Extract common text from titles

Extract repetitive text in a series of similar questions

Updated at August 8th, 2022

Many surveys have questions, like "For each of the following..." or "Check all that apply...". When you export to SPSS survey engines combine the text for each individual question with the text instructions for the question group. 

In q5 there are a series of questions q5a, q5b, q5c, and q5d. Each share the common title text "In your opinion, in AMERICA, how much conflict is there between...". Protobi has a feature to get rid of repetitive text by removing it from the child elements and putting it at the group level.

1. Select the parent group by pressing its header.

2. From the Advanced menu choose "Extract common text" or press SHIFT + E + X on your keyboard.

 

3. Choose the text you want to extract and press ok.

Protobi finds the longest strings that appear in all of the questions, and presents these as suggested options. You can also manually enter a specific string in the input box.   

4.Protobi will bring the text to the title of the parent group and remove the matching string from each child if found.

See Extract common text from titles for an animated GIF.  

With the common text removed, the short labels appear nicely when in compact display (please see "Compact to..." tutorial):


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