A Metadata document is provided for every EA database.
In addition to the fields included in the Variables List, the Metadata contains fields to aid in loading the data into database systems and fields to ensure proper querying and calculations.
The Metadata document is provided in CSV format for ease of use and filtering.
Metadata Fields
- General - The general fields in the Metadata document include.
- Hierarchy - For databases with nesting variables.
- Variable Metrics - For databases with a variety of variable metrics.
| General | Hierarchy | Variable Metrics |
|---|---|---|
| Order | Hierarchy | VarType |
| Variable Code | Hierarchy Level | ConsType |
| Variable Description | ||
| Category | ||
| Root Formula | ||
| Type | ||
| Size | ||
| Part |
Use the Metadata document to:
- quickly search for variables of interest to identify the variable code, name and database part where the variable is listed
- ensure the order of variables is respected once queries are performed
- clarify the category and hierarchy of variables to prevent double counting and perform proper calculations
- determine the root variable for percent and index calculations
- identify the type and size of variables for importing purposes
| Name | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Order | numeric order of the variables in the database Ensures that the proper order of the variables is retained to respect the category order and variable hierarchy | Use to double-check hierarchy after the database has been queried or when variables are extracted from the original database. |
| Variable | variable code assigned to each variable | |
| Description | full description of the variable code | |
| Category | category the variable nests within | |
| Root Formula | variable code of the base variable used for calculating percentage values | |
| Hierarchy Level |
nesting level of the variable within the category |
|
| DataVintageYear | the vintage year the variable represents | |
| Type | variable type (ex. V_String, Integer, FixedDecimal, Double) | |
| Size | length of the value | |
| Part | database name where the variable is found | Only reported when data are separated into multiple databases. |
| Name | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| VarType (Variable Type) |
Incidence or Consumption |
e.g.: number of people or households doing the activity
e.g.: number of times people or households do the activity |
| ConsType (Consumption Type) | Consumption Value | e.g.: a variety of consumption values dependent on the variable |
If VarType= Incidence, then ConsType is blank
If VarType= Consumption, then ConsType= # of times
You can now move on to 4 - Data File Structure