Codebook cookbook

A guide to writing a good codebook for data analysis

projects in medicine

1. Introduction

Writing a codebook is an important step in the management of any data analysis project.
The codebook will serve as a reference for the clinical team; it will help newcomers to
the project to rapidly have a flavor of what is at stake and will serve as a communication
tool with the statistical unit.

Indeed, when comes time to perform statistical analyses on your data, the statistician will
be grateful to have a codebook that is readily usable, that is, a codebook that is easy to
turn into code for whichever statistical analysis package he/she will use (SAS, R, Stata,
or other).

2. Data preparation

Whether you enter data in a spreadsheet such as Excel (as is currently popular in
biomedical research) or a database program such as Access, there is much freedom in the
way data can be entered. A few rules, however, should be followed, to make both the data
entry and subsequent data analysis as smooth as possible. A specific example will be
presented in Section 3, but first let‟s look at a few general suggestions.

2.1 Variables names

A unique, unambiguous name should be given to each variable. Variables names MUST
consist of one string only, consisting of letters and — when useful — numbers and
underscores ( _ ). Spaces are not allowed in variables names in most statistical programs,
even if data entry programs like Excel or Access will allow this. It is good practice to
enter variables names at the top of each column. Variables names should be long enough
to be meaningful, but short enough to be easy to handle; variables labels (below) are the
place to clarify what is coded in each variable more substantially.

2.2 Variables labels

A label is a description of the variable, such as a textual description or a reference to the

question number, if the item arises from a questionnaire.

It is important to include a descriptive variable label for each variable in the file. In
practice, these can be added to the existing data base or as a listing in a text file separate
from your data file.
Variables labels are important not only for the statistician to understand the contents of
each data item, but also to the researchers, as the labels will facilitate understanding of
the outputs of the statistical analysis, which they must interpret.

Examples of variable labels will be presented in Section 3.1.1.

2.3 Variables codes

Each categorical variable should have a set of exhaustive, mutually exclusive codes.
These codes should be thoroughly documented in the codebook. Where possible,
standard data codes should be used (e.g. 0=no, 1=yes for yes/no variables): the use of
such standards facilitates the comparison of results across variables, or even across
studies.

Examples of variable codes (sometimes called value labels) will be presented in Section
3.1.2.

2.4 Variables formats

Data should be reduced to numeric codes whenever possible. This avoids the occurrence
of typographical errors in entering literal answers, leading to misinterpretation of two
equivalent answers as being different, and above all greatly facilitates the use of the
variables in statistical models, as most statistical packages cannot use character variables
(that is, variables taking alphanumeric values, e.g. gender=F or M) directly in statistical
models. (In fact, the alphanumeric variables can be used, but only after some
preprocessing that can be time consuming and hence expensive.)

Character entries should be used for descriptive purposes only, e.g. in comment variables
— reason for withdrawal from experiment, reason for non-adherence to medication, etc
— and even in these cases, only when the number of possible answers is large, so that
creating numeric codes for all possibilities becomes too cumbersome.

If for some reason you still prefer to enter alphanumeric values (we can imagine that
sometimes it saves some time and/or is less error-prone at data entry), we will still
suggest a few hints in Section 5 to reduce problems further down the line, at the
statistician‟s end.

2.5 Missing data

In practice, missing data almost always occur in clinical projects; they can arise from
many sources, such as refusal to answer, omission, missing by design, etc. The coding of
missing data often does not receive special attention, which is often benign; indeed, cells
left empty in Excel spreadsheets, for example, will be interpreted as missing data by most
statistical programs.
It is sometimes important however — either in data analysis or when writing reports —
to be able to distinguish between different types of missing data, and that will require
some coding. Furthermore, specifically coding missing values in a data bank makes it
clear that the data item is truly missing, as opposed to an omission by the data entry
person, which is unfortunate but happens in practice; if true missing values were coded,
identifying data entry omissions will be trivial and going back to charts (or
questionnaires) — when possible — will be a foreseeable option to minimize the amount
of missing information.

Section 3.2 will suggest a way to code missing values.

2.6 Date variables

Date variables are often problematic, as there is no uniform standard for date formats.
Therefore, it is important to choose a standard and keep the same date format for each
record (subject, patient) for all date variables in the project.

In Section 3.4, we will suggest a sensible and easy to use date format.

3. Entering your codebook through Excel spreadsheets

Very often, statisticians are sent data files that contain all the information listed in
Section 2, but either through inconvenient codebooks (e.g. written in Word tables that are
hard to access electronically by other programs, leading to “cut and paste” coding which
needlessly duplicates efforts) or data file columns headers. Even though all the
information necessary for data coding and analysis may be included, the information is so
sparse and not easily accessed that it is not readily usable. It is much more efficient to
include all the necessary information in a format that can be read in an automated way.
The examples in Section 3.1 will illustrate a programmer-friendly codebook that remains
easy to prepare.

