How to Check for Errors in Data File Construction

This article describes how to run a script that reads through a data file and checks to see if it contains common data file errors. This script should be run immediately after importing a data file (i.e., prior to any data cleaning being undertaken in Displayr).

Requirements

A Displayr document with a data set.

Method

1. In the toolbar, go to Anything > Data > Miscellaneous > Check for Errors in Data File Construction.
2. If you have multiple data sets in your project, you will be prompted to select which data set you want to run the script on.

The script will generate a brief table of any issues that have been found, along with a list of the names of the variables that have issues, and any questions whose variables have issues will be added to the Pages tree.

This script:

• Checks that the Variable Structure of the variables in the project appears sensible.
• Checks if any Nominal - Multi questions should be set as Binary - Multi (Compact) questions.
• Checks for incorrect Missing Data settings in binary variables.
• Checks for variables with blank labels.
• Checks for Text variables storing multiple response data separated by commas.
• Checks for the presence of a unique ID variable.
• Checks for demographic variables with incomplete data.
• Checks for variables containing only a single possible value.

Next

How to Automatically Check and Prepare Your Data with Data Preparation Agent