Data Management and Manipulation
How a Dataset Represents the Population
A file encodes a population, time window, sampling process, and measurement process.
Page 1 of 7 · Big Picture
The big picture: How a Dataset Represents the Population
What population, time, and process does each dataset represent?
Why a policy analyst should care
A dataset is produced by a sampling and record-keeping process, so its rows may represent a narrower population, period, or care pathway than its filename suggests.
Follow the idea from the opening question to a practical decision. These are the conceptual moves this module will develop:
1 Question What population and process does the file represent?
2 Explore Read the provenance and structure
3 Formalize Rows, keys, time, and weights
4 Transfer Audit a health dataset
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