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Combining Results

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Step-By-Step

If you want to combine the data from two surveys, you will need to follow the steps outlined below. The steps are unique depending on whether you are combining data from two identical surveys or two surveys that are not identical (not recommended).

Combining data from two identical surveys
  1. Select the survey you would like to use to hold the combined data. If you would like to preserve the two data sets separately, then create a third copy of the survey to hold the combined data.
  2. Download both data sets as .CSV files and save them on your computer.
  3. Open the survey that will hold the combined results and navigate to the Responses section of the View Results tab.
  4. Click on the Advanced Options drop-down and select Import Responses.
  5. Browse to find the file(s) you would like to import. If you are importing the data into a survey that already holds one of the data sets, then you will only need to go through the process of importing the second data set. If you are holding the data in a third copy of the survey, then import both data sets into the survey.

Once you are done importing the data set(s), the data will now be combined.

Combining the results from two surveys that are not identical
If you are combining the results from two surveys that are not identical, then there are extra steps to make sure that the data is imported correctly.

  1. You will first need to create a hybrid survey that can hold the data from two non-identical surveys.
    1. Create a copy of “Survey 1” to create “Survey 1 – Copy.”
    2. If there are questions in “Survey 2” that are not in “Survey 1,” then you will need to recreate the “Survey 2” questions in “Survey 1 – Copy.” When done, you will have a survey with all of the questions from “Survey 1” and all the questions from “Survey 2.”
  2. Now that you have a hybrid survey, you will need to create a hybrid data set:
    1. Download the data from Survey 1 and Survey 2.
    2. Next, click into your hybrid survey. Click the View Results tab, choose the Download Data icon, and select to download the data as a .CSV. (This is just a template.)
    3. Open the .CSV file from your hybrid survey and use this file to organize your data set into one .CSV that can be uploaded to the hybrid survey. Copy and paste your data into the columns for the corresponding questions in the hybrid template. If you added all the questions from Survey 2 on the end of the hybrid survey, then you will easily be able to copy your Survey 2 data in a block to the hybrid template.
  3. Once your hybrid data set is formatted and saved as a .CSV, go into the hybrid survey.
  4. Go to the Responses section of the View Results tab.
  5. Click on the Advanced Options drop-down and select Import.
  6. Choose the file to import. You will notice when you preview the imported file, there are six columns that are being “ignored” by the system. This is normal and necessary for the upload to work correctly.
  7. Select to Import. Your data set will not be combined.

More Information

QTips
  • If the data appears bunched up instead of neatly divided into column when you preview, your template may not be separating (or “delimiting”) correctly. To fix, click on the Import Options link that appears to the right of your file name (in the Import Responses dialog box), and change the Delimiter to “Comma” (or to tab if comma is already selected). Your data should line up correctly. If it does, simply click Import, and you will be set.
  • After clicking the Import button, you may receive error messages. Keep in mind that error messages do not automatically mean that there is something wrong with your data. As long as the data matches up with the column headers in the template, the most common reason for receiving an error message is an empty data field (a respondent did not indicate their gender for example). The only way to verify that the data matches is to open up the excel files and make sure there are no inconsistencies between the original data files and the template.
  • If your file is not importing, it could be because of validation in your survey. To ignore validation while importing, select the “Do not validate” option available when you are importing your file.
  • In some cases, the .CSV file must be closed on your computer before it will upload.