nCube Group

A group of nCubes that may share a common subject, arise from the interpretation of a single question, or are linked by some other factor. This element makes it possible to identify all nCubes derived from a simple presentation table, and to provide the original table title and universe, as well as reference the source. Specific nesting patterns can be described using the attribute nCubeGrp.

nCube groups are also created this way in order to permit nCubes to belong to multiple groups, including multiple subject groups, without causing overlapping groups. nCubes that are linked by the same use of the same variable need not be identified by an nCubeGrp element because they are already linked by a common variable element. Note that as a result of the strict sequencing required by XML, all nCube Groups must be marked up before the Variable element is opened. That is, the mark-up author cannot mark up a nCube Group, then mark up its constituent nCubes, then mark up another nCube Group.

The "type" attribute refers to the general type of grouping of the nCubes. Specific nCube Groups, included within the 'type' attribute, are:

Display: nCubes that are part of the same presentation table.

Subject: nCubes that address a common topic or subject, e.g., income, poverty, children.

Iteration: nCubes that appear in different sections of the data file measuring a common subject in different ways, e.g., using different universes, units of measurement, etc.

Pragmatic: An nCube group without shared properties.

Record: nCubes from a single record in a hierarchical file.

File: nCube from a single file in a multifile study.

Other: nCubes that do not fit easily into any of the categories listed above, e.g., a group of nCubes whose documentation is in another language. A term from a controlled vocabulary may be placed into the otherType attribute if this value is used.

The otherType attribute should only be used when applying a controlled vocabulary, and when the type attribute has been given a value of "other". Use the complex element controlledVocabUsed to identify the controlled vocabulary to which the selected term belongs.

The "nCube" attribute is used to reference all the IDs of the nCubes belonging to the group.

The "nCubeGrp" attribute is used to reference all the subsidiary nCube groups which nest underneath the current nCubeGrp. This allows for encoding of a hierarchical structure of nCube groups.

The attribute "name" provides a name, or short label, for the group.

The "sdatrefs" are summary data description references that record the ID values of all elements within the summary data description section of the Study Description that might apply to the group. These elements include: time period covered, date of collection, nation or country, geographic coverage, geographic unit, unit of analysis, universe, and kind of data.

The "methrefs" are methodology and processing references which record the ID values of all elements within the study methodology and processing section of the Study Description which might apply to the group. These elements include information on data collection and data appraisal (e.g., sampling, sources, weighting, data cleaning, response rates, and sampling error estimates).

The "pubrefs" attribute provides a link to publication/citation references and records the ID values of all citations elements within Section codeBook/stdyDscr/othrStdyMat or codeBook/otherMat that pertain to this nCube group.

The "access" attribute records the ID values of all elements in codeBook/stdyDscr/dataAccs of the document that describe access conditions for this nCube group.