Step 05 - Standardize spelling • titleclassifier

The dictionary layer. standardize_spelling() expands abbreviations, fixes common misspellings and truncations, and writes each kind of title one way, so that the crosswalk in step 07 needs one entry per title rather than one per spelling.

Before and after

before (TitleTxt4)	after (TitleTxt5)
EXEC DIR	EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
SEC	SECRETARY
TREAS	TREASURER
ASST SECRETARY	ASSISTANT SECRETARY
DIR OF DEVELOPMENT	DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
DIR OF OPS	DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
CHIEF EXEC OFFICER	CEO
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER	COO
EXEC VP	EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
SVP OF MARKETING	SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING
VP FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION	VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
VP OF HR	VICE PRESIDENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES
GEN COUNSEL	GENERAL COUNSEL
CHAIRMAN OF BOARD	CHAIR OF BOARD
CHAIRPERSON	CHAIR
BOARD PRES	BOARD PRESIDENT
MGR IT	MANAGER IT
DIR OF NURSING	DIRECTOR OF NURSING

What it does

standardize_spelling()
+- fix_spelling()
   +- fix_vice(), fix_executive(), fix_director(), fix_president(), ...   (about 50 fix_* routines)
   +- condense_abbreviations(), simplify_clevels()
   +- remove_trailing_conjunctions(), fix_of()
   +- spellcheck()   (hunspell)

Each fix_* routine handles one word family: fix_vice() turns VP, V.P., VICE-PRES and EVP into their full forms, fix_director() handles DIR, DIRS, DRCTR, and so on.
fix_of() inserts the implicit “of” between a title and its subject: VICE PRESIDENT FINANCE becomes VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE.
Unambiguous C-suite titles are condensed (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER becomes CEO, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER becomes CFO). Titles without a standard abbreviation stay spelled out.
spellcheck() suggests a dictionary spelling for a word no routine knows.

Assets

Asset	Type	Used for	Load it with
`possible.titles`	word list (package data)	title words that can precede an implicit “of”	`data(possible.titles)`
`likely.subjects`	word list (package data)	subjects that follow “of” (FINANCE, DEVELOPMENT, …)	`data(likely.subjects)`
the `fix_*` routines	R functions	the abbreviation and spelling rules themselves	`?fix_spelling`, `?fix_vice`, …
hunspell	R package (Imports)	the spell-check dictionary	`hunspell::dictionary("en_US")`

data(possible.titles)
head(possible.titles, 10)
#> [1] "VICE PRESIDENT" "DIRECTOR"       "CHAIR"          "DEAN"          
#> [5] "TRUSTEE"        "CEO"            "SECRETARY"      "MANAGER"       
#> [9] "MEMBER"
data(likely.subjects)
head(likely.subjects, 15)
#>  [1] "OPERATIONS"     "FINANCE"        "ADMINISTRATION" "MANAGEMENT"    
#>  [5] "EXHIBIT"        "PUBLICITY"      "ACTIVITIES"     "BUILDING"      
#>  [9] "EDUCATION"      "MARKETING"      "STRATEGY"       "SALES"         
#> [13] "ENSHRINEMENT"   "ADVANCEMENT"    "FUNDRAISING"

Try it

fix_spelling("VP")                        # VICE PRESIDENT
#> [1] "VICE PRESIDENT"
fix_spelling("SR D MARKETING")            # SENIOR DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
#> [1] "SENIOR DIRECTOR OF MARKETING"
fix_spelling("SECY")                      # SECRETARY
#> [1] "SECRETARY"
fix_spelling("VICE PRESIDENT FINANCE")    # VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE
#> [1] "VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE"
fix_spelling("CHIEF EXEC OFFICER")        # CEO
#> [1] "CEO"
fix_spelling("CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER") # unchanged: no standard abbreviation
#> [1] "CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER"
fix_vice(c("EVP", "SVP", "V.P."))
#> [1] "EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT" "SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT"   
#> [3] "V.P."

Input: TitleTxt4. Output: TitleTxt5, with standard spelling. