<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  User Guide > Data > Handling data > Data handling introduction

Companion

Data is the name given to the answers to some or all of the questions in a project and will usually be stored in a raw data file.

This section describes how data is stored in data files and how data can be viewed.  To clarify the distinction between the data terms used

•"Meta-data" is the questions themselves

•"Raw data" is the actual storage method of answers in a data file

•"Data" is the answers given to questions

For details on how metadata is defined, see Project definition introduction.

For details on how the questionnaire data is stored in raw data files, see Handling raw data, Raw data introduction.

Input data files will usually need to be put together for analysis using Combine data files or the FTP download menu selection.  Take care to preserve the ZZZ session entries and ZZZSEQ until all input data files have been put together. See Combine input files for more information.

Data files should always be checked before use in analysis.  This will check the data file itself and will also check the project question definitions.  The data can also be cleaned to remove unwanted and faulty answers, see:

Checking data

A data file can be viewed and edited, see:

Viewing data

The data can be listed or exported to a CSV file:

Exporting data

See also the separate section on:

Weighting data

A summary report giving the number of respondents in a data file selecting each answer can be requested:

Data summary