Categorical Variables Contain a Complete List of Useful Value Labels

A value label is a value that is assigned to a specific option in a variable. For example, the value of 1 may be assigned to the label of Male and 2 to Female. Value labels should be complete and readable.

Complete

The list of value labels associated with a variable in a data set should include any label that could have been applied, even if it was selected by nobody. 

Useful

Where the data is from a questionnaire, the value labels should be taken directly from the questionnaire, provided that they are not too long, as lengthy options may be automatically truncated and, even if not truncated, can make tables unreadable.

Example

A summary table of a categorical variable like this is an example where the value labels are not complete.