[Abridged message to Alan]
There is NO standard - nothing I've been able to trace. So-called metadata standards are computer science ideas that make data syntactically compatible but say nothing about semantics.
eg: XML requires every dataset to have a title. My title is "Shan't tell"
XSL allows equivalences like "what I call sex, you call gender" but doesn't suggest how we rigorously check codes are equivalent or how the values were observed. Under apartheid in South Africa people were the colour a policeman had allocated to them.
However, I have worked on a local standard which has been promoted to a small extent to emphasize the gap. Am happy to send description as PDF attachment on request.
For software-based standards, see advice on www.data-archive.ac.uk
Allan
-----Original Message-----
From: A UK-based worldwide e-mail broadcast system mailing list
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Alan Statistics
Sent: 19 February 2008 03:55
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Getting datasests into standard formats
With Respect
I want information about the storing and processing of data for future use; I know very little about this. I have no institutional base.
I find that to deposit data with the icpsr it is "strongly encouraged" that it be in a SAS transport, SPSS portable or Stata file How do I transform Access and Excel datasets into one of those and how much formatting can I preserve? Which of those would you recommend as best for storing and manipulating data? Are there on-line services offering translation into those formats for a fee?
For future reference, what open format would you recommend storing data in so they can be manipulated as in a database or spreadsheet? Which would be best for exploring agreement/disagreement between subjects in a survey?
I have no information about the Data Documentation Initiative referred to by A. Michelle Edwards in her reply to CDIS. I note that the icpsr formats are proprietary.
Yours Sincerely,
Alan E. Dunne
***********************************************************************************
This email and any attachments are intended for the named recipient only. Its unauthorised use, distribution, disclosure, storage or copying is not permitted. If you have received it in error, please destroy all copies and notify the sender. In messages of a non-business nature, the views and opinions expressed are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the organisation from which it is sent. All emails may be subject to monitoring.
***********************************************************************************
|