Add a data source to a dataset

You use data sources to connect your dataset to your activity data (survey questions and responses).

Prerequisites:

Add a dataset

You can add single response surveys, multiple response surveys, profile variables, and power surveys as data sources to your dataset, with the following restrictions:

  • You can add up to 20 single response surveys or power surveys, or 1 multiple response survey.
  • You can add up to 10 profile variables. Profile variables include active member data only.
  • Profile variables should be added as secondary data sources for single response surveys and power surveys, and must be added as secondary data sources for multiple response surveys.
  • Multiple response surveys must be added as primary data sources.
  1. Open the Analytics app and on the analytics menu, click Datasets.
  2. In the Datasets table view, select the name of the dataset you want to add a data source to.
  3. Click Add Data Source and select one of the following:
    • Activity - Choose a survey or power survey to add question and response data to your dataset.
    • Profile Variables - Choose profile variable data to add member profile variables to you dataset.
      Note: Datasets only included profile variable values for Active Community members. If non-active members are included in the dataset with profile variable values, their profile variable value is the "Did not answer" answer option when crosstab reports are created using the dataset.
  4. If you are adding an activity, select the activity and click Next .
    You can filter the list of activities to surveys or power surveys, select activities that are Open or Closed, or search for a particular activity.
  5. If you are adding subsequent data sources (up to a maximum of 20 single response surveys or power surveys and up to 10 profile variables) you need to specify the type of data source to create.
    Data source type Description
    Primary All records in this data source will be included. You can include more than one data source as a primary data source, and all records from each primary data source will be included.
    Secondary Only records that are also found in the primary data source(s) will be included. If you have more than one primary data source, records from any secondary data sources will be included if they match members in at least one of the primary data sources.
    The first data source added to a dataset is automatically added as a primary data source. You can change it to a secondary data source only if you have added other primary data sources.
  6. Select each field you want to include from the activity, or the profile variables to include, and click Done.
    You must choose at least one field, and you can add up to 10 profile variables. Visual question types, such as Highlighted, Image Upload, and Video Feedback, are not supported in datasets.
    Note: When you add a second data source as a primary data source the Apply Auto Mapping checkbox is selected by default. This will automatically map supported common fields, storing similar data from multiple activities in a single field, but it will also prevent you from using custom fields, scalar fields, and weighting. You will also not be able to import external data from a CSV file when data mapping is applied. Deselect the Apply Auto Mapping checkbox if you do not need to use the data mapping feature, and to retain the option to use these other features in your dataset. For more information on data mapping, see Mapping data source fields.

When you have completed the setup of your dataset and data sources, you need to sync the dataset to merge the data so you can use it in dashboards and reports. To sync your dataset, see Sync a dataset.