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DataDocumentation.txt

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+NAME: AmesHousing.txt
+TYPE: Population
+SIZE: 2930 observations, 82 variables
+ARTICLE TITLE: Ames Iowa: Alternative to the Boston Housing Data Set
+
+DESCRIPTIVE ABSTRACT: Data set contains information from the Ames Assessor�s Office used in computing assessed values for individual residential properties sold in Ames, IA from 2006 to 2010.
+
+SOURCES: 
+Ames, Iowa Assessor�s Office 
+
+VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS:
+Tab characters are used to separate variables in the data file. The data has 82 columns which include 23 nominal, 23 ordinal, 14 discrete, and 20 continuous variables (and 2 additional observation identifiers).
+
+Order (Discrete): Observation number
+
+PID (Nominal): Parcel identification number  - can be used with city web site for parcel review. 
+
+MS SubClass (Nominal): Identifies the type of dwelling involved in the sale.	
+
+       020	1-STORY 1946 & NEWER ALL STYLES
+       030	1-STORY 1945 & OLDER
+       040	1-STORY W/FINISHED ATTIC ALL AGES
+       045	1-1/2 STORY - UNFINISHED ALL AGES
+       050	1-1/2 STORY FINISHED ALL AGES
+       060	2-STORY 1946 & NEWER
+       070	2-STORY 1945 & OLDER
+       075	2-1/2 STORY ALL AGES
+       080	SPLIT OR MULTI-LEVEL
+       085	SPLIT FOYER
+       090	DUPLEX - ALL STYLES AND AGES
+       120	1-STORY PUD (Planned Unit Development) - 1946 & NEWER
+       150	1-1/2 STORY PUD - ALL AGES
+       160	2-STORY PUD - 1946 & NEWER
+       180	PUD - MULTILEVEL - INCL SPLIT LEV/FOYER
+       190	2 FAMILY CONVERSION - ALL STYLES AND AGES
+
+MS Zoning (Nominal): Identifies the general zoning classification of the sale.
+		
+       A	Agriculture
+       C	Commercial
+       FV	Floating Village Residential
+       I	Industrial
+       RH	Residential High Density
+       RL	Residential Low Density
+       RP	Residential Low Density Park 
+       RM	Residential Medium Density
+	
+Lot Frontage (Continuous): Linear feet of street connected to property
+
+Lot Area (Continuous): Lot size in square feet
+
+Street (Nominal): Type of road access to property
+
+       Grvl	Gravel	
+       Pave	Paved
+       	
+Alley (Nominal): Type of alley access to property
+
+       Grvl	Gravel
+       Pave	Paved
+       NA 	No alley access
+		
+Lot Shape (Ordinal): General shape of property
+
+       Reg	Regular	
+       IR1	Slightly irregular
+       IR2	Moderately Irregular
+       IR3	Irregular
+       
+Land Contour (Nominal): Flatness of the property
+
+       Lvl	Near Flat/Level	
+       Bnk	Banked - Quick and significant rise from street grade to building
+       HLS	Hillside - Significant slope from side to side
+       Low	Depression
+		
+Utilities (Ordinal): Type of utilities available
+		
+       AllPub	All public Utilities (E,G,W,& S)	
+       NoSewr	Electricity, Gas, and Water (Septic Tank)
+       NoSeWa	Electricity and Gas Only
+       ELO	Electricity only	
+	
+Lot Config (Nominal): Lot configuration
+
+       Inside	Inside lot
+       Corner	Corner lot
+       CulDSac	Cul-de-sac
+       FR2	Frontage on 2 sides of property
+       FR3	Frontage on 3 sides of property
+	
+Land Slope (Ordinal): Slope of property
+		
+       Gtl	Gentle slope
+       Mod	Moderate Slope	
+       Sev	Severe Slope
+	
+Neighborhood (Nominal): Physical locations within Ames city limits (map available)
+
+       Blmngtn	Bloomington Heights
+       Blueste	Bluestem
+       BrDale	Briardale
+       BrkSide	Brookside
+       ClearCr	Clear Creek
+       CollgCr	College Creek
+       Crawfor	Crawford
+       Edwards	Edwards
+       Gilbert	Gilbert
+       Greens	Greens
+       GrnHill	Green Hills
+       IDOTRR	Iowa DOT and Rail Road
+       Landmrk	Landmark
+       MeadowV	Meadow Village
+       Mitchel	Mitchell
+       Names	North Ames
+       NoRidge	Northridge
+       NPkVill	Northpark Villa
+       NridgHt	Northridge Heights
+       NWAmes	Northwest Ames
+       OldTown	Old Town
+       SWISU	South & West of Iowa State University
+       Sawyer	Sawyer
+       SawyerW	Sawyer West
+       Somerst	Somerset
+       StoneBr	Stone Brook
+       Timber	Timberland
+       Veenker	Veenker
+			
+Condition 1 (Nominal): Proximity to various conditions
+	
+       Artery	Adjacent to arterial street
+       Feedr	Adjacent to feeder street	
+       Norm	Normal	
+       RRNn	Within 200' of North-South Railroad
+       RRAn	Adjacent to North-South Railroad
+       PosN	Near positive off-site feature--park, greenbelt, etc.
