[DDI-SRG] Using VaraibleGroup/NCubeGroup to group by subject/keyword

[Wendy Thomas]

Ken,

I'm putting this on the list so all can see the discussion. In earlier 
versions of DDI varGrp was used to link variables to subject terms using 
@type="subject" and putting the term in the label. In DDI 3.0 this is 
still possible but it would be advantagous to be able to point to a 
specific subject term or keyword term in a controlled vocabulary. The only 
current option would be to use GroupType to the specific term in the 
identified subject list and make the "assumption" that this is a subject 
or keyword grouping based on the controlled vocabulary being referenced. 
NOT a good solution. Would it be more reasonable to have GroupType 
(CodeValueType) continue in its original purpose and state "subject" or 
"keyword" and add an additional element of CodeValueType to provide the 
specific term reference?

We can link these to the conceptscheme content via ConceptReference as 
well as identify all variables and/or variable group via those references. 
The goal here is to provide a clear means of linking variables and NCubes 
to specific subject or keywords. Should these links be repeatable to 
support multiple controlled vocabularies?

thoughts? ideas?

Wendy

Wendy L. Thomas                          Phone: +1 612.624.4389
Data Access Core Director		 Fax:   +1 612.626.8375
Minnesota Population Center              Email: wlt at pop.umn.edu
University of Minnesota
50 Willey Hall
225 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455