Sorting after applying data validation
 

Hi, everyone.

I'm working with a spreadsheet that has about 2,300 records, each of which
falls into one of five actions (phone call, meeting, email, mailing or
other). For each record, a specific description needs to be selected - and
this is dependent upon the type of action.
When I sort by action type and create a drop down list using data
validation, it works. All the e-mail actions are given three choices of
description from which to choose, all the phone calls are given four
different choices, etc.
The problem comes in when I sort the list by another value (last name, for
example). All the data validation entries (lists to choose from) stay locked
to their original position instead of moving with the row.
Does anyone have any idea what I can do about this to get them to all move
together?
OR, is there a formula that I can write that results in a conditional
drop-down? Ex: If C2=Phonecall, choose one of the following values, if
C2=Email, choose one of the following values, etc?
Sorry this is so muddled. Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!