The ability to recode list values during export has been added to SSI Web v8.
Normally list values are hard coded values starting at 1. When exporting the data, these values can be modified to reflect a different numbering system. A recode mapping is created to recode list member values. Recode maps each have a name that allows for reuse in more than one export. Recode maps are arranged using a top down approach to apply settings and changes to recodes. This means options that are higher on the hierarchy have lower precedence and lower options have higher precedence. The current recode is always shown in the Recoded Value column, whether it is inherited from a setting of lesser precedence or the recode was made at the current level. When a list is selected from the tree menu, the current recode values are shown in the table. The default list values are shown in the List Value column, and their labels are also shown in the List Label column. These two columns are there for guidance and cannot be modified directly.
The option with the least amount of precedence is Set all “Other Specify” member values to [some number]. When this settings is checked, all list member values marked as Other Specify across all lists in the study will now use this value instead of the list default value.
The next option is Set all “None of the Above” member values to [some number]. When this settings is checked, all list members values marked as Exclusive across all lists in the study will now use this value instead of the list default value. This settings has higher precedence than Set all “Other Specify” member values to [some number], meaning if both options are checked, Set all “None of the Above” member values to [some number] will be the recode value.
More fine-grained options can be set using the Global List Recode section. Every predefined list in the current study will be under this section. At this point, individual list members can be modified where as the previous settings modified all lists. Any changes made in the Global List Recode section apply only to a given list, but override Other Specify and None of the Above settings. Anywhere the list is used, these changes will be reflected. Recodes at this level can be undone by clicking Clear Changes. This will remove all recodes at this level and show the current recode settings inherited from options of lower precedence.
The settings with the highest precedence are Question Specific Override. These settings apply only to a question in the study. If a question has more than one list, it will be listed here under the question name.
Recoding list members has the following consequences:
- If the list member value is part of the data field name, the data field name will be modified as well. This applies to grid, multi-select, semantic diff, ranking, and constant sum questions. For example, if a ranking question has 4 options, the fields default names are r_1, r_2, r_3, r_4. If the list values are recoded to be zero based instead of one based, the field names will be changed to r_0, r_1, r_2, r_3.
- If the 2 list member values are recoded to be the same, then the List Labels will be joined together and delimited by a semi-colon. This only applies to SPSS and CSV .labels files. Value Labels will have multiple meanings. For example, if a list contains Dairy with a value of 1 and Flavor with a value of 2 and Flavor is recoded to be 1, then the value label becomes Dairy; Flavor. This will apply anywhere either one is used.
