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A text variable stores one text value for each case. For example, a text variable may store the responses to an open-ended question. This is a question that asks respondents to answer a question in their own words. For example:
Before analyzing the responses to an open-ended question, market researchers frequently code the responses into categories. For example, the responses to this question could be coded into the following categories:
A variable that stores the coded responses to an open-ended question is called a coding variable and like the Other Specify variables described in the topic on categorical variables, the coding variable is generally associated with the main text variable as a helper variable.