FPDS Query Library
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Department Name

Human-readable name of the department that owns the contracting office agency in the award record. This is the descriptive label paired to the agency identifier, not the code itself.

Family: Award
Category: Purchaser Information
Data Type: string
Semantic Type: label
Mapping: flattened_fpds_xml_field
AI Confidence: high

Variable Overview

FPDS Query Variable
content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID__departmentName
Title
Department Name
FPDS Path
award/purchaserInformation/contractingOfficeAgencyID/departmentName
Description
Human-readable name of the department that owns the contracting office agency in the award record. This is the descriptive label paired to the agency identifier, not the code itself.
Business Meaning
It lets analysts attribute procurement activity to the correct cabinet-level department for reporting, spend analysis, and agency-level rollups. This is useful for comparing obligations, vendor concentration, and portfolio performance across departments.
Example Value
ENERGY, DEPARTMENT OF
Observed Non-Null Count
111,509,019

FPDS Compare

FPDS Query Variable
content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID__departmentName
FPDS XML Path
award/purchaserInformation/contractingOfficeAgencyID/departmentName
Mapping Type
flattened_fpds_xml_field
Comparison Summary
FPDS Query flattens the original nested FPDS XML path 'award/purchaserInformation/contractingOfficeAgencyID/departmentName' into the SQL-ready variable 'content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID__departmentName'.

Use Cases

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

Common Usage

  • Agency-level spend reporting
  • Joining or displaying the contracting office's parent department
  • Filtering awards by department for trend analysis

Common Mistakes

  • Treating the department name as a unique identifier
  • Assuming the text alone is stable across all FPDS records without checking the paired agency code

Query Guidance

Use for SELECT output, GROUP BY reporting, and label-based filters after normalizing case and trimming whitespace. For joins, prefer the related agency code field; use this column to validate or display the resulting department label.

SQL Examples

Preview values

SELECT
    content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID__departmentName AS department_name
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID__departmentName IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 25

Top values

SELECT
    content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID__departmentName AS value,
    count() AS record_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID__departmentName 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.