Introduction
Sub Variables in codeit are a mechanism that makes it much easier to work with iterative survey variables when Coding. Instead of working with each iterative variable separately they can be grouped together into a single Variable.
What are Iterative Variables?
In a market research survey, a single Question can result in multiple responses from a respondent.
For example, if Q1 asks: "Name three brands of cars that you can think of" this will usually result in three separate responses being given. So although a single question has been asked (Q1), the survey generates three individual data points, e.g. Q1_1, Q1_2 and Q1_3. It would quickly become unwieldy if you had to code each of these iterations separately.
"Grid" questions are another example of iterative variables, where a single question is represented as a table of columns and rows resulting in separate responses for each cell of the table.
"Looped" questions are further example where the same question is asked repeatedly, for a set of categories for example, resulting in separate responses each time the question is asked.
How do Sub Variables help?
codeit offers the ability to group, or "nest" a set of iterative responses like this into an overall single parent Variable.
For Coding purposes the individual iterations are usually irrelevant since all of the responses are coded against the same Codeframe. By using Sub Variables, you can simply code the overarching parent Variable and the details of the individual iterations can be hidden away during Coding.
How are Sub Variables created?
There are three ways that Sub Variables can be created in codeit:
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
| Import | When importing a data file, you can nest individual columns within your file to form a codeit Variable. |
| Data Link | Depending on the survey platform you are linking to, you can either manually nest individual survey variables during setup, or the data link will automatically detect that a survey question is iterative so you can select the parent question and the individual iterations will automatically be created as sub variables by codeit. |
| Collapse Tool | After Import or Data Linking you later realise that a set of variables should have been nested, you can use the Collapse Tool to nest a set of variables as Sub Variables after the event. |
What happens on export?
codeit retains the information about each Sub Variable so that on export, a file will be created with individual columns in the same form as they we present during the import.
Similarly, when syncing coded data back to a survey platform using a Data Link, coded data will be written to a series of iterative variables that reflect the original iterations of the source question used.
Can I still access individual iterations?
Even though it is more convenient to work with a single parent variable, at any time you can still select an individual Sub Variable (or Sub Variables) when coding, from the Start Menu filters.
Similarly, while Coding it is possible to display the Sub Variable information for each Verbatim so you can see which Sub Variable a response belongs to.