FPDS Query Library
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Middle Initial

Middle initial of the NASA principal investigator associated with the award. This is a string attribute used to capture the investigator's name detail at the middle-initial level, and it may be blank when no middle initial is provided.

Family: Award
Category: General
Data Type: string
Semantic Type: attribute
Mapping: flattened_fpds_xml_field
AI Confidence: high

Variable Overview

FPDS Query Variable
content__award__agencySpecificAwardElements__NASASpecificAwardElements__principalInvestigator__middleInitial
Title
Middle Initial
FPDS Path
award/agencySpecificAwardElements/NASASpecificAwardElements/principalInvestigator/middleInitial
Description
Middle initial of the NASA principal investigator associated with the award. This is a string attribute used to capture the investigator's name detail at the middle-initial level, and it may be blank when no middle initial is provided.
Business Meaning
This field helps analysts distinguish between individuals with similar names when reviewing NASA award records, linking related awards, or validating investigator identity across procurement data. It can improve record matching, attribution, and entity resolution in analyses that rely on personnel-level award metadata.
Example Value
f
Observed Non-Null Count
32,377

FPDS Compare

FPDS Query Variable
content__award__agencySpecificAwardElements__NASASpecificAwardElements__principalInvestigator__middleInitial
FPDS XML Path
award/agencySpecificAwardElements/NASASpecificAwardElements/principalInvestigator/middleInitial
Mapping Type
flattened_fpds_xml_field
Comparison Summary
FPDS Query flattens the original nested FPDS XML path 'award/agencySpecificAwardElements/NASASpecificAwardElements/principalInvestigator/middleInitial' into the SQL-ready variable 'content__award__agencySpecificAwardElements__NASASpecificAwardElements__principalInvestigator__middleInitial'.

Use Cases

  • Dictionary lookup and field explanation
  • SQL filtering and grouping
  • Analytical reporting and reusable query building

Common Usage

  • Disambiguating principal investigators with similar names
  • Supporting record linkage across NASA award records
  • Assembling full investigator name strings for reporting

Common Mistakes

  • Using the middle initial as a unique identifier
  • Assuming missing values mean the investigator has no middle name

Query Guidance

Use this field in SELECT clauses for name assembly or in WHERE clauses only after normalizing values with TRIM and UPPER/LOWER. For matching or grouping, combine it with first and last name fields; do not rely on it as a standalone key.

SQL Examples

Preview values

SELECT
    content__award__agencySpecificAwardElements__NASASpecificAwardElements__principalInvestigator__middleInitial AS middle_initial
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__agencySpecificAwardElements__NASASpecificAwardElements__principalInvestigator__middleInitial IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 25

Top values

SELECT
    content__award__agencySpecificAwardElements__NASASpecificAwardElements__principalInvestigator__middleInitial AS value,
    count() AS record_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__agencySpecificAwardElements__NASASpecificAwardElements__principalInvestigator__middleInitial IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY value
ORDER BY record_count DESC
LIMIT 25

Each dictionary item includes SQL-ready examples generated alongside the variable metadata, allowing immediate use in FPDS Query for filtering, aggregation, and analysis.