This article is part of The Definitive Guide to Importing and Preparing Data.
Updating variable titles and descriptions is a core part of setting up a clean and tidy dataset.
Note: If you haven't already, it is strongly recommended that you read Recommendations for setting up a clean and tidy dataset.
The image below shows how to reference each of the properties of a variable in Crunch.
In the web app
There are two methods available in the web app for updating variable titles and descriptions:
- Individual Variables (for updating one variable at a time):
- When in the variable summary view, you can hover over a variable's tile and click the Properties link at the bottom left under the tile. Please see this article for a guided view of this process.
- Multiple Variables (for bulk changes):
- Click the dataset name in the top left of the header bar.
- Select Organize variables from the drop-down menu.
- On this screen, variables are listed in their current order, along with their descriptions and aliases. You can double-click on a variable's title, description, or alias to change them without needing to open each variable individually. You can use the Tab key to move to the next field or the Enter key to move to the next row.
Note: You will need to have Editor permissions and may need to unlock the dataset using the icon on the top right of the header bar to have editing permissions for the dataset to make these changes.
Crunch Automation
As this is a very common task when setting up a dataset, you may wish to use the Script Builder to help generate the Crunch Automation script more efficiently.
Using R
- Crunch Variables - You can set names and descriptions of variables, categories, sub-variable labels, and aliases as noted in this vignette.