Coding manuals are the best source of a variable’s full conceptualization

Evidence

Typically, coding rules follow the Completeness Guideline and use the necessary and sufficient condition concept structure. In addition, one usually does not want redundant coding rules. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 298

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: a ‘how to read a dataset’ essay — go to the coding manual appendix, not the article, to learn what a variable actually means; most replication failures live there.