The interview workflow broken down into steps

Due to Onyx’s highly customizable nature, we cannot tell you which stages you will see when you enter the Interview page or the exact names of the stage statuses and stage actions that you will see, but we can tell you–more or less–what you will do each time you enter the Interview page.

Basic Workflow

The basic workflow of an interview is as follows:

1. Enter the Interview page. You enter the Interview page. You look at the list of stages and determine the next stage that must be done.

   Consent is usually the first stage. If it hasn’t been obtained, you must obtain it.
2. Start a Stage. You start a stage. You would usually do the next stage that is “ready” and has a “start” action available for it.

   Depending on how your study customized Onyx, an action window may be displayed when you select a stage action (start, pause, resume, and so on).

   If an action window is displayed, you must complete it to confirm your identity and the identity of the participant, and, in some cases, to enter a comment explaining why the action was necessary.
3. Work your Way through the Stage. When you are inside a stage, you follow the directions displayed onscreen to collect the data required for the stage.

   You step through the pages of the stage by selecting the Next and Previous buttons. If you need to pause or cancel the stage, you select the Administration button.
4. Finish the Stage. When you have completed all the pages of a stage, the Finish button is displayed. You select the Finish button.

   Depending on how your study customized Onyx, you may have to complete an Action dialog.

   After that, you can start working on another stage or you can exit the Interview page (for example, you may need to take a break or pass the interview over to another staff member).

5. Do all data-collecting stages. You would repeat B, C, and D for each stage.

6. Conclude the Interview. Studies usually define a conclusion stage. If your study defined a conclusion stage, you would do it after all data-collecting stages have been completed (or skipped if your study allows this for certain stages).

   You complete a conclusion stage in the usual fashion: start, next, next, next, finish. After, this all the stages will have the status “completed” (or “skipped”).

   The interview is closed. You cannot make any changes to the data.

7. Exit the Interview. You exit the Interview page in the usual way, by selecting either of the Interview Exit buttons.

Common Alternative Steps

Here are some alternative steps that you will probably use fairly often:

• Pause the Stage. If you need to pause a stage, you select the Administration button and then the Pause button in the Administration dialog.

  You will have to fill out an Action dialog again to confirm your identity and the participant’s identity. After that, you can exit the Interview page.

  Later, when you or another Onyx user wants to continue working on that stage, you re-enter the Interview page, and you will be able to resume the stage.
• Exit the Interview. If you leave a stage by pausing or finishing it. You can exit the Interview page, if necessary, by selecting either of the Interview Exit buttons.

  You will be able to re-enter the stage later, if you need to complete it or modify it.
• Re-enter the Interview page of a participant. You can always re-enter the Interview page of a participant immediately or afterward, by selecting the Interview action for the participant in the Participants page.

  You might want to do this in order to modify the data collected during a stage or to check how the interview went: were all stages completed, what were the user comments and system messages, how long a stage took, and so on.

Occasional Alternative Steps

Here are a few alternative steps that you may use occasionally:

• Skip a Stage. If you need to skip a stage (usually because of a technical problem like an instrument not being available for a physical measurement), you can select “skip” in the Actions column of the Interview page.

  You may or may not be able to complete the interview if it has skipped stages—it depends on how your study defined the conditions for completing the study.
• Modify a Stage. Occasionally, you may need to change a participant’s answer to a question, or some other data collected during a stage.

  To do this, you modify the stage which opens the stage again. You can step through the pages of the stage and make the necessary changes.
• Delete a Stage. Occasionally, you may want to get rid of the data collected during a stage and start the stage over again.

  To do this, you delete the stage. Then you will be able to start it again.

Rare Alternative Steps

These are alternative steps that you will use rarely:

• Cancel the Interview. If the participant decides they don’t want to be part of the study, you can withdraw them by cancelling the interview.

  In this case, you select the Cancel button in the Interview page. You will have to complete an Action dialog as usual.

  Your study will have decided what it wants to do with the data acquired up to the point of cancelling an interview. Follow the onscreen directions.
• Close the Interview. If the participant has done part of the interview, but must leave early for some reason, you can end the interview early, without actually withdrawing the participant.

  In this case, you select the Close button in the Interview page. You will to complete an Action dialog. Your study will have decided whether it will keep or delete the data acquired up to this point. Follow the onscreen directions.

• Reinstate the Interview. If by mistake you cancel or close the interview, you can restore the interview to its earlier state by selecting the Reinstate button in the Interview page. See this figure

To reinstate a cancelled or closed interview, select Reinstate in the Interview page