Data & Analysis in Imported Data Projects

Suite
Customer Experience Employee Experience Strategy & Research
Product
Qualtrics
What's on this page

About Data & Analysis in Imported Data Projects

Data & Analysis is a tab where you can view and manage the data in your project. Here, you can filter, classify, merge, clean, and statistically analyze your response data. This support page will explain the features available in the Data & Analysis tab of an imported data project.

Qtip: Only imported data projects created on or after June 16, 2021 have a Data section in the Data & Analysis tab. That means imported data projects created before this date will not have all the functionality described on this page.

Re-Importing Data

Imported data projects are the only types of projects that allow you to re-import data. This means that rather than uploading all new responses, you can make changes to data that already exists in your project using a file upload.

Unique IDs

Imported data projects with unique identifiers are the easiest to re-import data for, because the unique ID is how Qualtrics recognizes which responses to update.

Unique identifiers can only be added to an imported data project when you first create it. See step 11 in the setup process.

Examples of unique identifiers include response IDs, customer IDs, employee IDs, or random number IDs you generated right inside the sheet.

Preparing a File

Your file must have the exact same headers your dataset has. You want to make sure no headers are missing and that every field rename is accounted for. To make this easy, we recommend exporting your data to use as a template for your updates.

Go to Data & Analysis.
Showing the steps described
Showing the steps described
Go to the Data section.
Click Export & Import.
Select Export Data.
Select either CSV or TSV. Do not select Excel.
A new window opens over the Data & Analysis page
A new window opens over the Data & Analysis page
Make sure Download all fields is selected.
Click Download.
Open the file in Excel or an equivalent software and make your desired edits. Do not add new headers or remove any headers. When you save the file, make sure CSVs are UTF-8 encoded, and TSVs are UTF-16 encoded.

Qtip: These are the changes you can not make to the data by uploading a file:

Qtip: If you edit a response’s unique ID, it will be recognized as a brand new response.

Re-Importing Data

Once your file is ready, you can import it with a few easy steps.

Go to Data & Analysis.
Showing the steps described
Showing the steps described
Go to the Data section.
Click Export & Import.
Select Re-import Data.
If your project doesn’t have unique identifiers, select Replace all existing data with the uploading data.
A new window opens over the Data & Analysis page
A new window opens over the Data & Analysis page
Click Choose file and select the CSV or TSV you just edited.
Click Re-import.
Qualtrics will tell you when the import is complete. The page will then reload.
Message says Re-import succeeded!
Message says Re-import succeeded!
Attention: You can always delete responses as needed. If you are deleting multiple responses at once, please note that you can only select 1 page of responses at a time.

Importing New Data

To import new responses into an imported data project, you will follow many of the same steps you take to re-import data. There are just 2 differences:

  • If your project has unique identifiers, make sure the new responses have their own unique identifiers that do not match any other existing response. If unique identifiers match, data will be overwritten.
  • If your project does not have unique identifiers, make sure you do not select Replace all existing data with the uploading data.

Image of re-import data window with the setting described deselected
Image of re-import data window with the setting described deselected

Qtip: These are the changes you can not make to the data by uploading a file:

Troubleshooting Imports

If you want to replace or edit the data you’ve already uploaded, see Re-Importing Data. If you want to add additional responses, see Importing Data.

If you have closely followed all of the steps in the recommended section, here’s some more troubleshooting you can try:

  • For more file parameters, such as size limits and date formatting, see Preparing a File for Import.
  • If your imported data project doesn’t have unique identifiers, you can’t add them after the fact.
  • Keep in mind that neither re-importing data nor importing data allow you to delete fields or create new fields. Instead, see Editing Fields and Custom Field Creation.
  • For common issues with CSV and TSV files, see CSV & TSV Upload Issues on how to resolve them.

Editing Fields

Showing the field editor button on the right of the data & analysis page, underneath the tab and section nevigation
Showing the field editor button on the right of the data & analysis page, underneath the tab and section nevigation

The Field Editor is located in the Data section of the Data & Analysis tab. Here, you’ll see all the fields in your imported data project and be able to make edits, such as renaming fields, recoding values, changing field types, and removing fields.

To learn more about all the ways you can edit your fields, see Editing Custom Fields.

To create a new field altogether, see Custom Field Creation.

Exporting Data

Exporting data from an imported data project is very similar to exporting data from a survey project. There are just a few key differences.

Export formats

You can only export data in a CSV, TSV, or Excel (XLSX) format.

Export options

Download a data table window is open and the more options button at the very bottom is highlighted
Download a data table window is open and the more options button at the very bottom is highlighted

Imported data projects only have the following export options available when you click More options:

  • Compress data as .zip file
  • Use commas for decimals
  • Remove line breaks

See Export Options for a description of each.

Recoding a Field

After setting up your project, you may realize that you need to change the values of a response choice or exclude choices from analysis. In this case, you would recode the values of your variable.

Attention: Only the following types of fields can be recoded: Number Set, Text Set, and Multi-Answer Text Set.
Select Field Editor.
field editor button in data and analysis
field editor button in data and analysis
Click the 3 dots next to the field.
3 dots next to a text set field shows x Recode option
3 dots next to a text set field shows x Recode option
Click Recode.
If you don’t have any sources and recodes listed, click More Options.
new window for recoding is empty. button for more options at bottom
new window for recoding is empty. button for more options at bottom
Click Manage Labels.
more options now shows manage labels and edit delimiter
more options now shows manage labels and edit delimiter
Here, you can add the list of options as you want them to appear. If you don’t want to change an option, you don’t have to add it. But if you want to, for example, recode a written scale into a numeric one, here’s where you’d click Add to list each numeric value.
another new window for listing labels
another new window for listing labels
Click the X next to a label to remove it.
Once all of your labels are listed, click Apply.
Now it’s time to map your recodes. On the left, under Source, add the options as they are originally encoded in your data. On the right, under Recode, select the new label, or exclude the option from analysis.
back to original window to map sources and recodes
back to original window to map sources and recodes
Qtip: If an option is excluded from analysis, it will be hidden and ignored in any reports you create. This option does not remove the entire associated response from the project — it only hides the selected field value.
Qtip: Note that the recode values are limited by the field type. For example, if you want to recode scores to groups, the type must be Text Set instead of Number Set, because the recoded values will be text instead of numbers.
Click Add to add as many values as you need to recode.
another new window for delimiters
another new window for delimiters
If you’re editing a multi-answer text set, you’ll also see Edit Delimiter under More Options.
Select your delimiter from the menu, and click Apply when done.
Qtip: A delimiter determines how multiple values for the same field are separated in a file. For example, a customer who has visited multiple locations might have a “Location” equal to “Seattle,Provo”. In this example, the comma would be the delimiter.
When finished recoding, click Apply.
Click Review and Publish.
bottom of field editor has review and publish button
bottom of field editor has review and publish button
Select Publish your Changes.
summary of changes window where you confirm changes
summary of changes window where you confirm changes

Other Features in the Data Section

A lot of functionality in the Data section works the same as it does in survey projects. Here’s a list of support pages covering this functionality:

Qtip: Imported data projects do not have the “Responses in progress” page.

Other Features in Data & Analysis

The Data section isn’t the only one in the Data & Analysis tab. The following is a list of features available in imported data projects, so long as they have already been purchased for your license.

Was this helpful?

The feedback you submit here is used only to help improve this page.

That's great! Thank you for your feedback!

Thank you for your feedback!