Coding (social sciences)

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Coding, the process of classification of information, is an important step in preparation of data for computer processing.

Data which is coded usually comes from questionnaires used in qualitative research in social sciences. That data, usually measured and recorded as nominal or ordinal variables, is coded in order to be analyzed by statistical software (in social sciences, spreadsheets such as Excel and more advanced packages such as SPSS and SAS are particularly common).

Questionnaire data can be pre-coded (process of assigning codes to expected answers on designed questionnaire) or post-coded (coding of open questions on completed questionnaires).

One code should apply to only one category. Categories should be comprehensive. There should be clear guidelins for coders so that code is consistent.

The person doing the coding is called coder.

Coding often simplies classifications.