For example, when SAS — perhaps the most commonly used statistical package for data
coding — reads an Excel file and tries to obtain the variable names from the top row of
the file, it expects a single string (no space, no bracket, no equal sign: nothing but a
word!); consequently, it converts the content of top row cells by replacing unacceptable
characters into underscores, shortens lengthy names and adds numeric suffixes — when
necessary — to keep them unique; this often results in non-optimal and often hard to
comprehend variables names, as shown in the examples in Table 1.

Original Excel column header Variable name, when converted by SAS

ETHORIG (1=Caucasian) 2=Black 3=Asian 4=Natives ETHORIG__1_Caucasian__2_Black_3_

SLICMAX.LM (total damage score) SLICMAX_LM__total_damage_score_

Table 1. Choosing friendly variables names.

The two shorter and yet meaningful alternatives ethorig and SlicMax_LM would have
been accepted by SAS without any changes, meaning that the original codebook could be
used when deciphering the outputs from the analyses.

These examples illustrate why keeping variable names simple is always a good idea! The
additional bits of information (e.g. codes 1=Caucasian, 2=Black, etc. for the first
variable, and text „total damage score‟ for the second) should not be entered in variable
names, but rather belong in value labels and variable labels, respectively, as will be
illustrated shortly.

3.1 Labels

3.1.1 Variable labels

Figure 1. Variables names, labels and formats.

The variable labels section (or maybe sheet, if you use Excel and prefer to keep all
information in a single file) of your codebook should contain the following three bits of
information: variables names (identical to that used in the data entry page), format names
and variable labels (see columns A, B and C, in Figure 1). Feel free to enter additional
information in subsequent columns (e.g. measurement units — though measurement units
could also be included in variable label, valid ranges for data, values for missing and
inapplicable data, etc.)
Categorical variables that were entered with numeric codes should be identified as such
through the means of an associated format name (column B, in Figure 1). Each format
can be used more than once; in Figure 1, for example, variables famhx and smoker were
both yes/no variables, thus they were both coded as 0/1 variables, a format called yesno,
yet to be described in the value labels section.

3.1.2 Value labels

The value labels section should consist of three columns: formats names and, for each
format, an exhaustive list of numeric values and corresponding value labels.

Figure 2. Formats names and values labels.

Column headers were added to both values labels and variables labels sheets for the sake
of clarity and ease of reference, but are not in fact absolutely necessary.

The order of the first three columns in each of these sheets, however, should be respected
to ease later programming. Feel free to fill additional columns either for your personal
use or for the statistician‟s team, in which case you will clearly indicate their intended use
by either labeling them properly or by getting in touch with the statistical team.
Your value labels sheet may be conveniently reused in future projects, at least in part (as
some categorical variables tend to be present in most studies, e.g. gender, smoking,
yes/no variables, etc.).

3.2 Coding missing and inapplicable data

It is not absolutely mandatory to code missing values, as pointed out in Section 2.5.
Nevertheless, such codes should be used as much as possible (it is a trade-off between
work load and data bank completeness and clarity, the latter taking precedence whenever
feasible).

When coded, missing values for categorical variables should be identified by a code
radically different from non missing values: for example, a variable that would be coded
as 0=‟not at all‟, 1=‟a little bit‟, …, 5=‟very much‟, a sensible choice would be to take a
negative value, e.g. -9.

Similarly, for continuous variables (e.g. age as expressed in fractional years), impossible
values should be used, diminishing the possibility of erroneously entering such codes:
-88, -99, -999 are values that are often used. The choice is yours, but whatever values
you choose to use for inapplicable data should be documented in your codebook (see
columns E and F, Figure 1).

Note also that inapplicable (e.g., pregnancy related data among males) data should be
coded differently from missing data. Codes for missing and inapplicable data can be
entered in the variable labels worksheet for unformatted variables (e.g. age) or in the
value labels worksheet if all variables using a given format were identically coded —
which is highly recommended, of course!

4. Entering date variables

Date variables are often the cause of nightmares! Indeed, there is no standard way to
enter dates; some prefer mm/dd/yyyy, as in 02/28/2007, others prefer dd/mm/yyyy, as in
28/02/2007, and enter their data accordingly, often without telling Excel in which format
they are entering the corresponding variable. Excel is clever enough to recognize it‟s a
date, but by default Excel will interpret them as dd/mm/yyyy.

Consequently, if you enter the dates April 7, 2006, August 12, 2004, March 1st, 2005,
December 6, 2006, May 15, 2006, May 10, 2005 as in Figure 3, it looks like Excel
accepts and understands all the dates you have entered. However, the value in row 5
being left-aligned while others were right-aligned should ring a warning bell!
 Indeed, as Excel expects dates in the format
dd/mm/yyyy (by default), it accepted the
first four values (but misinterpreted them
as July 4, 2006, December 8, 2004, January
3rd, 2005, June 12, 2006) and the date on
row 5 could not be read as a date (month
15?!?!?), and was therefore aligned to the
left and recorded as a string rather than a
date!

Figure 3. A date variable with incorrect

date format.

