Can I completely delete the data from a single column?

Question

Is it possible to completely delete data from a single column, while leaving all other columns in the data as stored on SoSci Server?

I used to do this by simply deleting the entire question. Now I only need to delete individual items of a question. When I do this, the column is no longer displayed in SoSci. However, when I restore the item in the question, the data appears again. This means that it must be stored somewhere in the background and I want to delete it there.

Answer 1

When I do this, the column is no longer displayed in SoSci. However, when I restore the item in the question, the data appears again.

This shall not be the case. If you created a new item in a question, it should get a new variable internally. The data previously collected should not appear in the dataset, again.

In general, SoSci Survey won't touch the data already collected. If you delete the question or item, the variable will disappear, but the data is still in the database. You can also download this data, if you select "selected variables" in the "variables" tab in the download settings.

There is no way to delete variables from the database, you can only delete cases. So, if you have reason to remove data from the database, download the data, make sure everything is there, make a backup, and then delete all collected data from SoSci Survey.

Comments

Maybe it's reappearing because I'm talking about an "item" in a question of type "Device and Transmitted Variables"? More specifically, I'm deleting and restoring custom variables in the "Variables (POST/GET)" tab.

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Thanks for the clarification. Yes, if you (re-)enable a measure within the "device" measure, than this is internally always the same. Creating another such question would create another set of variables.