Editing and Coding
Reference: Zikmund, Chapter 19
Overview of the Stages of Data Analysis
EDITING
The process of checking and adjusting
responses in the completed
questionnaires for omissions,
consistency and readying them for
coding and storage
Types of Editing
1. Field Editing
Preliminary editing by a field supervisor
on the same day as the interview to catch
technical omissions, check legibility of
handwriting, and clarify responses that
are logically or conceptually inconsistent.
2. In-house Editing
Editing performed by a central office staff;
often dome more rigorously than field
editing
Purpose of Editing
1. For consistency between and among
responses
2. For completeness in responses to
reduce effects of item non-response
3. To better utilize questions answered
out of order
4. To facilitate the coding process
Editing for Completeness
Item Nonresponse
The technical term for an unanswered question
on an otherwise complete questionnaire
resulting in missing data.
Plug Value
An answer that an editor plugs in to replace
blanks or missing values so as to permit data
analysis; choice of value is based on a
predetermined decision rule.
Impute
To fill in a missing data point through the use of
a statistical algorithm that provides a best guess
for the missing response based on available
information.
Facilitating the Coding Process
Data Clean-up
Checking written responses for any stray
marks
Editing And Tabulating Dont Know
Answers
Legitimate dont know (no opinion)
Reluctant dont know (refusal to answer)
Confused dont know (does not
understand)
Editing (contd)
Pitfalls of Editing
Allowing subjectivity to enter into the editing
process.
Data editors should be intelligent, experienced,
and objective.
Failing to have a systematic procedure for
assessing the questionnaires developed by the
research analyst
An editor should have clearly defined decision
rules to follow.
Pretesting Edit
Editing during the pretest stage can prove very
valuable for improving questionnaire format,
identifying poor instructions or inappropriate
question wording.
CODING
The process of identifying and
classifying each answer with a
numerical score or other character
symbol
The numerical score or symbol is called a
code, and serves as a rule for interpreting,
classifying, and recording data
Identifying responses with codes is
necessary if data is to be processed by
computer
Coding - Continued
Coded data is often stored electronically in the
form of a data matrix - a rectangular
arrangement of the data into rows (representing
cases) and columns (representing variables)
The data matrix is organized into fields, records,
and files:
Field: A collection of characters that represents a
single type of data
Record: A collection of related fields, i.e., fields
related to the same case (or respondent)
File: A collection of related records, i.e. records
related to the same sample