Variable

This element describes all of the features of a single variable in a social science data file. The following elements are repeatable to support multi-language content: anlysUnit, embargo, imputation, respUnit, security, TotlResp. It includes the following attributes:

The attribute "name" usually contains the so-called "short label" for the variable, limited to eight characters in many statistical analysis systems such as SAS or SPSS.

The attribute "wgt" indicates whether the variable is a weight.

The attribute "wgt-var" references the weight variable(s) for this variable.

The attribute "qstn" is a reference to the question ID for the variable.

The attribute "files" is the IDREF identifying the file(s) to which the variable belongs.

The attribute "vendor" is the origin of the proprietary format and includes SAS, SPSS, ANSI, and ISO.

The attribute "dcml" refers to the number of decimal points in the variable.

The attribute "intrvl" indicates the interval type; options are discrete or continuous.

The "rectype" attribute refers to the record type to which the variable belongs.

The "sdatrefs" are summary data description references which record the ID values of all elements within the summary data description section of the Study Description which might apply to the variable. 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 variable. 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 Other Study Description Materials or Other Study-Related Materials that pertain to this variable.

The attribute "access" records the ID values of all elements in the Data Access section that describe access conditions for this variable.

The "aggrMeth" attribute indicates the type of aggregation method used, for example 'sum', 'average', 'count'. If a value of "other" is given a term from a controlled vocabulary should be used in the "otherAggrMeth" attribute.

The "otherAggrMeth" attribute holds a value from a controlled vocabulary when the aggrMeth attribute has a value of "other".This option should only be used when applying a controlled vocabulary to this attribute. Use the complex element controlledVocabUsed to identify the controlled vocabulary to which the selected term belongs.

The attribute "measUnit" records the measurement unit, for example 'km', 'miles', etc.

The "scale" attribute records unit of scale, for example 'x1', 'x1000', etc.

The attribute "origin" records the point of origin for anchored scales.

The "nature" attribute records the nature of the variable, whether it is 'nominal', 'ordinal', 'interval', 'ratio', or 'percent'. If the 'other' value is used, a value from a controlled vocabulary should be put into the otherNature attribute.

The "otherNature" attribute should be used when the nature attribute has a value of "other". This option should only be used when applying a controlled vocabulary to this attribute. Use the complex element controlledVocabUsed to identify the controlled vocabulary to which the selected term belongs.

The attribute "additivity" records type of additivity, such as 'stock', 'flow', 'non-additive'. When the "other" value is used, a value from a controlled vocabulary should be put into the "otherAdditivity" attribute.

The "otherAdditivity" attribute is used only when the "additivity" attribute has a value of "other". This option should only be used when applying a controlled vocabulary to this attribute. Use the complex element controlledVocabUsed to identify the controlled vocabulary to which the selected term belongs.

The attribute "temporal" indicates whether the variable relays time-related information.

The "geog" attribute indicates whether the variable relays geographic information.

The attribute "geoVocab" records the coding scheme used in the variable.

The attribute "catQnty" records the number of categories found in the variable, and is used primarily for aggregate data files for verifying cell counts in nCubes.

The "representationType" attribute was added to capture the specific DDI 3 representation type to facilitate translation between DDI 2 and DDI 3. If the "other" value is used, a term from a controlled vocabulary may be supplied in the otherRepresentationType attribute.

The "otherRepresentationType" attribute should be used when the representationType attribute has a value of "other". This option should only be used when applying a controlled vocabulary to this attribute. Use the complex element controlledVocabUsed to identify the controlled vocabulary to which the selected term belongs.