midfieldr (version 1.0.1)

add_completion_status: Determine completion status for every student

Description

Add columns to a data frame of student-level records that indicate whether a student completed a degree, and if so, whether their completion was timely.

Usage

add_completion_status(dframe, midfield_degree = degree)

Value

A data.table with the following properties:

• Rows are not modified.

• Grouping structures are not preserved.

• Columns listed below are added. Caution! An existing column with the same name as one of the added columns is silently overwritten. Other columns are not modified.

Columns added:

term_degree

Character. Term in which the first degree(s) are completed. Encoded YYYYT. Joined from midfield_degree data table.

completion_status

Character. Label each observation to indicate completion status. Possible values are: "timely", indicating completion no later than the timely completion term; "late", indicating completion after the timely completion term; and "NA" indicating non-completion.

Arguments

dframe

Data frame of student-level records keyed by student ID. Required variables are mcid and timely_term.

midfield_degree

Data frame of student-level degree observations keyed by student ID. Default is degree. Required variables are mcid and term_degree.

Details

By "completion" we mean an undergraduate earning their first baccalaureate degree (or degrees, for students earning more than one degree in the same term). Additional degrees, if any, earned later than the term of the first degree are ignored.

In many studies, students must complete a degree in a specified time span, for example 4-, 6-, or 8-years after admission. If they do, their completion is timely; if not, their completion is late and they are grouped with the non-completers when computing a metric such as graduation rate.

Completion status is "timely" for students completing a degree no later than their timely completion terms. See also add_timely_term().

See Also

Other add_*: add_data_sufficiency(), add_timely_term()

Examples

# Start with an excerpt from the student data set 
dframe <- toy_student[1:10, .(mcid)]

# Timely term column is required to add completion status column
dframe <- add_timely_term(dframe, toy_term)

# Add completion status column
add_completion_status(dframe, toy_degree)

# Existing completion_status column, if any, is overwritten
dframe[, completion_status := NA_character_]
add_completion_status(dframe, toy_degree)