Evolution of Data Documentation Providing Social Science Data Services Jim Jacobs, 2008.

Evolution of Data Documentation

Providing Social Science Data ServicesJim Jacobs, 2008

Evolution of Data Documentation

In the beginning…

…was the codebook.

…early digital codebooks…

Codebook listed to tape


OSIRIS Dictionaries


SPSS (and SAS) code


PDFs

What do early digital codebooks have in common?

1. Tied to a particular physical layout of a data file

VARIABLE 6 OPINION OF COUNTRY OVERALL DECK 1/35


1. Tied to a particular physical layout of a data file2. Each uses its own special syntax.

VARIABLE 6 OPINION OF COUNTRY OVERALL DECK 1/35

D HUFAMINC 2 39

CITY $ 77-94


3. Some included information intended for human consumption.

Q1. THINKING ABOUT THE COUNTRY OVERALL, DO YOU THINK THINGS IN THE U.S. ARE GENERALLY GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, OR DO YOU FEEL THINGS ARE SERIOUSLY OFF ON THE WRONG TRACK?

VALUE LABEL VALUE N OF CASES ----------- ----- ---------- RIGHT DIRECTION 1 223 WRONG TRACK 2 237 NO OPINION 8 48 NOT APPLICABLE* 9 500 ------- TOTAL 1008

*NOT FORM A

PDF

Osiris dictionary

SPSS cards

CBLT

Book

Osiris

SPSS

Problems of early digital codebooks(part 1)

PDF

Osiris dictionary

SPSS cards

CBLT

Book

Osiris

SPSS

(user has to re-create information inorder to re-use information)

Machine “readable” but not

Machine “actionable”

XML helps solve the problem

• XML is not tied to any single piece of software.

• XML is designed to be easily parsed by computer.

• XML is (to some extent) self-documenting or self-descriptive.

• XML can include information intended both for humans and machines.

• XML is non-proprietary, open, flexible.

XML helps solve the problem

• Many tools exist to read/convert XML. (Java, javascript, perl, PHP, etc.)

• XSL and XSLT were created explicitly for converting XML. With them XML can be converted to HTML, PDF, other XML, etc.

• XML is highly structured so it can be predictably converted.

DDI 1 and 2

1.0 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION 2.0 STUDY DESCRIPTION 3.0 DATA FILES DESCRIPTION 4.0 VARIABLE DESCRIPTION 5.0 OTHER STUDY-RELATED MATERIALS

Built to emulate early code BOOKS and digital Codebooks…

Problems of early digital codebooks(part 2)

• Static, inflexible.

• Meant to document the end point of research -- Views research as linear.

• Hard to re-use the information for new research.

Problems of DDI 1 and 2

• Emulated the Code Book

• Not flexible enough

• We could do so much more…

Three Stages of Technological Change

Type of Change Characterized by

Modernization Doing what we’ve always done, but using technology to do more and to increase efficiency

Innovation Doing things we’ve wanted to do, but could not do without the technology

Transformation Doing things that we didn’t imagine until technology made it possible.



Early digital codebooks

Doing what we’ve always done, but using technology to do more and to increase efficiency

DDI 1 and 2 Doing things we’ve wanted to do, but could not do without the technology

DDI 3 Doing things that we didn’t imagine until technology made it possible.



Early digital codebooks

Making codebooks machine readable

DDI 1 and 2 Making codebooks re-usable, even machine actionable…

DDI 3 Re-thinking “documentation”

Re-thinking the research process

DDI 1 and 2

• Document Description • Study Description • Data Files Description • Variable Description • Other Study-Related

Materials

DDI 1 and 2

• Document Description • Study Description • Data Files Description • Variable Description • Other Study-Related

Materials

• Study Concept• Data Collection• Data Processing• Data Distribution• Data Archiving• Data Discovery• Data Analysis• Repurposing

DDI 3

Life Cycle of Research,Data, Documentation

A modular approach

• Study Unit

- Research question - Funding - Concepts - Background research

A modular approach

• Study Unit

• Data Collection- Instrument - Data collection process - Questionnaire

A modular approach

• Study Unit

• Data Collection

• Logical Product- Intellectual content of data - Relationship to questions and concepts- Relationship to processing (recodes, weighting, derivations, imputations)

A modular approach

• Study Unit

• Data Collection

• Logical Product

• Physical Data Product- Describes the structure (microdata, tabular,aggregate, Ncube…) (e.g., STF 1A)

A modular approach

• Study Unit

• Data Collection

• Logical Product

• Physical Data Product

• Physical instance

- Each describes a single data file (e.g., STF1 A by state...each state is an instance)

A modular approach

• Study Unit

• Data Collection

• Logical Product



• “Instance”-An instance module “wraps” the other modules. Like a table of contents to a group of studies and files and modules it brings everything together.

A modular approach

• Study Unit

• Data Collection

• Logical Product



• “Instance”

• Archive

- Each archive can add its own local information with an archive module.

A modular approach

• Study Unit

• Data Collection

• Logical Product



• “Instance”

• Archive

A modular approach(but wait… there’s more!)

• Group module

- Describe concepts, questions, and variables that occur in several studies.- Describe a series (e.g., CBP, CPS, Eurobarometer) - Describe a collection of studies (not a series) and identify the common comparable concepts, questions and variables.


• Group module

• Comparative module-The Comparative module contains information for comparing concepts, questions, and variables between or among Study Units that have been housed in a Group.


• Group module

• Comparative module

• Conceptual components module

- Describe concepts and their relationships as concept groups. - Use known vocabularies and can indicate the level of similarity between two concepts by describing the extent of difference.

A modular approach

• Study Unit• Data Collection• Logical Product• Physical Data

Product• Physical instance• “Instance”• Archive

• Group module• Comparative

module• Conceptual

components module

Evolution of Data Documentation Providing Social Science Data Services Jim Jacobs, 2008.

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