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How Do I Clean Or Recode Response Options

To clean or recode response options in AddMaple, you have three main methods: using Clean with AI, manually editing categories in the Legend, or creating a custom variable/column. Each method suits different needs depending on how much automation or control you want.

1. Clean or Recode Categories Using Clean with AI

This feature automatically standardizes category labels by renaming, reordering, and optionally merging similar categories.

Steps:

  1. Open the Legend for the column you want to clean:

    • In a pivot chart, click the Legend tab on the right.
    • Or in Manage Column(s), open the column details and scroll to the Legend tab.

  2. Click Clean categories with AI.

  3. In the dialog:

    • Tick Allow Category Merging if you want the AI to merge near-duplicate categories.
    • Add Additional instructions to guide the AI (e.g., "Keep age categories in ascending order" or "Do not merge 'Other' with anything else").

  4. Click Start to generate suggestions.

  5. Review the AI’s suggestions for renaming, reordering, and merging.

  6. Choose which suggestions to accept.

  7. Click Apply and then Save your changes.

  8. Optionally, click View Mappings in the legend to see how original categories map to new ones.

Notes:

  • Changes persist project-wide and carry through to exports.
  • You can reset to original categories anytime.

2. Manual Recoding and Merging in the Legend

You can manually adjust categories without AI assistance.

You can:

  • Rename categories by clicking on their names.
  • Reorder categories by dragging or using the reverse order button.
  • Merge categories by selecting multiple categories and clicking Merge. See How to merge categories for detailed steps.
  • Hide or show categories.
  • Assign colors to categories. Learn more about color presets.

All manual changes apply across the project and affect exports.

3. Create a Custom Variable/Column for Recoding

If you want to create a new variable based on recoded or combined categories, you can create a custom column:

Summary

Clean with AI

  • What it does: Auto rename, reorder, merge
  • When to use: Quick, AI-assisted cleaning of messy labels

Manual Legend Editing

  • What it does: Rename, reorder, merge manually
  • When to use: Fine control or small adjustments

Custom Variable/Column

  • What it does: Create new recoded variable
  • When to use: Complex recoding or combining multiple columns

This process helps you standardize messy labels, fix inconsistent capitalization, merge duplicates, and order scales logically.

For detailed instructions with screenshots, see the Clean with AI and Legend guides in AddMaple documentation .

Further Reading