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Installing

Read below for instructions on installing the Boa Study Template. Note that the instructions will differ a bit depending on whether you are starting a new study or using a replication package.

Boa API Credentials

Boa API Access for New Studies

If you are starting a new research study and utilizing Boa's study template, a username/password to the Boa website and API are required. See the full list of requirements for more details.

Boa API Access for Replication Packages

If you are using a replication package that utilized Boa's study template, you should not need any Boa API credentials (unless you wish to re-run the Boa queries in the package or intend to make changes to the study).

Once you have a Boa API login, edit the file .env and enter your username as BOA_API_USER='<username here>', then save and close the file.

We recommend also setting your password in your OS keyring, so you are not prompted to enter it each time a download triggers. To do this, first install the keyring Python package and then run:

keyring set boaapi <username>

where <username> is your Boa username.

If you are unable to use the keyring, you can also enter your password into the .env file as BOA_API_PW='<password here>'.

Finally, if the script can't find your username and/or password, it will prompt you for it. Note however it will prompt for each file it downloads.

Using a Replication Package

Most likely, the only thing you need to do to use a replication package is to unzip the replication-pkg.zip file (or equivalent). This will create a directory with the Boa queries, the Python analyses, and the generated figures and tables.

If you also wish to re-run the analyses, you will need the data-cache.zip file (or equivalent). Unzip this file starting in the root of the replication package and it will place files into the data/parquet/ folder.

If you wish to generate new analyses, you may need the raw data. You will need the data.zip file (or equivalent). Unzip this file starting in the root of the replication package and it will place files into the data/txt/ folder.

Starting a new Study

To start a new study, first clone the study template from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/boalang/study-template.git

Then follow our guide on using the template in a research study.