elements of data documentation. what are the most important elements to document? who will be...
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Elements of Data Documentation
Elements of Data Documentation
What are the most important elements to document?
Who will be using the documentation?
How should these elements be documented?
Data Level Documentation Elements to document
Variables: name, labels, question text, length and type in data set
Values: List of valid values, coding Derived data: algorithm used to create Missing data: how was it handled? Question routing (skip patterns) Error checking/validation
Study-Level Documentation Study Level
Context of project Details of data collection Information about data files
File name, date, version, number of cases Summary of measures Scaling/Scoring Validation/modification Longitudinal information Naming conventions Version information
Users of Data Documentation Know your potential audiences
Data managers
Statisticians
Researchers
Outside users
Types of Data Documentation Tabular codebook (Excel)
Good for organizing a large amount of information concisely
Sortable/filterable Annotated measure
Contains basic variable and value information in context
Data dictionary/Data narrative Good for measure/study-level information