To avoid such misinterpretations — which will remain problematic when your statistician
reads it with a statistical software package — we highly suggest that prior to entering any
dates, you indicate (in Excel or Access, for example) a format date to be used for the
column where you intend to enter the dates. Furthermore, we recommend that you use a
format that is unequivocal, e.g. the format dd-mon-yyy, that is, a format where the month
will be displayed in words; it will not be more work for you as you can still enter your
dates by entering month as numeric and using slashes between day & month and month
& year: every time you enter a new date, Excel will turn it into the chosen format, and
you will see right away whether it was correctly interpreted or not! Easy to use and much
less error-prone than other formats! The best of all worlds!

To use that format, click the cell on top of the column, browse through Format, Cells,
click Date in the “Category:” list box and finally click the format “14-mar-01” (or
anything alike) in the “Type:” list box.

4.1 Validating date values

Avoiding date entry errors in Excel is made easier with the Data Validation tool.
If you enter your data in an Excel worksheet, click the top cell of the column where you
plan to enter a date and follow these steps:

1. On the Data menu, click Validation, and then click the Settings tab.
2. In the Allow box, click Date.
3. Enter minimum and maximum feasible dates.
5. Useful Excel tips: AutoComplete and Pick from List

As announced in Section 2.4, we now suggest a few ways to enter alphanumeric variables
(in Excel) that will reduce the risk of typographical errors and subsequent inconveniences
(or worse!).

An Excel feature that makes entering data easier is AutoComplete. With this tool, all you
need to do is to type in the first letters or digits of an entry into a cell; Excel will
automatically scan the surrounding values in that column and complete the entry for you
if it finds a like value. If you want to accept AutoComplete‟s suggestion, simply press
Enter, Tab, or any of the arrow keys. If the AutoComplete’s suggestion is not what you
need, keep entering the desired text, or use the delete key to cut off the letters that it
suggested. You can toggle the AutoComplete feature on and off by choosing Options
from the Tools menu and clicking on the Edit tab. Clicking in the Enable
AutoComplete for Cell Values checkbox will allow you to turn AutoComplete on and
off.

Pick From List could also be useful. It allows you to access a range of values that have
already been entered into a given column and to pick a value from that list.
Right-click on the next cell to be filled and choose Pick From List... from the pop-up
menu: it will produce a drop-down list below the cell showing the values already entered
in the column; click a value to select it or type the Esc button to close the list.

A categorical variable can also be entered though a combo box. This works similarly to
Pick From List, except that values offered in the list will come from a pre-determined
list, not from the values already entered into the column. Choose the Microsoft Excel
Help item from the Help menu, and enter “Combo box” in the text box; in the list of
items found by the search tool, click the item “Enter data in cell from a list you
specify” and follow the instructions.

6. Ready-to-use information

This is a minor but still noteworthy point: sometimes, one tries to compress information
into as few variables as possible. Splitting information into more than one variable,
however, is sometimes more natural and makes data entry easier (not to mention easier
for data coding and analysis!).

Consider the example below, where a questionnaire was administered several times to
each patient, with a variable called admin_time indicating the time of questionnaire
administration for the corresponding record. The variable illustrated in the worksheet in
Figure 4 contains all the information, but in a way that is not readily usable by the
programmer.
Figure 4. A variable containing information difficult to access
through programming.

A good programmer will still be able to get the day and week numbers relatively easily
from the lines 2 to 4: indeed, one would take the number after the string „day‟ as the day
number and the number after „week‟ as the week number. Nothing impossible to deal
with here! But consider now the 5th row, which unfortunately includes a typo (week was
misspelled). The algorithm discussed above would fail in finding the word „week‟, and
week number would thus not be read!

The lack of a standard (e.g., always day first and week second, in this example) by itself
is a good point against entering non numeric data, as suggested in Section 2 — not
accounting for the augmented risk of typos. In this example, entering time of
questionnaire administration into two columns, as shown in Figure 5, does better, both in
terms of ease of data entry and statistical coding.
Figure 5. Information made easy to read and interpret.

7. A program to convert Excel codebook file to SAS code

An executable program to convert Excel codebook files to SAS code is available at

http://www.med.mcgill.ca/epidemiology/Joseph/PBelisle/ExcelCodebook2SasCode.html

8. Final words

We believe that following these guidelines will greatly facilitate data entry and
subsequent statistical analyses, not to mention cutting down on errors, which can often go
undetected through the life of a project. Of course, we have presented our preferences,
and others may have different opinions or habits. Therefore it is always best to consult
with your statistical group prior to beginning any data base programming, and to devise
your data entry system ahead of time in collaboration with them.

Nevertheless, we hope that you find this codebook cookbook useful, and welcome your
comments for improvements.

Authors: Patrick Bélisle and Lawrence Joseph

Department of Clinical Epidemiology / McGill University Health Centre
Montréal, Québec CANADA
patrick.belisle@rimuhc.ca
http://www.med.mcgill.ca/epidemiology/Joseph/PBelisle
http://www.med.mcgill.ca/epidemiology/Joseph/