+       PosA	Adjacent to postive off-site feature
+       RRNe	Within 200' of East-West Railroad
+       RRAe	Adjacent to East-West Railroad
+	
+Condition 2 (Nominal): Proximity to various conditions (if more than one is present)
+		
+       Artery	Adjacent to arterial street
+       Feedr	Adjacent to feeder street	
+       Norm	Normal	
+       RRNn	Within 200' of North-South Railroad
+       RRAn	Adjacent to North-South Railroad
+       PosN	Near positive off-site feature--park, greenbelt, etc.
+       PosA	Adjacent to postive off-site feature
+       RRNe	Within 200' of East-West Railroad
+       RRAe	Adjacent to East-West Railroad
+	
+Bldg Type (Nominal): Type of dwelling
+		
+       1Fam	Single-family Detached	
+       2FmCon	Two-family Conversion; originally built as one-family dwelling
+       Duplx	Duplex
+       TwnhsE	Townhouse End Unit
+       TwnhsI	Townhouse Inside Unit
+	
+House Style (Nominal): Style of dwelling
+	
+       1Story	One story
+       1.5Fin	One and one-half story: 2nd level finished
+       1.5Unf	One and one-half story: 2nd level unfinished
+       2Story	Two story
+       2.5Fin	Two and one-half story: 2nd level finished
+       2.5Unf	Two and one-half story: 2nd level unfinished
+       SFoyer	Split Foyer
+       SLvl	Split Level
+	
+Overall Qual (Ordinal): Rates the overall material and finish of the house
+
+       10	Very Excellent
+       9	Excellent
+       8	Very Good
+       7	Good
+       6	Above Average
+       5	Average
+       4	Below Average
+       3	Fair
+       2	Poor
+       1	Very Poor
+	
+Overall Cond (Ordinal): Rates the overall condition of the house
+
+       10	Very Excellent
+       9	Excellent
+       8	Very Good
+       7	Good
+       6	Above Average	
+       5	Average
+       4	Below Average	
+       3	Fair
+       2	Poor
+       1	Very Poor
+		
+Year Built (Discrete): Original construction date
+
+Year Remod/Add (Discrete): Remodel date (same as construction date if no remodeling or additions)
+
+Roof Style (Nominal): Type of roof
+
+       Flat	Flat
+       Gable	Gable
+       Gambrel	Gabrel (Barn)
+       Hip	Hip
+       Mansard	Mansard
+       Shed	Shed
+		
+Roof Matl (Nominal): Roof material
+
+       ClyTile	Clay or Tile
+       CompShg	Standard (Composite) Shingle
+       Membran	Membrane
+       Metal	Metal
+       Roll	Roll
+       Tar&Grv	Gravel & Tar
+       WdShake	Wood Shakes
+       WdShngl	Wood Shingles
+		
+Exterior 1 (Nominal): Exterior covering on house
+
+       AsbShng	Asbestos Shingles
+       AsphShn	Asphalt Shingles
+       BrkComm	Brick Common
+       BrkFace	Brick Face
+       CBlock	Cinder Block
+       CemntBd	Cement Board
+       HdBoard	Hard Board
+       ImStucc	Imitation Stucco
+       MetalSd	Metal Siding
+       Other	Other
+       Plywood	Plywood
+       PreCast	PreCast	
+       Stone	Stone
+       Stucco	Stucco
+       VinylSd	Vinyl Siding
+       Wd Sdng	Wood Siding
+       WdShing	Wood Shingles
+	
+Exterior 2 (Nominal): Exterior covering on house (if more than one material)
+
+       AsbShng	Asbestos Shingles
+       AsphShn	Asphalt Shingles
+       BrkComm	Brick Common
+       BrkFace	Brick Face
+       CBlock	Cinder Block
+       CemntBd	Cement Board
+       HdBoard	Hard Board
+       ImStucc	Imitation Stucco
+       MetalSd	Metal Siding
+       Other	Other
+       Plywood	Plywood
+       PreCast	PreCast
+       Stone	Stone
+       Stucco	Stucco
+       VinylSd	Vinyl Siding
+       Wd Sdng	Wood Siding
+       WdShing	Wood Shingles
+	
+Mas Vnr Type (Nominal): Masonry veneer type
+
+       BrkCmn	Brick Common
+       BrkFace	Brick Face
+       CBlock	Cinder Block
+       None	None
+       Stone	Stone
+	
+Mas Vnr Area (Continuous): Masonry veneer area in square feet
+
+Exter Qual (Ordinal): Evaluates the quality of the material on the exterior 
+		
+       Ex	Excellent
+       Gd	Good
+       TA	Average/Typical
+       Fa	Fair
+       Po	Poor
+		
+Exter Cond (Ordinal): Evaluates the present condition of the material on the exterior
