Transform Multiple Selections (Fixed Column)
This article is part of The Definitive Guide to Importing and Preparing Data.
Sometimes data is stored in a 'fixed column' format (sometimes known as 'max-multi') where there are a fixed number of variables and the categories contain multiple selection information.
Here are two examples of this scenario:
- There is a categorical array with coded categories (such as unaided brand awareness). Each category in the array is a brand and each subvariable is the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd mention. You want to create a multiple response variable that shows the net total of the respondents who mentioned each brand.
- Several categorical variables encode the race/ethnicity question. The first variable captures the first response (therefore there is no missing data) and then successively for the 2nd, 3rd, or additional responses, the same categories are present, but each question contains missing data as only those who selected multiple options for the race/ethnicity question are considered valid. You want to create a single multiple response variable showing the results of those variables combined.
In the web app
- Transforming multiple selections is not available in the web app.