Column Headers & Order

Column Headers

• Only use alphanumeric or these 3 special characters: period (.), dash (-), and underscore (_)

  • Ampersand (&) should be replaced by “and” if needed

• Each must be unique

  • Can’t have two headers called "duration"

• Units of measure should be omitted

  • Units can and should be provided with the data dictionary

• Keep short (less than 30 characters)

  • A full description can and should be provided with the data dictionary

Example: date_received, applicants_address, supervisor_district

Column Order

• Unique identifiers should be in the left-most column if applicable

• Date and time variables should be in the first column for time series data

• Fixed or classified variables should be ordered with the highest-level variable on the left and most granular variable on the right, for example

  • 311 cases: service_name, service_subtype, service_details

  • Police incidents: category, descript

• Observed variables should always be on the rightmost columns, these are measured variables often numeric, for example:

  • Duration

  • Number of Units

  • Number of Stories

  • Year Built

  • People Served

Is anything wrong, unclear, missing?

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