Can I add a new choice or edit an existing choice on a multiple choice field such as radio button, dropdown, or checkbox field, while in Production?
- Christopher Sorensen
You can add new choices or hide existing choices for multiple choice fields when a project is in production mode, but you should never delete a choice or change how a choice is coded after data collection has begun in production mode. If you change how any of the choices are coded when data have already been collected in that field, you could change the meaning of that data for records already created. For example, say you have a field where you ask participants, “How often do you experience back pain?” The choices are coded as follows: 0 = Never, 1 = Sometimes, 2 = Always.
The study inclusion criteria then changes so people who “Never” experience back pain are excluded from the study. If you delete the choice 0 = Never completely, this will cause the data in the field for records who chose “Never” to be meaningless and may cause errors when using the instrument or exporting data. If you change the choice coding so that now 0 = Sometimes and 1 = Always, any records who reported “Never” experiencing back pain originally will now appear that they said they had “Sometimes” experienced low back pain. Rather than deleting or modifying the choice, you can use the @HIDECHOICE Action Tag in box right below the choices:
This will make the 0 = Never choice not visible to people who complete the instrument in the future while maintaining the meaning and integrity of data already collected in this field.