+		
+       Ex	Excellent
+       Gd	Good
+       TA	Average/Typical
+       Fa	Fair
+       Po	Poor
+		
+Foundation (Nominal): Type of foundation
+		
+       BrkTil	Brick & Tile
+       CBlock	Cinder Block
+       PConc	Poured Contrete	
+       Slab	Slab
+       Stone	Stone
+       Wood	Wood
+		
+Bsmt Qual (Ordinal): Evaluates the height of the basement
+
+       Ex	Excellent (100+ inches)	
+       Gd	Good (90-99 inches)
+       TA	Typical (80-89 inches)
+       Fa	Fair (70-79 inches)
+       Po	Poor (<70 inches
+       NA	No Basement
+		
+Bsmt Cond (Ordinal): Evaluates the general condition of the basement
+
+       Ex	Excellent
+       Gd	Good
+       TA	Typical - slight dampness allowed
+       Fa	Fair - dampness or some cracking or settling
+       Po	Poor - Severe cracking, settling, or wetness
+       NA	No Basement
+	
+Bsmt Exposure	(Ordinal): Refers to walkout or garden level walls
+
+       Gd	Good Exposure
+       Av	Average Exposure (split levels or foyers typically score average or above)	
+       Mn	Mimimum Exposure
+       No	No Exposure
+       NA	No Basement
+	
+BsmtFin Type 1	(Ordinal): Rating of basement finished area
+
+       GLQ	Good Living Quarters
+       ALQ	Average Living Quarters
+       BLQ	Below Average Living Quarters	
+       Rec	Average Rec Room
+       LwQ	Low Quality
+       Unf	Unfinshed
+       NA	No Basement
+		
+BsmtFin SF 1 (Continuous): Type 1 finished square feet
+
+BsmtFinType 2	(Ordinal): Rating of basement finished area (if multiple types)
+
+       GLQ	Good Living Quarters
+       ALQ	Average Living Quarters
+       BLQ	Below Average Living Quarters	
+       Rec	Average Rec Room
+       LwQ	Low Quality
+       Unf	Unfinshed
+       NA	No Basement
+
+BsmtFin SF 2 (Continuous): Type 2 finished square feet
+
+Bsmt Unf SF (Continuous): Unfinished square feet of basement area
+
+Total Bsmt SF (Continuous): Total square feet of basement area
+
+Heating	(Nominal): Type of heating
+		
+       Floor	Floor Furnace
+       GasA	Gas forced warm air furnace
+       GasW	Gas hot water or steam heat
+       Grav	Gravity furnace	
+       OthW	Hot water or steam heat other than gas
+       Wall	Wall furnace
+		
+HeatingQC (Ordinal): Heating quality and condition
+
+       Ex	Excellent
+       Gd	Good
+       TA	Average/Typical
+       Fa	Fair
+       Po	Poor
+		
+Central Air (Nominal): Central air conditioning
+
+       N	No
+       Y	Yes
+		
+Electrical (Ordinal): Electrical system
+
+       SBrkr	Standard Circuit Breakers & Romex
+       FuseA	Fuse Box over 60 AMP and all Romex wiring (Average)	
+       FuseF	60 AMP Fuse Box and mostly Romex wiring (Fair)
+       FuseP	60 AMP Fuse Box and mostly knob & tube wiring (poor)
+       Mix	Mixed
+		
+1st Flr SF (Continuous): First Floor square feet
+ 
+2nd Flr SF (Continuous)	: Second floor square feet
+
+Low Qual Fin SF (Continuous): Low quality finished square feet (all floors)
+
+Gr Liv Area (Continuous): Above grade (ground) living area square feet
+
+Bsmt Full Bath (Discrete): Basement full bathrooms
+
+Bsmt Half Bath (Discrete): Basement half bathrooms
+
+Full Bath (Discrete): Full bathrooms above grade
+
+Half Bath (Discrete): Half baths above grade
+
+Bedroom (Discrete): Bedrooms above grade (does NOT include basement bedrooms)
+
+Kitchen (Discrete): Kitchens above grade
+
+KitchenQual (Ordinal): Kitchen quality
+
+       Ex	Excellent
+       Gd	Good
+       TA	Typical/Average
+       Fa	Fair
+       Po	Poor
+       	
+TotRmsAbvGrd	(Discrete): Total rooms above grade (does not include bathrooms)
+
+Functional (Ordinal): Home functionality (Assume typical unless deductions are warranted)
+
+       Typ	Typical Functionality
+       Min1	Minor Deductions 1
+       Min2	Minor Deductions 2
+       Mod	Moderate Deductions
+       Maj1	Major Deductions 1
+       Maj2	Major Deductions 2
+       Sev	Severely Damaged
+       Sal	Salvage only
+		
+Fireplaces (Discrete): Number of fireplaces
+
