Everyone may find bad dates in their data set from time to time, but it’s often difficult to tell if they’re mere annoyances or indicative of a larger problem. Luckily, Lucheng Shao has come to the rescue in his SAS Global Forum winning paper, Don’t Let a Bad Date Ruin Your Day: Dealing with Invalid Dates in SAS. His paper explores the ins and outs of bad dates and how offers a practical guide to fixing them.

Think bad dates aren’t a big deal? Think again. Shao likens them to headaches, which could be a symptom of a common cold, or, as he cautions “a complication of brain cancer.” Fortunately, he says that the log file is an excellent indicator of the data’s overall health can be used to prevent this potentially-fatal diagnosis.

Unsure as to whether or not your data is in good health? View Shao’s winning paper for a step-by-step guide on bad dates and give your data a routine checkup.

Image provided by Peter Hellberg//attribution by creative commons