data file

Definition of Data File

(noun) A set of related records.

Example of Data File

• A spreadsheet listing the ages and ethnicities of all the sociology students in a class.
  

Data File Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: da·ta file

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˈdætə faɪl/
• British English – /ˈdeɪtə faɪl/

Usage Notes

• Plural: data files
• A data file can be electronic or written.
• Variant spellings:
  • data-file
  • datafile

Additional Information

• Qualitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Quantitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “data” and “file” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com

Related Terms

• case
• data
• data analysis
• data archive
• data item
• data point
• data set
• data source
• research
• statistics
• study

---

Works Consulted

Babbie, Earl. 2013. The Practice of Social Research. 13th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Bryman, Alan. 2012. Social Research Methods. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Burdess, Neil. 2010. Starting Statistics: A Short, Clear Guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Cramer, Duncan, and Dennis Howitt. 2004. The SAGE Dictionary of Statistics: A Practical Resource for Students in the Social Sciences. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Farlex. (N.d.) TheFreeDictionary.com: Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus. Farlex. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/).

Fioramonti, Lorenzo. 2014. How Numbers Rule the World: The Use and Abuse of Statistics in Global Politics. London: Zed Books.

Larson, Ron, and Elizabeth Farber. 2015. Elementary Statistics: Picturing the World. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson.

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Salkind, Neil J., ed. 2007. Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Taylor & Francis. (N.d.) Routledge Handbooks Online. (https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/).

Weinstein, Jay A. 2010. Applying Social Statistics: An Introduction to Quantitative Reasoning in Sociology. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).

Wiley. (N.d.) Wiley Online Library. (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/).

Cite the Definition of Data File

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “data file.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved December 2, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/data-file/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

data file. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/data-file/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “data file.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed December 2, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/data-file/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“data file.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 2 Dec. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/data-file/>.