King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals

Department of Management and Marketing

MKT 345 Marketing Research
Dr. Alhassan G. Abdul-Muhmin

Editing and Coding

Reference: Zikmund, Chapter 19

Learning Objectives

1.
2.

3.

4.
5.

At the end of this discussion you should be

able to:
Explain the concepts of editing and coding
List the important considerations in editing
and coding
List and explain the key issues in errorchecking and data transformation
Explain the contents and uses of a code book
Edit and code completed questionnaires

Overview of the Stages of Data Analysis

EDITING

The process of checking and adjusting

responses in the completed
questionnaires for omissions, legibility,
and consistency and readying them for
coding and storage

Types of Editing
1. Field Editing

Preliminary editing by a field supervisor

on the same day as the interview to catch
technical omissions, check legibility of
handwriting, and clarify responses that
are logically or conceptually inconsistent.

2. In-house Editing

Editing performed by a central office staff;

often dome more rigorously than field
editing

Purpose of Editing
1.

2.

3.

4.

For consistency between and among

responses
For completeness in responses to
reduce effects of item non-response
To better utilize questions answered
out of order
To facilitate the coding process

Editing for Completeness

Item Nonresponse

Plug Value

The technical term for an unanswered question

on an otherwise complete questionnaire
resulting in missing data.
An answer that an editor plugs in to replace
blanks or missing values so as to permit data
analysis; choice of value is based on a
predetermined decision rule.

Impute

To fill in a missing data point through the use of

a statistical algorithm that provides a best guess
for the missing response based on available
information.

Facilitating the Coding Process

Data Clean-up

Checking written responses for any stray

marks

Editing And Tabulating Dont Know

Answers

Legitimate dont know (no opinion)

Reluctant dont know (refusal to answer)
Confused dont know (does not
understand)

Editing (contd)

Pitfalls of Editing

Allowing subjectivity to enter into the editing

process.

Failing to have a systematic procedure for

assessing the questionnaires developed by the
research analyst

Data editors should be intelligent, experienced,

and objective.

An editor should have clearly defined decision

rules to follow.

Pretesting Edit

Editing during the pretest stage can prove very

valuable for improving questionnaire format,
identifying poor instructions or inappropriate
question wording.

CODING

The process of identifying and

classifying each answer with a
numerical score or other character
symbol

The numerical score or symbol is called a

code, and serves as a rule for interpreting,
classifying, and recording data

Identifying responses with codes is

necessary if data is to be processed by
computer

Coding - Continued

Coded data is often stored electronically in the

form of a data matrix - a rectangular
arrangement of the data into rows (representing
cases) and columns (representing variables)
The data matrix is organized into fields, records,
and files:
Field: A collection of characters that represents a
single type of data
Record: A collection of related fields, i.e., fields
related to the same case (or respondent)
File: A collection of related records, i.e. records
related to the same sample

Key Issues in Coding

1.

2.

Pre-Coding Fixed-Alternative Questions

(FAQs) -Writing codes for FAQs on the
questionnaire before the data collection
Coding Open-Ended Questions - A 3stage process:
(a) Perform a test tabulation, (b) Devise a
coding scheme, (c) Code all responses
Two Rules For Code Construction are:
a)

Coding categories should be exhaustive

b)

Coding categories should be mutually exclusive

and independent

Issues in Coding - Continued

3.

Maintaining a Code Book - A book

that identifies each variable in a study, the

variables description, code name, and
position in the data matrix
4.

Production Coding - The physical

activity of transferring the data from the

questionnaire or data collection form [to the
computer] after the data has been collected.
Sometimes done through a coding sheet
ruled paper drawn to mimic the data matrix
5.

Combining Editing and Coding

AFTER CODING ..
1.

Data Entry - The transfer of codes from

questionnaires (or coding sheets) to a
computer. Often accomplished in one of three
ways:
a)

b)

c)

On-line direct data entry e.g. as for CATI

systems
Optical scanning for highly structured
questionnaires
Keyboarding data entry via a computer
keyboard; often requires verification

After Coding - Continued

2.

Error Checking Verifying the

accuracy of data entry and checking
for some kinds of obvious errors made
during the data entry. Often
accomplished through frequency
analysis.

After Coding - Continued

3.

Data Transformation Converting some

of the data from the format in which they
were entered to a format most suitable for
particular statistical analysis.
Often accomplished through re-coding, to:

reverse-score negative (or positive)

statements into positive (or negative)
statements;

collapse the number of categories of a

variable