+FireplaceQu (Ordinal): Fireplace quality
+
+       Ex	Excellent - Exceptional Masonry Fireplace
+       Gd	Good - Masonry Fireplace in main level
+       TA	Average - Prefabricated Fireplace in main living area or Masonry Fireplace in basement
+       Fa	Fair - Prefabricated Fireplace in basement
+       Po	Poor - Ben Franklin Stove
+       NA	No Fireplace
+		
+Garage Type (Nominal): Garage location
+		
+       2Types	More than one type of garage
+       Attchd	Attached to home
+       Basment	Basement Garage
+       BuiltIn	Built-In (Garage part of house - typically has room above garage)
+       CarPort	Car Port
+       Detchd	Detached from home
+       NA	No Garage
+		
+Garage Yr Blt (Discrete): Year garage was built
+		
+Garage Finish (Ordinal)	: Interior finish of the garage
+
+       Fin	Finished
+       RFn	Rough Finished	
+       Unf	Unfinished
+       NA	No Garage
+		
+Garage Cars (Discrete): Size of garage in car capacity
+
+Garage Area (Continuous): Size of garage in square feet
+
+Garage Qual (Ordinal): Garage quality
+
+       Ex	Excellent
+       Gd	Good
+       TA	Typical/Average
+       Fa	Fair
+       Po	Poor
+       NA	No Garage
+		
+Garage Cond (Ordinal): Garage condition
+
+       Ex	Excellent
+       Gd	Good
+       TA	Typical/Average
+       Fa	Fair
+       Po	Poor
+       NA	No Garage
+		
+Paved Drive (Ordinal): Paved driveway
+
+       Y	Paved 
+       P	Partial Pavement
+       N	Dirt/Gravel
+		
+Wood Deck SF (Continuous): Wood deck area in square feet
+
+Open Porch SF (Continuous): Open porch area in square feet
+
+Enclosed Porch (Continuous): Enclosed porch area in square feet
+
+3-Ssn Porch (Continuous): Three season porch area in square feet
+
+Screen Porch (Continuous): Screen porch area in square feet
+
+Pool Area (Continuous): Pool area in square feet
+
+Pool QC (Ordinal): Pool quality
+		
+       Ex	Excellent
+       Gd	Good
+       TA	Average/Typical
+       Fa	Fair
+       NA	No Pool
+		
+Fence (Ordinal): Fence quality
+		
+       GdPrv	Good Privacy
+       MnPrv	Minimum Privacy
+       GdWo	Good Wood
+       MnWw	Minimum Wood/Wire
+       NA	No Fence
+	
+Misc Feature (Nominal): Miscellaneous feature not covered in other categories
+		
+       Elev	Elevator
+       Gar2	2nd Garage (if not described in garage section)
+       Othr	Other
+       Shed	Shed (over 100 SF)
+       TenC	Tennis Court
+       NA	None
+		
+Misc Val (Continuous): $Value of miscellaneous feature
+
+Mo Sold (Discrete): Month Sold (MM)
+
+Yr Sold (Discrete): Year Sold (YYYY)
+
+Sale Type (Nominal): Type of sale
+		
+       WD 	Warranty Deed - Conventional
+       CWD	Warranty Deed - Cash
+       VWD	Warranty Deed - VA Loan
+       New	Home just constructed and sold
+       COD	Court Officer Deed/Estate
+       Con	Contract 15% Down payment regular terms
+       ConLw	Contract Low Down payment and low interest
+       ConLI	Contract Low Interest
+       ConLD	Contract Low Down
+       Oth	Other
+		
+Sale Condition (Nominal): Condition of sale
+
+       Normal	Normal Sale
+       Abnorml	Abnormal Sale -  trade, foreclosure, short sale
+       AdjLand	Adjoining Land Purchase
+       Alloca	Allocation - two linked properties with separate deeds, typically condo with a garage unit	
+       Family	Sale between family members
+       Partial	Home was not completed when last assessed (associated with New Homes)
+		
+SalePrice (Continuous): Sale price $$
+
+SPECIAL NOTES:
+There are 5 observations that an instructor may wish to remove from the data set before giving it to students (a plot of SALE PRICE versus GR LIV AREA will indicate them quickly). Three of them are true outliers (Partial Sales that likely don�t represent actual market values) and two of them are simply unusual sales (very large houses priced relatively appropriately). I would recommend removing any houses with more than 4000 square feet from the data set (which eliminates these 5 unusual observations) before assigning it to students.
