Question

What are the benefits of creating a codebook and a codebook key when conducting survey research? How would you format the codebook book and codebook key for the following question?

Which of the following is your favorite character from The Walking Dead?

a) Rick Grimes

b) Daryl Dixon

c) Negan

d) Eugene Porter

e) Other: ________________ (Write in answer)

Answer 1

A codebook is documentation which captures the detail of each variable which has been used in the survey and the dataset.The codebook information like:-

• The names of the variables
• Labels assigned to the variables
• The way the variable has been measured like in nominal or ordinal scale
• The unit of measurement such as length, age, etc

The codebook also contains information like when the dataset was created. The primary reason for creating a codebook, which is also its benefit is to ensure that the research when it is referred to by somebody is easy to comprehend and make sense. Also, it ensures that the data is described succinctly and unambiguously.

The code key and codebook for the given research question would look something like given below:-

Variable	Position	Label	Measurement Level	Role	Column Width	Alignment
FavouriteCharacter	1 ( Or any number as per the order in which the question appears)	Which of the following is your favorite character from The Walking Dead?	Nominal	Input	20	Right

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