Missing Presentation Order Data for Latin Square Design in SoSci - How to Track or Recover It?

Question

Hi all,

I’ve been conducting an experiment on SoSci, using a Latin Square design to randomize the order in which participants view different scenarios. The order of the scenarios is randomized as follows:

$sequences = array(
array('sce100', 'sce101', 'sce102', 'sceTrans', 'sce200', 'sce201', 'sce202', 'sceTrans', 'sce300', 'sce301', 'sce302', 'sceTrans', 'sce400', 'sce401', 'sce402'),
array('sce200', 'sce201', 'sce202', 'sceTrans', 'sce300', 'sce301', 'sce302', 'sceTrans', 'sce400', 'sce401', 'sce402', 'sceTrans', 'sce100', 'sce101', 'sce102'),
array('sce300', 'sce301', 'sce302', 'sceTrans', 'sce400', 'sce401', 'sce402', 'sceTrans', 'sce100', 'sce101', 'sce102', 'sceTrans', 'sce200', 'sce201', 'sce202'),
array('sce400', 'sce401', 'sce402', 'sceTrans', 'sce100', 'sce101', 'sce102', 'sceTrans', 'sce200', 'sce201', 'sce202', 'sceTrans', 'sce300', 'sce301', 'sce302')
);

$selectedSequence = $sequences[array_rand($sequences)];

$selectedSequence[] = 'PostScenarios';

setPageOrder($selectedSequence);

Each participant is assigned to one of these randomized sequences, but I’ve encountered an issue: I cannot find the variable that tracks the order in which the scenarios were presented to participants.

The order of the scenarios is crucial for my analysis because I want to ensure there are no confounding effects from the order in which the participants viewed the scenarios.

Questions:

1. Can I retrieve the presentation order from the system or any logs in SoSci?
2. Are there any other workarounds or suggestions for to make up for
   it?

Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

I cannot find the variable that tracks the order in which the scenarios were presented to participants.

This is why we always suggest not to use array_rand(), random() etc., but a random generator. Use this content

sce100, sce101, sce102, sceTrans, sce200, sce201, sce202, sceTrans, sce300, sce301, sce302, sceTrans, sce400, sce401, sce402
sce200, sce201, sce202, sceTrans, sce300, sce301, sce302, sceTrans, sce400, sce401, sce402, sceTrans, sce100, sce101, sce102
sce300, sce301, sce302, sceTrans, sce400, sce401, sce402, sceTrans, sce100, sce101, sce102, sceTrans, sce200, sce201, sce202
sce400, sce401, sce402, sceTrans, sce100, sce101, sce102, sceTrans, sce200, sce201, sce202, sceTrans, sce300, sce301, sce302

(this is 4 "codes" from the perspective of the random generator)

Then draw 4 codes per interview, and use valueList(..., 'label') to get you page order. The random generator will store the order automatically.

Can I retrieve the presentation order from the system or any logs in SoSci?

Unless you worked with a multi-level-structure or your interviews are not FINISHED=1, you cannot post-hoc, no.