Hi, How can I get rid of all the “binary” columns in the data file? There is already a column where the answer is given, so I don’t understand why the 0s and 1s are shown for each option in every question in addition. It makes the file very messy and hard to analyze. IS there a setting in the Form that I should change? Or do I have to go through the whole data set and erase the binary columns manually (Which will take close to forever)? Help is highly appreciated!
Maggi
Do you mean you see the same for the select multiple questions? Could you kindly share a screenshot of the issue with the community. It would help us understand your issue pictorially.
Can you access the file I attached?
I forgot to mention that it only happens after I download the file in XLS. The file looks “normal” before I download it.
Thanks for helping!
Maggi
Hi,
Do you mind uploading your XLS file once again so that I look at it?
Stephane
Hi Maggi,
When I look at the downloaded data that you have just sent, it seems that there are two questions for each element e.g. gender. The only possible explanation would be whether you had two deployed versions of the form which had a different way in which the questions were asked. Can you confirm that you had a number of deployed versions? Could you take us through your download process you have been using. Kindly use screenshots to better explain this.
Stephane
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Hi Stephane,
Thank you for your willingness to help! I have deployed the file all together 6 times, but only once after we started collecting data, (and once after I filled in one form myself to see how it worked, which I haven*t erased yet). I don’t think I made substantial changes in the way the questions were asked. I changed the wording a bit, added or deleted a category or two, and added and deleted a few questions between the deployments. We ran a data collection trial with about 100 respondents, made some changes to some of the questions in the form, and deployed it again and collected data from about 500 more respondents. I kept the data from the trial with the new data, so the data set includes responses from both the deployed versions. It doesn’t help if I don’t check of the box that ask if I want to include fields from all 6 deployed versions. I have attached a screenshot of the data set as it is in KoboToolbox before I download it to Excel. This version looks normal. I have also attached a screenshot of the bottom lines of the form in both KoboToolbox and Excel versions, as it adds a line very time I print the form to Excel (I think).
Do you need anything else from me? Just let me know.
Regards,
Maggi
!
Hi Again,
I can also add that it doesn’t happen to all the questions, but I can’t see a pattern in which questions get the 0s and 1s and which don’t.
I’m also wondering if I lose information if I just delete all those columns with 0s and 1s in the Excel version? It will take some work, but maybe it is the easiest solution?
Regards,
Maggi
Hi @maggib
Do you mind sharing your username and a link to the project on private message so that @Kal_Lam or I could look at it at the earliest opportunity?
Stephane
1 Like
While looking at your case more closely, i observe that you have created a multiple response for the variable Gender instead of keeping Gender variable a single response.
Sure! How/what address do I send the private message to?
Maggi
Hi Kal_Lam,
Thanks for your advice! I have been aware of this for a while, but given the somewhat cumbersome process of changing the form, I decided to let it be and informed the assistants that performed the survey that they should be aware and not give the respondents multiple options. (The respondents did not fill in the form themselves.)
I wonder if I did something wrong, but every time I changed the form I would have to download it in Excel and check that the responses were saved correctly. Most of the time I would have to correct the responses in the Excel sheet and upload it to the project afterwards. It didn’t happen to all the changes I made, but to many of them. Maybe this is related to the problem with the 0s and the 1s in my data?
Regards,
Maggi
Maybe this post discussed previously should answer your query on the Os and 1s that you see:
