Additional Clean Data Steps

Updating Answer Columns and Grouping

We don't want you to touch anything in the raw data so we created a way to allow you to update what is shown in the dashboard without changing your data. You are able to rename any values in VizualSurvey just by changing the text. If you would like to group multiple values together, then all you have to do is give them the same name in the Answer Column. Once the data gets to the dashboard, Tableau will group them together for you. You will see them listed multiple times in the app which is fine, the grouping will occur in the dashboard.

Matrix Row Split

Certain question types such as the Matrix question types will have a preview like below. You will need to do some additional cleaning for these question types. We recommend using the Auto Split feature to speed up this process, this will be explained below.

1. Clean Matrix Row

Looking above you will see this question has 5 columns associated with this New Question # and the Column Name has the question text repeated in front of the answer values we want. We can either manually delete the beginning part by deleting it in the Matrix Row box for each Column Name or can use the Custom Split option. If you click on the split icon near the Matrix Row header it will open up a box that will allow you to quickly split the Column Name by a delimiter. In this example, you want the LAST part of the Column Name which is separated by a "-". which is the delimiter. 

2. Answer Column Order (Recommended)

This allows you to tell the dashboard what the correct order is for the Answer Column name. As you see here the Answer Column name is out of order due to the data coming in this way. You will enter a number in each of these boxes starting with 1 which was the leftmost value in the survey question. So in this example Extremely was the first option in my survey so I give it the number 1 and continued with the correct order. 

3. Matrix Row Order (Optional)

If you want a specific order for your Matrix Row's you can put the order here but it is not required.

Advanced Question Type Filter and Auto Split

In the Question Type Filter dialog box there are 2 additional buttons in the clean step. The normal process is to use the Auto split feature to split all of the Advanced Question Types. For this case we are calling Advanced Question Types anything that has a Matrix Row split step required. In the auto split box you will put the delimitator used to separate the question from the answer part in the column names, normally it is a dash. It will then do a Matrix Row split for all of the Advanced Question Types in one click. It will normally get most right but sometimes you will need to clean it up some, which you will be able to see in the preview. Once you do the auto split we recommend filtering the question types to all the Advanced Question Types by hitting that button and then save. You will then be able to hit Next to go through each of the questions with Matrix row to confirm it is correct and make any changes.

Mass Clean Data Updates

If you need to make a large update on the Clean Data information you can export your current information, edit it, and then reload it again. Just be careful when doing this and save copies of the original files.

Next Article: Exporting Data for Dashboards