How-to: Join surveys using Snap Survey Software
Last week, we discussed how to merge surveys. Today, we discuss how-to join surveys. ‘Joining’ is the process of connecting data cases together from different surveys to form a longer case using survey software. There are many situations that may call for joining surveys, for example:
- Any survey, which refers to relatively static data held externally. For example, in a survey of restaurants in a fast food chain, it would be possible to have details of store size, location, and manager etc. held in a survey which is referenced by a “mystery shopper” survey.
- Any form of “Before and After” survey where individual cases are important and can be identified. For example, a study of medical treatments where observations are taken before, during, and after a course of treatment.
The essential requirement is that the same respondents (or, more generally, observation units) are present in both source surveys and that each has a key variable with unique values.
We have provided a worksheet to walk you through the process. In the example used, we have conducted a survey of a panel of respondents and now we want to connect responses for each case with demographic details of the corresponding panel member. Once the connection has been made, it will be possible to cross-analyze data from both source surveys.
