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st: AW: A Statalist glossary
From
"Martin Weiss" <[email protected]>
To
<[email protected]>
Subject
st: AW: A Statalist glossary
Date
Thu, 22 Apr 2010 17:15:20 +0200
<>
Additions:
A is also for -adoupdate-. Only works if your ados found their way onto your
computer in a legitimate manner in the first place. See also -update-.
E is also for endless loop. See also loop, endless and [I], p. 106 at the
bottom.
I is for -input-, which is a way to get around the limited number of
problems that can be demonstrated using -webuse-d or -sysuse-d datasets. And
yes, put those strings with embedded blanks in quotation marks, b/c
otherwise -input- will spoil your fun thoroughly.
L is also for loop, endless. See endless loop and [I], p. 106 at the bottom.
U is also for -update-. Without prior full execution of this command, do not
even think about complaining about error # 3598 ("function returned
error"...). See also -adoupdate-.
HTH
Martin
-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] Im Auftrag von Nick Cox
Gesendet: Donnerstag, 22. April 2010 16:48
An: [email protected]
Betreff: st: A Statalist glossary
Re-reading the entire set of manuals for fun, as one does, it struck me
that StataCorp has been including more glossary sections over recent
versions. Seems like a good idea for this list, so here goes:
A is for advice. All advice, here and elsewhere, is based on one
over-arching principle: Whatever promotes clear, complete and correct
answers delivered quickly is good. (There's a converse....)
A is also for amusement. Don't assume from the stern and stiff opening
of this glossary that it is entirely composed of straight-faced
commentary.
A is also for archives, as in "use the archives". But first read the
help, the manual and the FAQs.
A is also for ASCII, or plain text, which is expected on Statalist.
A is also for attachments, which should not be sent to Statalist.
B is for basics, which means CDE:
C is for code or commands used. Show us exact code. Do not merely say
that you used some command, or worse, not even specify what command
you used.
D is for data. Show us examples of your problem with datasets everyone
can use (see -help dta_contents-) or with small fake datasets. If you
can't do that, give us an example of your data.
E is for examples. A concrete example of your problem is worth a
thousand words of arm-waving explanation or speculation, and worth much,
much more than a report that something "didn't work", which could mean
about twenty different things.
F is for FAQ. You should read
<http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/statalist.html> before posting.
See also StataCorp's own FAQs: <http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/>
f is also for -findit-. -findit- is your friend. (Don't know about
-findit- yet? Then do read the help.)
G is for Gould. See William.
G is also for Gutierrez. Bobby Gutierrez is Director of Statistics at
StataCorp. When he writes, pay attention!
g is also for -gllamm-. In Klingon that means "quick".
H is for help. Did you read the help carefully?
H is also for hyphens, as in references to some Stata -commandname-. The
hyphen convention is a Gould idea.
IVs is for instrumental variables, or sometimes independent variables.
If you didn't know that, this won't help (bad news), or you're not an
economist (good news).
J is for jokes. There are plenty of in-jokes on Statalist, but you
shouldn't expect me to explain them here. If someone's sense of humour
appears a bit weird to you, you are almost certainly correct. See also
J.
K is for Kit Baum, as in "Thanks, as usual, to Kit Baum". He does much
of the real work around here, like maintaining SSC.
K is also for Kolenikov. Not to be confused with Kalashnikov. See also
J.
L is for lousy subjects for your postings, such as "help" or "problem"
or something only a little more informative than that. Be specific!
L is also for lousy or lazy literature references, as in "I want to use
the test of Sue, Grabbit and Runne (1989)". Full details please!
M is for moderator, meaning Marcello Pagano, sine quo non and primus
inter pares. If he gets annoyed, you've been really bad. He also does
much of the real work around here.
M is also for Maarten Buis and Martin Weiss. For detailed explanation,
see <http://www.stata.com/statalist/archive/2010-02/msg00840.html>.
M is also for Manual, as in Read The Fine.
N is for nice, as in "be nice", and as in "even if people appear to be
nasty when you are a bit naughty, they are really nice underneath, and
are doing it in everyone's best interests".
N is also for Nick, which is probably a coincidence. See also J.
O is for "official", which means "whatever code StataCorp admit
responsibility for". (This is not a joke, unless it is.)
O is also for operating system, which you should make explicit if it's
relevant. Don't assume that the whole world uses Windows!
P is for pedantry. As Bertrand Russell almost said, a pedant is a person
who prefers to be correct. Not a dirty word on this list.
p is for pweights, problem, plague, pestilence, pain, and, more
fortunately, Pitblado.
Q is for questions. See BCDE again, or for the first time.
R is for R. No one's agin it (really!). Its value far exceeds its price.
R is also for re-posting your question. Disapproved.
S is for Stata, silly. By the way, some of us get a bit irritated if you
spell it STATA, which is wrong, or at the very least a couple of decades
out-of-date. See also P.
S also signals Some Alternative Software (originally Some Athenian
Software).
S is also for SMCL, which means SMCL Makes Cooler Logs.
S is also for survey statistics and Steve Samuels. Fancy that.
T is for technicalities. We love them.
U is for "user-written", as in "do explain where user-written software
you refer to comes from".
V is for version. If you are using an out-of-date version (10.1 or
earlier), then say so. Being out-of-date is not a sin; but declaring it
increases your chance of being told of a solution you can use.
V is for Vice-Presidents. Alan Riley and Vince Wiggins are
Vice-Presidents of StataCorp. When they write, pay attention!
W is for William Gould, President of StataCorp. When he writes, pay
double attention! He probably threw away more good programs last week
than anyone else writes in a good year.
x is for predictors or covariates. (Are you still saying independent
variables?)
y is for response or outcome. (Are you still saying dependent variable?)
Z is the end of the English, meaning British, alphabet.
Nick
[email protected]
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* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/