L1006 Data Coding & Visualisation Project – Week 11
Background information
The dataset provided is derived from the OECD's Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA) which measures 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading,
mathematics and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges.
The file “PISA-2015-GBR.csv” contains data on students’ scores on Maths, Reading, and
Science tests, as well as additional information on students’ individual characteristics,
family background, and school characteristics. In particular, it refers to the 2015 wave of
PISA evaluation and it focuses on students and schools in the United Kingdom.
Dataset description
The dataset includes a rich set of data on students’ academic performance, their home
background, and school characteristics.
The dataset contains 27 variables organised in three main groups:
• Academic performance: Students’ performance measured by test scores in three
subjects, Mathematics, Reading, and Science.
• Home background: Information on students’ home background collected via
survey.
• School characteristics: Information on students’ school characteristics.
Each observation (row) in the dataset refers to an individual student’s academic
performance (scores), home background (survey response), and respective school
characteristics.
Variables description
Below is detailed description of each variable in the dataset. Name of the variables below
matches exactly those in the file “PISA-2015-GBR.csv”.
math_score: Student score in Mathematics tests
• Higher values indicate higher ability.
read_score: Student score in Reading tests
• Higher values indicate higher ability.
scie_score: Student score in Science tests
• Higher values indicate higher ability.
gender: Student Gender
• “Female” or “Male”
L1006 Data Coding & Visualisation Project – Week 11
immig: Immigration status
• “Native” if student was born in UK with at least one parent born in UK
• “Second-Generation” if student was born in UK and both parents were born in
another country
• “First-Generation” if both student and parents were born in another country
homelang: Language spoken at home
• “Language of the test” if student speaks English at home most of the time, and
“Other language” otherwise
desk: Presence of a desk to study at
• “Yes” if student has access to a desk to study at home, “No” otherwise
room: Presence of a room of your own
• “Yes” if student has a room of their own at home, “No” otherwise
quietplace: Presence of a quiet place to study
• “Yes” if student has a quiet place to study at home, “No” otherwise
homecomputer: Presence of a computer you can use for school work
• “Yes” if student has access to a computer they can use for schoolwork, “No”
otherwise
homeinternet: Presence of a link to the Internet
• “Yes” if student has a link to internet at home, “No” otherwise
books: Presence of books to help with your schoolwork
• “Yes” if student has books to help with their schoolwork at home, “No” otherwise
booksqty: How many books are there in your home?
• Quantity of books at home indicated in ranges, e.g. “0-10 books”, “11-25 books”,
etc.
misced: Mother’s Education (ISCED)
• Index indicating the education level of student’s mother:
• “None” (no education)
• “ISCED 1” (primary education)
• “ISCED 2” (lower secondary)
• “ISCED 3B, C” (vocational/pre-vocational upper secondary)
• “ISCED 3A, ISCED 4” (general upper secondary and/or non-tertiary post-
secondary)
• “ISCED 5B” (vocational tertiary)
• “ISCED 5A, 6” (theoretically oriented tertiary, e.g. university, and post-graduate)
L1006 Data Coding & Visualisation Project – Week 11
fisced: Father’s Education (ISCED)
• Index indicating the education level of student’s father
• Same values as misced
hisced: Highest Education of parents (ISCED)
• Index indicating the education level of student’s highest educated parent
• Same values as misced
pared: Index highest parental education in years of schooling
• Years of schooling of highest educated parent
cultposs: Cultural possessions at home (Index standardised)
• Numerical index constructed from a series of survey questions regarding the
presence of cultural possessions at home, such as books of poetry or classical
literature, works of art (e.g. paintings), musical instruments, etc.
• Higher values on this scale indicate a higher number of cultural possessions
hedres: Home educational resources (Index standardised)
• Numerical index constructed from a series of survey questions regarding the
presence of educational resources at home, such as a desk to study at, a quiet place
to study, educational software, books to help with schoolwork, a dictionary, etc.
• Higher values on this scale indicate a higher number of educational resources
wealth: Family wealth (Index standardised)
• Numerical index constructed from a series of survey questions regarding the
presence of household items that are seen as appropriate measures of family
wealth.
• Can be interpreted as an estimate of family wealth. Higher values on this scale
indicate a wealthier family.
ictres: ICT resources (Index standardised)
• Numerical index constructed from a series of survey questions regarding the
presence of technological resources at home, such as computers, mobile phones,
tablets, etc.
• Higher values on this scale indicate a higher number of ICT resources
The variables below refer to the student’s school:
schlregion: School Region
• UK region where the school is located
schllocation: School Location
• Indicates where the school is located, e.g. village, town, city, etc.
L1006 Data Coding & Visualisation Project – Week 11
schltype: School Ownership
• Indicates whether the school is public or private
• “Public” or “Private”
stratio: Student-Teacher ratio
• Number of students per teacher in the school expressed as a fraction
schsize: School Size
• Total number of students in the school
clsize: Class Size
• Average class size in the school expressed as ranges, e.g. “16-20 students”, “21-25
students”, etc. Numerical value indicates midpoint of the range.
schid: School ID
• School unique identifier
stuid: Student ID
• Student unique identifier