Read this before you begin data entry

California Inventory for Family Assessment (CIFA)

by Paul D. Werner, Ph.D. and Robert-Jay Green, Ph.D.

Data Entry Instructions for Computer Scoring

(182 item -- 4 point response format)

Before you start entry of CIFA item data

1. Locate your CIFA project code (assigned to you by Drs. Werner & Green when you were given permission to use the CIFA for research purposes).

2. Assign a family ID number to each family in your research. All CIFAs coming from the same family will have the same family number. If each individual participant in your study represents a different family, the family ID numbers will simply be your participant ID numbers. Our scoring programs will accept family numbers from 001 to 999.

3. Be aware of the CIFA family member and other codes pertaining to your CIFA application (see next pages). For example, how many different kinds of relationships did you assess with CIFA? What is the letter code for each (e.g., HGW)? Did you use the full 182 item CIFA or some other version?

4. Decide whether you can group data for all answer sheets/relationship descriptions into one large file, or whether you will need to divide your data into smaller files.

a. You many need to prepare more than one CIFA item data files, usually one for each relationship/CIFA version employed. (To anticipate the coding instructions given on the following pages, usually you will make a separate item data file for all CIFA responses sharing the same relationship code [e.g., HGW].) In this case, each of the item data files should be prepared in accordance with the attached data entry instructions. Generally, you must separate your item data into smaller files

--- if you want to compute alpha reliabilities on the scales. (Our program expects all CIFAs in a data set to represent the same version, such as wife gives to husband--current relationship.)

--- if different respondents in your research filled out different numbers of CIFAs or different versions of the CIFA. Starting out with your item data in separate files will usually make it easier for you to later merge scale scores for all of the different versions you used.

b. Generally, you would use one large item data file under the following circumstance:

--- if all CIFAs in your study represent only one CIFA version, and if all research participants are in the same family role. For example, you can make one large data file if all respondents are sons in their family and if all are filling out only a son receives from parent--current relationship CIFA.

Return to the Data Entry Instructions for Computer Scoring main page

Return to the California Inventory for Family Assessment home page

Contact information for the authors of the California Inventory for Family Assessment