When to use this feature
When you import data, in certain scenarios (e.g. importing to overwrite existing records or append additional records) there may be already be data in place in the project. codeit offers a set of options at Step2 (as shown below) of the import wizard that enables you to control how overwrites should be handled when importing data.
How this feature works
If an item of data exists both codeit and within the data being imported, then codeit will check to see if they match. If they do not match then the implication is that the data in codeit should be overwritten by the data being imported.
For example, if the data for "Q1" for "respondent 1" exists in Codeit as "I like the service" and the data being imported for this variable/respondent is "I don't like the service" then this is difference which could result in overwriting the data in codeit.
Sometimes this is the behaviour you want, other times it definitely isn't (e.g. you have accidentally imported the wrong file, or imported a file into the wrong wave).
'Allow Overwriting' features explained in detail
The table below explains these options in detail.
| Options | What this means | Recommended approach |
|---|---|---|
| No | This will disable the overwriting of existing data. If overwrites are encountered, Codeit will raise an error and no data will be imported. The error message raised by Codeit will indicate which items of data contain the mismatches. You can use this information to decide the best course of action. If you do not fully understand why the data has changed you should proceed with caution. | This is the safest option when importing data as it will ensure you don't accidentally overwrite existing data. Because "No" is the safest overwrite option, it is the default option. |
| Yes | If overwrites are encountered, Codeit will overwrite the existing data with the new data being imported. In the case of source variables, any coding attached to the verbatim(s) being overwritten will be cleared. | This is a good option to choose if you fully understand why the source data has changed and you want to update the data in Codeit and (where coding has already been applied) re-code the data. |
| Ignore | If overwrites are encountered, Codeit will simply skip past them and not update the existing data. | This is a good option to choose if you know that the data in Codeit is correct and the data you're importing is incorrect for some reason. It is also a safe option to choose if you're uncertain why the data is different. |
| Yes but without clearing coded data | If overwrites are encountered, Codeit will overwrite the existing data with the new data being imported. In the case of source variables, any coding attached to the verbatim(s) being overwritten will NOT be cleared (in contrast to the "Yes" option above). | This is a good option to use if you fully understand why the source data has changed and those changes are insignificant. You want to ensure that the data in Codeit is up-to-date, but do not want to re-code the data because the changes are immaterial. |