|
Use the Merge function to add cases Task:
Use the Merge function to add cases from 'ExampleData002'
to ‘ExampleData001'.
Start off by importing the
ExampleData001.sav into the Data Editor window of PASW / SPSS (from this
point forward referred to as simply SPSS). You will also need
ExampleData002.sav; so download and save it to your desktop or some other
location (but do not open it; only open ExampleData001).
First, go to Data, Merge Files, Add Cases...
Now, you should see the following dialog box. Click on the "Browse..." button
and find 'ExampleData002.sav' from where you downloaded and saved it earlier.
Then click on the "Open" button.
You should now have it listed as the file you want to merge with the (already
open) ExampleData001.sav.
Now click the "Continue" button and you should then see the Add Cases dialog
(shown below). Now click the "OK" button to complete the merge function.
However, you may want to continue reading below.
There are a few things to discuss about this dialog. First, the current
example is very clean and no "Unpaired Variables:" are present. If there were
variables in either data set which were not present in the other data set, they
would be listed in the "Unpaired Variables:" box to the left. Second, those
unpaired variables would be identified by the legend just below that box. Each
variable would be listed by its name, but would also have a symbol associated
with it which would identify the data set it came from. The symbols, as seen in
the legend, are an * for the active data set and a + for the incoming data set.
The active data set is the one you opened first; while the incoming data set is
the one you had to browse to find in the previous steps. As an example; look at
the images below in which the active data set is ExampleData001 and the incoming
data set is ex3reverse.sav. Both data sets have unique variables and do not
share any variables in common.
 
These types of mis-matches can occur due to data sets having different names
for the same variable. A frequent example of this is gender/sex. When this
occurs, a variable is present in both data sets, but carries a different name in
each; you can use the "Rename..." button to rename one of them so they
match.
You can also use the 'Pair' button after selecting two variables at one time
to combine differing names.
 
|
