| Previous | Table of Contents | Next |
An important aspect of data warehousing is the collection of raw data from external resources using for example application-generated
reports, questionnaires, or surveys. To allow for inter-operability of tools supporting raw data collection, the metadata
identifying the data to be collected must be defined, together with metadata that can be used to ensure accuracy and validity
of data.
Questionnaires are commonly used as a means of collecting data about real-world activities, processes, and opinions. Most
of us experience questionnaires as paper documents. However, technological advances are making possible on-line acquisition
of questionnaire data and generation of questionnaires from automated sources, such as application systems.
Once assimilated, questionnaire data can be stored in data warehouses for further statistical processing and analysis. The
inherent multi-category, hierarchical nature of questionnaire responses makes them ideal candidates for multidimensional analysis.
Once questionnaire data has been transformed by an ETL process into a multidimensional data store, it becomes available for
analysis with OLAP tools.