The Linguist's Shoebox

In field research, you must balance the need for entering data quickly and conveniently (to stay caught up) with the need for categorizing and cross-referencing the data thoroughly and consistently (to make it accurate, useful, and usable). Because you will collect thousands of data items and continually gain a better understanding of the language and culture, there are many opportunities for introducing errors and inconsistencies. Shoebox can help you enter data consistently and keep it consistent when you refine the categories. Therefore, you can satisfy the short-term demands of data entry and long-term requirements of data management and analysis.

• After you have edited an individual database record, Shoebox can automatically check its data fields. From the Tools menu, choose Check Consistency When Editing.
• When you export a database, Shoebox can automatically check all its records and fields. In the appropriate Export Process Properties dialog box, click to select the Check consistency before exporting check box.
• Whenever you want, you can have Shoebox check all the records and fields in the active database. From the Tools menu, choose Consistency Check. Shoebox displays the Consistency Check dialog box. You can select the fields to check and the kinds of consistency checks to be performed.

When Shoebox finds an inconsistency, it selects the failed data item in the active window and displays a dialog box. There are three kinds of consistency checks: Data Property, Range Set, and Data Link. Shoebox does not have an interlinear "verify mode" nor a consistency check for the order of data fields.