FPDS Query Library
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Department Name

Human-readable name of the department associated with the contracting office agency in an Other Transaction Award record. It is the label version of the underlying agency identifier and is used to identify the responsible department in plain language.

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

Variable Overview

FPDS Query Variable
content__OtherTransactionAward__contractDetail__purchaserInformation__contractingOfficeAgencyID__departmentName
Title
Department Name
FPDS Path
OtherTransactionAward/contractDetail/purchaserInformation/contractingOfficeAgencyID/departmentName
Description
Human-readable name of the department associated with the contracting office agency in an Other Transaction Award record. It is the label version of the underlying agency identifier and is used to identify the responsible department in plain language.
Business Meaning
This field helps analysts group awards by department and understand which federal organization executed or owns the contracting action. It is useful for agency-level reporting, portfolio analysis, and mapping awards to departmental structures without relying only on codes.
Example Value
DEPT OF DEFENSE
Observed Non-Null Count
38,894

FPDS Compare

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

Use Cases

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

Common Usage

  • Group Other Transaction Awards by department
  • Label agency-level dashboards and reports
  • Validate department codes against human-readable values

Common Mistakes

  • Using the name as a join key instead of the agency identifier
  • Assuming the text is standardized across all records or time periods

Query Guidance

Select this field for reporting and display, and use it alongside the related agency ID when filtering or joining. In SQL, group by the department code when possible and include this field as the descriptive label; trim and normalize text only for presentation, not as a surrogate key.

SQL Examples

Preview values

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

Top values

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