Blaise Training Courses
Westat has a team of trainers who have years of experience using and teaching Blaise in the United States and around the world. The courses combine lectures and demonstrations with practical, hands-on exercises that students work through at their own pace. Though programming experience is not required for the basic-level classes, students should be familiar with using computers and Windows®.
Westat offers classes in Advanced Blaise 5 and Basic Blaise 4.8. Email Blaise@Westat.com for information on upcoming schedules.
Course Descriptions
The Basic Blaise 5 Training is a 5-day course that gives new Blaise developers the information they need to produce multimode data collection instruments and run them in a production environment. The course is relevant for those working with computer-assisted interviews, including computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI), computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI), and computer-assisted self-interviewing (CASI) running on desktop, laptop, and mobile platforms.
Basic Blaise 5 Training covers:
- Overview of the Blaise system
- Overview of Blaise instrument development
- State-of-the-art Blaise 5 Control Centre
- Efficiency features such as Intellisense, keyword highlighting, snippets, and context sensitive help
- New language features such as ROLES, MODES, SPECIALANSWERS, and GROUPS
- Layout designer that allows screens to be viewed without running the instrument
- A case study that includes the development of a Master Page, utilization of presented topics and conversion of source code and data from Blaise 4 to Blaise 5
The Advanced Blaise 5 Training is a 5-day course in designing screen layouts. It is recommended for programmers with some Blaise 5 experience. The class provides the information and techniques to design sophisticated multimode data collection instruments and run them in a production environment. The course is relevant for those working with computer-assisted interviews, including computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI), computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI), and computer-assisted self-interviewing (CASI) running on desktop, laptop, and mobile platforms.
Advanced Blaise 5 Training covers:
- Resource Editor
- Template Design
- Expressions
- Usage conditions for templates – ApplyAutomatically, ApplicabilityCondition, and ApplyAtRuntime
- Layout Sets
- Modes/Layout Set Groups
- Text Roles
- Promoting
- Input Controls and their properties
The Basic Blaise 4.8 Training is a 5-day course that gives new Blaise developers the information they need to produce data collection instruments and run them in a production environment. The course is relevant for those working with computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI), computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI), and computer-assisted self-interviewing (CASI).
Basic Blaise 4.8 Training covers:
- Overview of the Blaise system
- Overview of Blaise instrument development
- Introduction to Blaise data models (data fields, execution rules, consistency checks, and creating new data types)
- Further programming in Blaise (blocks, procedures, tables, and primary and secondary keys)
- Developing instruments in a team environment (project-defined common blocks, standard type definitions, and development and testing of individual modules)
- Introduction to advanced programming in Blaise (using external data models, coding for keyword searches, and lookup schemes)
- Introduction to the system tool Manipula
- More advanced work with Manipula (initializing data files, selecting subsets of the data, linking multiple input data files, and writing reports)
- Working with Blaise metadata using the system tools Cameleon and Maniplus
- Overview of the Blaise CATI management system
Registration and Payment
To register for training, please send an email to Blaise Services at Westat with your name, phone, organization, address, and the name and dates of the class you are interested in taking. Blaise Services will contact you to finalize your registration and arrange payment. Westat accepts VISA, MasterCard, and American Express. If you have any questions, contact Blaise Services at Westat.
Classes may be cancelled or re-scheduled based upon the number of students enrolled. Blaise Services will confirm class registration based upon receipt of payment and total class enrollment. Registration for each class closes 14 business days before the first day of training to allow time for training materials to be shipped to students.
Training Cancellation
Registrants who need to cancel their training class must do so by emailing Blaise Services at Westat at least 14 business days in advance of the first training date to receive a full reimbursement. Registrants may transfer their registration to a colleague in their organization if sufficient advance notification is given to Westat of any such substitutions. Late cancellations may be billed at the full registration fee.
Training Location
Training sessions are held remotely. Students will need basic computer expertise to successfully attend the remote training. Students will need to download and install the Blaise software prior to the start of training. Login details will be forwarded after the registration fee is received.
