+EpiData Software - Support & Help

Mutual assistance help principle

EpiData is made with a very low budget and there is no salaried personnel. - remember this when you approach someone for help. No one is employed to assist you directly. Why is this ? - The software is available for free and no baseline budget is available. But there are many ways to help yourself or get assistance anyway.

Follow the suggestion below to clarify your problem or look into examples •  introduction notes •  courses • 

Stay informed
  1. Sign up for the news letter by e-mail from the EpiData Association.
  2. Get e-mail's with discussions and solutions from the discussion list.
Get specific help

Often we run into problems due to lack of clarification of what we actually try to achieve or what prevents from progress. Follow a structured path like this one:

  1. Clarify to yourself - "what do I want to accomplish"
  2. What is my problem ? - Describe it in a sentence or a drawing on a piece of paper.
  3. Did something unexpected happen ? (What did you do since last time "in control") ?
  4. Think again - "Did I do what I thought I was doing" ?

If the character of your problem is not clear, then decide: Is this a content problem or a technical/software related problem ? Clarification of this is needed - otherwise you do not know where to find the solution.

Problems related to software and procedures

  1. Find information in the help file of EpiData Entry or Analysis related to your problem.
  2. Look in the Introduction files found in the help menu.
  3. Search the e-mail discussion list Archives for a solution.
  4. View some of the introduction notes Manuals & instruction.
  5. Look in the samples directory on your harddisk, where EpiData includes several examples.
  6. Try some of the Samples & examples.
  7. Find further materials in the list of Courses & Links

If you have not found a solution after the points above it is time to ask someone. And you can do so by sending an e-mail to the discussion list and ask a question there. But it is embarrasing to ask something which is written in the help files or documentation - so remember to look in the documentation above first.

So in short: Read the help file, the documentation and further notes first. Then ask for assistance from a colleague or the EpiData discussion list.

Help from EpiData Association

Unfortunately a lot of spam mail is being sent to the EpiData Assocation. Therefore the strategy above is much better than asking for help directly to e-mail. We monitor the EpiData-list and prefers to give answers to the list. In this way answers are available to all and are also included in the searchable archives as a solution.

Contact the EpiData Association with organisational matters e-mail but make sure to create the subject line, such that spam filters are not "blocking" your mail