Join two files together (add variables)

The Join option of Tools|Combine, Sort and Merge SPSS Files allows you to join two data files (SPSS (*.sav) or comma delimited (*.csv)) and save the joined files as an SPSS (*.sav) data file. As an example, the Join option would be useful if you have a primary data file that contains all closed end questions for each respondent and a secondary file that contains coded open end questions for the same set of respondents. You can use this option to join the closed end and open end questions together in one file with one record for each respondent.

Primary file

Choose Browse to select the primary data file. Use the Take variable names from first line of data file (*.csv data files only) option to use the variable names from the first line of the data file for comma delimited (*.csv) files. You can choose an SPSS (*.sav) or comma delimited (*.csv) data file as the Primary file.

To select a comma delimited (*.csv) file choose Comma delimited (*.csv) from the dropdown menu of file types next to the File name field on the Open dialog.

Secondary file

Choose Browse to select the secondary data file. Use the Take variable names from first line of data file (*.csv data files only) option to use the variable names from the first line of the data file for comma delimited (*.csv) files. You can choose an SPSS (*.sav) or comma delimited (*.csv) data file as the Secondary file.

To select a comma delimited (*.csv) file choose Comma delimited (*.csv) from the dropdown menu of file types next to the File name field on the Open dialog.

Output file

Choose Browse to navigate to the file path and folder destination for the Output file. The Output file can only be saved as an SPSS (*.sav) data file. You can enter a file name only without browsing to a file path/folder destination and WinCross will default the file path and folder for the output file to the path of the primary data file.

Variable list

The Variable list box displays variables from both the Primary file and the Secondary file.

File

The File column identifies where the variable resides, in Both files, in the Primary file or in the Secondary file.

Variable

The Variable column contains the variable name for all variables in either the Primary or Secondary files.

Include

The Include column defaults to Yes to include each variable in the output file.
You can select the dropdown list in the Include column to choose Yes or No for an individual variable.
If the Include column is set to No, the variable will not be included in the output file.
You can also highlight a group of variables (contiguous or non-contiguous) and right-click for a context menu that will allow you to change the Include setting for the selected rows.

Use data from

If the variable is found in both the Primary and Secondary files, the Use data from column will default to Use both variables and rename.
You can select the dropdown list in the Use data from column to choose:
Key field - sets this variable as a Key field for matching the Primary and Secondary files.
Use primary file - Uses the data from the Primary file.
Use secondary file - Uses the data from the Secondary file.
Use both variables and rename - Uses the data from both the Primary and Secondary files renaming the variable from the Secondary file so duplicate variable names are not written to the output file
If the variable is found in either the Primary or Secondary file but not Both, the only options available from the dropdown list in the Use data from column are blank or Key field.
If you set the variable as the Key field you can choose a variable from the other file for matching. For example, if the Primary data file has a variable called RESP and the corresponding variable in the Secondary data file is called RESP_NUM, you can set RESP (from the Primary file) as the Key field and then choose RESP_NUM (from the Secondary file) as the variable for matching.

Find a variable

Allows you to enter search criteria to locate a specific variable. This is especially useful when there are many variables in your data files and you only want to find a specific variable or group of variables.

Finds the next occurrence of the search value specified in Find a variable.

Show Next Duplicate

Finds the next variable that is found in both the Primary and Secondary files and has a File status of Both.

Merge if primary and secondary keys match

Choose the Merge if primary and secondary keys match option to base your output file on those records that have matching key fields.

Allow duplicate primary keys

If the Merge if primary and secondary keys match option is selected, you can choose to Allow duplicate primary keys being written to your output file. This option is not applicable unless the Merge if primary and secondary keys match option is selected.

Merge secondary record with all duplicate primary records - this option will merge a single record from the secondary file with all records of duplicate keys in the primary file. For example, if the key variable is RESP_NUM and there are 3 records in the primary file with a RESP_NUM of "1", the data from RESP_NUM "1" of the secondary file will be merged with all 3 records in the primary file with the RESP_NUM of "1".
Merge secondary record with the first duplicate primary record - this option will merge a single record from the secondary file with the first record of a duplicate key in the primary file. For example, if the key variable is RESP_NUM and there are 3 records in the primary file with a RESP_NUM of "1", the data from RESP_NUM "1" of the secondary file will only be merged with the first record in the primary file with the RESP_NUM of "1". The second and third duplicates from the primary file will still be written to the output file but the data from the secondary file will not be merged with these primary file records.

Output primary records when no secondary record is found

Choose this option to write all primary records to the output file if there are more primary records than secondary records. If for example, the primary data file has 207 records but the secondary data file has 200 records, selecting this option will write all 207 records to the output file. This option can be used without selecting the Merge if primary and secondary keys match option. WinCross will always return the number of primary records when no secondary record is found but will only write the primary records to the output file when this option is selected.

Output secondary records when no primary record is found

Choose this option to write all secondary records to the output file if there are more secondary records than primary records. If for example, the secondary data file has 401 records but the primary data file has 397 records, selecting this option will write all 401 records to the output file. This option can be used without selecting the Merge if primary and secondary keys match option. WinCross will always return the number of secondary records when no primary record is found but will only write the secondary records to the output file when this option is selected.

Join

Choose Join to create the output file and display the applicable record counts.

Selecting the Close button will close the Join dialog box.