SPSS Statistics

 View Only

 Case control matching ERROR same variable name

Rachel West's profile image
Rachel West posted Thu February 06, 2025 10:44 AM

Hello, 

I am trying to do case control matching, which I have done previously in SPSS with no trouble. This is a different dataset though. 

I added my variables, tolerances, etc. When I run it I get the following message:

I don't understand why because I changed the variable names for the match ID variables and the Matchgroup variable, the first attempt I made I used MatchID1 and MGV1; the tolerances needed to be adjusted so I re-ran with the names MatchID222 and MGV222 which has worked for me previously. When this gave the duplicate variable name I tried again with testing and pleasework to ensure it was different and definitely didn't match any variables in the dataset. I still got this warning. 

I have tried resetting and exiting the case control matching window and re-strarting at the beginning, closing SPSS and re-opening, I have shut down my computer in between, nothing has worked.

Below is the case control matchig window.

Please advise on how to proceed!

Jon Peck's profile image
Jon Peck IBM Champion posted Fri February 07, 2025 10:39 AM

I am not sure where the duplicate error is coming from.

here are several output options. The ID or IDs of matching cases are appended to the demander dataset variables. The number of variables listed as NEWDEMANDERIDVARS determines how many matches are attempted. These variables must not already exist in the demander dataset.

The variables in the supplier dataset that are listed in COPYTODEMANDER are copied to the demander dataset as new variables or replacement values. For existing variables, the types must agree. If no match is found, existing demander dataset values are not changed and new variable values will be sysmis or blank.

If this does not explain the error and you can send me a sample of the data, I'll investigate (jkpeck@gmail.com).  Also, Paste the syntax and send that.