Data terminologies

Questionnaire: A set of written questions used for collecting information from respondents.

Respondents: Individuals who respond to the questions in a questionnaire.

Dataset: The information collected from respondents. The numbers to be analyzed.

Full wording of question: The exact text of a question as it appears in the questionnaire.

Variable name: Unique words assigned to each question. We use variable names in data analysis software.

Values: Numbers such as 1, 2, 3, etc., that appear in the dataset representing specific responses.

Labels: What those values (numbers) mean, e.g., 1: yes, 2: no, etc.

Response set: The combination of values and their corresponding labels.

[Variables in GSS]