Data Management Lab: Session 3 Data Review Checklist

1. IUPUI University Library Center for Digital Scholarship
Data Management Lab: Spring 2014
Quality Assurance & Control: Data Review Checklist
Adapted from: Curating and Managing Research Data for Re-Use Workshop, ICPSR Summer Program,
2013
Below are several questions you may want to include in your data quality standards checklist:
o Does each variable have a variable label?
o Do all categorical variables have value labels?
o Does the data output match the codebook? Are values and/or labels listed in one but not the
other?
o Are all codes in the data valid (documented) according to the data collection instrument or
codebook?
o Are the values reasonable?
o For example, date variables contain dates, gender variables don’t have ten categories.
o Does the spelling look ok?
o Are missing codes defined as missing?
o Are there variables that may pose a confidentiality concern?
o Are there weight variables? If so, are they well documented?
o Are there duplicate records?
Heather Coates, 2013