Preparing a

Codebook
Reporter: Diana Isla Aquino

What is a codebook?

A codebook describes and

documents the questions

asked or items collected in
a survey.

Purpose of a codebook

A codebook provides the translation from

the set of possible answers given by

respondents or obtained by
measurements/observation into the SPSS
data matrix.
The codebook ensures a correct and
complete definition of all variables in the
data matrix and is a foundation for data
analysis.

Elements for each variable in the

data file:

Variable Name
Variable Column Location
Variable Label
Missing Data Code
Code Value
Value Label

1. Variable Name
Indicates the variable number or
name assigned to each variable
in the data collection.

2. Variable Column
Location

Indicates the starting location and

width of a variable.
If the variable is a multipleresponse type, the width
referenced is that of a single
response.

3. Variable Label
Indicates an abbreviated

variable description to identify

the variable for the user.

4. Missing Data Code

Indicates the values and

labels of missing data.

5. Code Value
Indicates the code values

occurring in the data for this

variable.

6. Value Label

Indicates the textual

definitions of the codes.

Preparing the codebook involves

deciding how you will go about:

defining and labeling each of the

variables
assigning numbers to each of the
possible responses

Example of a Codebook
Variable

SPSS variable name

Coding instructions

Identification number

ID

Number assigned to each

survey

Sex

Sex

1 = Males
2 = Females

Age

Age

Age in years

Marital status

Marital

1
2
3
4
5
6

Optimism Scale
items 1 to 6

op1 to op6

Enter the number circled

from
1 (strongly disagree) to
5 (strongly agree)

=
=
=
=
=
=

single
steady relationship
married for the first time
remarried
divorced/separated
widowed

Rules for naming of

variables

Variable names:
must be unique
must begin with a letter (not a number)
cannot include full stops, spaces or
symbols (! , ? * )
cannot include words used as commands
by SPSS (all, ne, to, le, lt, by, or, and, not,
with)

CODING RESPONSES
Note: Each response must be
assigned a numerical code before
it can be entered into SPSS.

Example of a Codebook
Variable

SPSS variable name

Coding instructions

Identification number

ID

Number assigned to each

survey

Sex

Sex

1 = Males
2 = Females

Age

Age

Age in years

Marital status

Marital

1
2
3
4
5
6

Optimism Scale
items 1 to 6

op1 to op6

Enter the number circled

from
1 (strongly disagree) to
5 (strongly agree)

=
=
=
=
=
=

single
steady relationship
married for the first time
remarried
divorced/separated
widowed

Example:
What is your current marital status? (please
tick)
single in a relationship married
annulled
To code responses to the question above: if
a person ticked single, they would be coded
as 1(1=single); if in a relationship, they
would be coded 2 (2=in a relationship); if
married, 3 (3=married); and if annulled, 4
(4=annulled).

CODING OPEN-ENDED
QUESTIONS
Example:

What is the major source of stress in

your life at the moment?