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Meta data is all information regarding the data, except the numbers or text which can be referred to as the data itself. When we refer to meta data, think about:
- Node/variable names
- Labels used to report
- Type of the variables (string / numeric / single / multiple / date / respondentID / weight factor)
- Answer categories
- Missing values
- Etc
In SPSS the meta data view is also known as variable view. Other companies might refer to meta data when they mention "codebook".