Data file set up
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A data file contains two types of information:
- The individual responses of people to the survey. For example, did they choose the first or second option in the second question.
- The meaning of the responses. For example, that the second question was 'What is your gender' and that the first and second options in that question were 'Male' and 'Female'. The meaning of the responses is often referred to as the metadata.
Most of the online data collection surveys are excellent at exporting the individual responses. However, many export data files with poor metadata. Where this metadata is poor it can make it difficult, and sometimes impossible, to interpret the data.
To ensure that you have good metadata, you should:
- Follow the instructions provided by Displayr when uploading the data. These instructions are shown to the right of the screen once you press the + Add a data set button. Click on the name of your survey company to get detailed information.
- Give your survey provider feedback. They will only know if their metadata is bad if you tell them. You can give them more specific feedback by pointing them to http://mktresearch.org/wiki/Getting_a_Data_File#Good_data_files.
- Give us feedback if you have a problem (see the options on the right of this page).