Data Formats in Displayr

When working with data in Displayr, it's essential to understand the type of data you are using and the optimal way to store it for analysis. Displayr can store imported data in one of the following two formats:

Data Sets

A data set in Displayr is data that can be queried by variables and used to generate any type of analysis. All features of the application can be used when working with data sets.

If you are working with raw data, you need to import it as a data set to maintain its granularity, allowing for flexible and comprehensive analyses.

The image below shows raw data from a Cola Tracking survey imported into Displayr as a data set using an SAV file.

All data sources supported by Displayr can be imported as data sets, and some data sources always import as a data set (e.g., SAV files, Qualtrics).

If you are working with an Excel (.xlsx or .csv) file, and your data is a data set, it will be formatted where each row is a respondent/response and each column represents a variable/question. For example, the Excel worksheet would look something like this:

See How to Work with Excel/CSV Files in Displayr for tips on how to best format your Excel file when used as a data set.

Summary Tables

Summary tables, or data tables, are another data format that Displayr can read when you import data. Unlike data sets, data in summary tables cannot be queried by variables. This means there is some advanced functionality that cannot be used when working with summary tables (e.g., creating a linear regression). The tradeoff is that summary tables simplify basic analyses and make it faster to work with already aggregated data.

A summary table would appear in Excel as aggregated data:

Note: You can create summary tables using data sets (e.g., by aggregating variables), but the reverse is often not possible, depending on the data in your summary tables. 

If you are working with aggregated data (i.e., data that has been summarized to provide insights based on raw data), it is generally preferable to import your data as summary tables.

The image below shows an Excel Workbook imported into Displayr as summary tables. Notice how the structure of the workbook (sheets and table ranges) is replicated in the Data Sources Tree. 

Only the following data sources can currently be imported as summary tables

• .xlsx or .xls files
• .csv files
• SQL database queries