Selector and multi-response variables

Selector and multi-response variables hold categories from a fixed list, such as income bands or contact permissions. You filter by them by ticking the categories to include or exclude. There are two kinds:

• Selector variables have one category for each record, such as a supporter's income band. The data picker shows them with a tick.
• Multi-response variables, also called arrays, can have several categories for each record, such as all the ways a supporter has agreed to be contacted. The data picker shows them with two ticks.

Filter by a selector variable

Each record has only one category, so a record matches if its category is one you tick.

To filter by a selector variable:

1. Choose an option from the dropdown:

   • Is any of: Includes records in any of the categories you tick
   • Is none of: Excludes records in any of the categories you tick

2. On the Values tab, tick the categories. To use a file of category codes instead, see Use a file of categories.

   

3. Select Apply.

Filter by a multi-response variable

A record can have several categories, so you also choose whether it must match any or all of the categories you tick.

To filter by a multi-response variable:

1. Choose an option from the dropdown:

   • Has any of: Includes records with at least one of the categories you tick
   • Has none of: Excludes records with any of the categories you tick
   • Has all of: Includes only records with every category you tick
   • Does not have all of: Excludes records with every category you tick

   

2. On the Values tab, tick the categories. To use a file of category codes instead, see Use a file of categories.

3. Select Apply.

Find and choose categories

A variable can have hundreds of categories. On the Values tab, you can:

• Search: Find a category by its code or description
• Sort by: Choose Selected First to bring the categories you've ticked to the top
• Select all: Tick the box in the header row. Categories load as you scroll, and this only works once they've all loaded.

Select View to choose what the list shows:

• Codes: The category codes
• Descriptions: The category descriptions
• Countbars: A bar showing how many records each category has, compared with the others
• The table's name, such as People: The number of records in each category, counted on that table
• Zero Values: Categories with no records

To go back to the default columns, select Reset Columns.

Use a file of categories

To include or exclude many categories, such as a list of postcode sectors for an ad hoc territory, use a file of their codes. Use the Upload File or Existing File tab, as described in Use a file of values.

For a selector or multi-response variable, the file must:

• Be a .TXT file, up to 25 MB
• Hold each category's code exactly as it appears in FastStats, not its description