The Workflow: A Practical Guide to Producing Accurate, Efficient, Transparent and Reproducible Social Survey Data Analysis

This working paper is concerned with the very practical aspects of organising and undertaking analyses of social surveys. The focus is directed towards the many tasks involved in making good analytical use of social survey data, and it provides practicable advice on the process of how to plan, organise, compute and document analyses of social surveys. Advice on data analysis software is provided and on how to work using syntax files to undertake data analysis. We also discuss the critical role of documentation and aspects of the workflow that are frequently overlooked (e.g. organising directory structures and file naming protocols). The overall goal of this working paper is to provide researchers with information that enables them to efficiently undertake accurate, transparent and reproducible research using social surveys.