+
+STORY BEHIND THE DATA:
+This data set was constructed for the purpose of an end of semester project for an undergraduate regression course. The original data (obtained directly from the Ames Assessor�s Office) is used for tax assessment purposes but lends itself directly to the prediction of home selling prices. The type of information contained in the data is similar to what a typical home buyer would want to know before making a purchase and students should find most variables straightforward and understandable.
+
+PEDAGOGICAL NOTES:
+Instructors unfamiliar with multiple regression may wish to use this data set in conjunction with an earlier JSE paper that reviews most of the major issues found in regression modeling: 
+
+Kuiper , S. (2008), �Introduction to Multiple Regression: How Much Is Your Car Worth?�, Journal of Statistics Education Volume 16, Number 3 (2008).
+
+Outside of the general issues associated with multiple regression discussed in this article, this particular data set offers several opportunities to discuss how the purpose of a model might affect the type of modeling done. User of this data may also want to review another JSE article related directly to real estate pricing:
+
+Pardoe , I. (2008), �Modeling home prices using realtor data�, Journal of Statistics Education Volume 16, Number 2 (2008).
+
+One issue is in regards to homoscedasticity and assumption violations. The graph included in the article appears to indicate heteroscedasticity with variation increasing with sale price and this problem is evident in many simple home pricing models that focus only on house and lot sizes. Though this violation can be alleviated by transforming the response variable (sale price), the resulting equation yields difficult to interpret fitted values (selling price in log or square root dollars). This situation gives the instructor the opportunity to talk about the costs (biased estimators, incorrect statistical tests, etc.) and benefits (ease of use) of not correcting this assumption violation. If the purpose in building the model is simply to allow a typical buyer or real estate agent to sit down and estimate the selling price of a house, such transformations may be unnecessary or inappropriate for the task at hand. This issue could also open into a discussion on the contrasts and comparisons between data mining, predictive models, and formal statistical inference.
+
+A second issue closely related to the intended use of the model, is the handling of outliers and unusual observations. In general, I instruct my students to never throw away data points simply because they do not match a priori expectations (or other data points). I strongly make this point in the situation where data are being analyzed for research purposes that will be shared with a larger audience. Alternatively, if the purpose is to once again create a common use model to estimate a �typical� sale, it is in the modeler�s best interest to remove any observations that do not seem typical (such as foreclosures or family sales).
+
+REFERENCES:
+Individual homes within the data set can be referenced directly from the Ames City Assessor webpage via the Parcel ID (PID) found in the data set. Note these are nominal values (non-numeric) so preceding 0�s must be included in the data entry field on the website. Access to the database can be gained from the Ames site (http://www.cityofames.org/assessor/) by clicking on �property search� or by accessing the Beacon (http://beacon.schneidercorp.com/Default.aspx) website and inputting Iowa and Ames in the appropriate fields. A city map showing the location of all the neighborhoods is also available on the Ames site and can be accessed by clicking on �Maps�  and then �Residential Assessment Neighborhoods (City of Ames Only)�.
+
+SUBMITTED BY:
+Dean De Cock
+Truman State University
+100 E. Normal St., Kirksville, MO, 63501
+[email protected]
+