“WeSISdadia” – A Formalized Work-Flow for Uploading and Documenting Data for WeSIS and its Implementation as an R Package

Abstract

The technical paper introduces the R package "WeSISdadia" and the associated formalized semi-automatic workflow for processing and formatting data for the Collaborative Research Centre 1342's Global Welfare State Information System (WeSIS). As a background, the paper details the general WeSIS data upload process, including data specifications and data documentation on WeSISpedia. It lays out three components of the WeSISdadia work flow: a) crafting a so-called "lookup file" table with information for data formatting and documentation; b) the functions of the WeSISdadia R package; and c) using both tools for data documentation in WeSISpedia. In summary, compared to an unformalized manual procedure, the proposed workflow and tools substantially improve many aspects of pre-processing data for WeSIS, creating efficiency and maintainability while using synergies.