Placeholder
Text entered to fill a field that had no real answer, such as N/A, TBD, unknown, a single dash, or test@test.com.
Placeholders are typed by people, so they vary without limit. They count as filled when completeness is measured, which makes a column look better than it is.
Where it comes up
- Disguised missing valuesA cell is not empty, but what it holds means there is no value: N/A, a dash, 999, or the word none.
- Defaults mistaken for dataA value that looks real was filled in automatically by a form or a system, and nobody actually chose it.
See also
- Sentinel valueAn ordinary-looking value used as a code for something else, most often 999, -1, or 1900-01-01 standing in for unknown.
- Default valueThe value a system fills in when the person entering data supplies none, such as a country field that starts on the first item in its list.
- Missing valueA cell where a value should exist and does not. The reason matters: not collected, not applicable, and lost are different situations.