With ready Data and CCs worksheets, we might ask Lertap for some results.

 

In this regard, I know that quite a number of people run Lertap in "production mode".  When the production mode option has been turned on, getting Lertap to produce its copious number of "reports" is almost always just a one-click operation.  (Read about production mode here.)

 

The advantage of using production mode?  Time savings.  A Data worksheet with results from thousands of students can take several minutes to fully process.  (More if you're using Excel 2013; see our time trials.)  Using production mode means you can let Lertap do all its things without having to manually direct it from one task to the next.

 

The disadvantage of using production mode?  Your data might have errors; Lertap's results might be based on bad data.  Before getting Lertap to make its many captivating tables and graphs, it's best to have a roll with the data first.

 

Back in the "good old days", whenever they were, researchers with fresh data in hand usually undertook a series of steps to the check on the integrity of their data before starting to get into data analysis.  Errors in data processing are much more common than you might imagine.

 

Lertap's main aide in this regard is its "Freqs" report.  However, Excel is no slouch when it comes to data snooping.  It can readily be used to check data quality, as I discuss in the next topic.