What is Data Manipulation

This chapter introduces some challenges and opportunities of working with data in the event study method. There are some similarities and differences in collecting, managing, and analyzing the data. The author also looks at some of the best practices in some issues that researchers may need to be aware of if they are not used to working with the types of data used in the event study method. First, he briefly looks at issues relating to identifying the company at a point in time as required to access the historical financial data. Next, the management of data from several sources is addressed. Finally, the chapter examines the data management lifecycle issues, focusing on the archiving processes at the end of a study. This chapter is not intended to be a comprehensive examination of data management issues, but to provide researchers with enough insight to understand when to get additional help and what sort of support they may need.