatting window allows you to customize the way values of certain variables will be grouped in your table. This option is only available for selected variables and only when those variables are in a "Row", "Column", or "Page" slot.
• Allow duplication of records for students with multiple values -- Set the duplication flag for this variable. See Duplication for details. This option is only available for selected variables and only when those variables are in a "Row", "Column", or "Page" slot.
• Disable duplication of records for students with multiple values -- Remove the duplication flag for this variable. See Duplication for details. This option is only available for selected variables and only when those variables are in a "Row", "Column", or "Page" slot.
• Use it for record selection -- Opens the Record Selection Window for the variable. The selection window allows you to limit the population included in your table to those students with certain values of the variable.
• Clear its record selection setting -- Removes any current selection parameters for the variable. This option only appears if record selection parameters have been set (either by you or by default).
• Do nothing -- Closes the option window without making any changes. (Note that clicking the "X" at the upper right of the options window has the same effect.)

The parts of the table (the slots)

A table can show your information in up to four different ways: across the columns of the table; down the table in rows; broken up into many different table pages; or as the data element summarized within the table's individual cells.  The following example illustrates the 4 types: (Some examples throughout this document are from the Section Table Generator, which shows data on course sections, but the concepts illustrated apply equally to all of the table generators.)

The Table Generator allows you to select up to 2 column variables, up to 2 row variables, and one page variable.

The significance of order within table dimensions

With both the column and row elements, you have the option of nesting variables. Nesting a variable means that the different levels of the second variable will be shown for each level of the first variable.  For the "Column" slots, a variable in the right-hand slot will be nested within the variable in the left-hand slot. For "Row" variables, the variable in the lower pod is nested within the variable in the upper slot. In both cases, if there is only one variable specified for that particular dimension (that is, only one "Column" variable or only one "Row" variable), it makes no difference which of the two slots it occupies.

The tables below give examples of nested "Row" variables. In the first table, Course Level values are nested within Night/Weekend categories, while the second table has Night/Weekend nested within Course Level. Note that the same data are displayed either way, although the presentation differs slightly.

Table Layout Hints

1. Only use variables that you actually need.
2. Use record selection to trim the amount of data your table presents.
3. If you use variables with lots of different values (like Major or Emphasis), use them as row variables, since row variables take up much less space on your screen or page than column or page variables.

• Selecting a range:

  
  

  To select a range of values, simply enter the lower and upper bounds of the range in the appropriate boxes in the selection window. The default contents of the text boxes, "Low" and "High", are special values which can be used to create open-ended ranges. For example, "Low" to "35" is how you would select all values less than or equal to 35. (Note that selection ranges include both their lower and upper bounds.)
  You also have the option of excluding the values in the range (and keeping all others). To do this, select "Exclude" instead of "Include" in the first selection box.

  The only Degree Table Generator variable that allows range selection is Age.

• Selecting specific values:

  
  

  To make a single selection from the drop-down list, just click the desired value. To make multiple selections, select the first value by clicking it, then make subsequent selections by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking the additional values.

Applying your selections

When you have designated your selection criteria, click the "Done" button. The pod for which you just created selection criteria will now have asterisks (*) in its upper corners as a visual reminder that you have made exclusions. (Note that Term always has this appearance. See below for an explanation.)

If you specify selection criteria for more than one variable, those criteria are compounded -- Degrees/graduates must meet all selection criteria to be included in the table. For example, if you select "Baccalaureate" for Level and "Journalism' for Major you will get data only for Journalism bachelors degrees. (In logic terminology, you're making "and" operations, not "or" operations.) With these selections you could get the following simple demographic breakdown of recipients of Journalism bachelors degrees:

To remind you that your table shows a subset of GVSU degrees rather than the entire population, there will be a small extra table at the end of each report that summarizes the selection criteria you submitted.  For the example above, the summary table looks like this:

Summary of Record Selection Criteria

You can generate tables with GVSU degree data from a single semester or from multiple semesters. By default, tables will include data from the most recent semester.

Note that selecting more than one term in this step will not automatically result in a table that shows trend data.  You must also include Term as a table element (That is, the pod should be in the table diagram). If you use multiple terms' data, but do not specify Term as a table variable, data will be aggregated across terms. It is not possible to unduplicate by term (that is, to count how many individuals meet certain criteria in at least one term in a multi-term range). If you need unduplicated counts for a multi-semester period, please contact the Office of Institutional Analysis directly.

With some variables, you have a choice about how the values will be categorized in your table. This allows you more flexibility to create the table precisely the way you need it. For example, if you need to compare information about degree recipients who were under 28 to those who were at least 28 years old, the default age categories (above) don't give you the information you need. You can use the formatting window for Age to tell the table generator to use a single cutpoint at 28, and your table will have just two age categories -- representing "Under 28" and "28 and Older".

There is only one variable (Age) that allows formatting options in the Degree Table Generator. A default rule for separating the Age values into categories has been assigned (described in the data dictionary entry for Age), but you can apply a customized formatting rule if you want.

The custom formatting rule for a continuous variable can take either of two forms: a list of specific cutpoints, or an interval for equal-size ranges.

• To designate specific cutpoints, simply type the cutpoints in ascending order, separating the values with commas. For example if you want to see data about three groups of graduates -- those who were under 22, those who were exactly 22, and those who were older than 22 -- you would type "22,23" (without the quotation marks) in the formatting window for Age.
• To designate intervals, you use the form "byRatL", where R is the size of each range and L is the low end of the lowest interval. For example "by10at15" specifies that each of the categories should span 10 units (years, in the case of Age), and the lowest 10-year range should start at 15. This would result in categories like 15-<25, 25-<35, 35 -<45, etc. Note that any values that are less than L will still be reported in a catch-all category labeled ".-<15". Either R or L or both can be a negative number or a decimal, but they cannot contain letters, special symbols (other than "-" and "."), or spaces. (Quotation marks in these instructions are for clarity -- you should not type them in the formatting window.)

• College of Major
• Major
• Emphasis
• Minor

   Following is a list of data elements available in the Degree Table Generator.  A list or range of the extant values is given for each element.  Definitions or explanations are provided for selected elements/values.

• Term
• College of Major
• Major
• Emphasis
• Level
• Degree
• Minor
• Honors
• Ethnicity
• Gender
• Citizenship
• Age
• Native / Transfer
• Count

• BA
• BBA
• BFA
• BM
• BME
• BS
• BSE
• BSN
• BSW
• DPT
• MA
• MBA
• MED
• MHA
• MHS
• MNM
• MPA
• MS
• MSA
• MSE
• MSN
• MST
• MSW

• .-<18
• 18-<19
• 19-<20
• 20-<22
• 22-<25
• 25-<30
• 30-<40
• 40-<50
• 50-<60
• 60-<HIGH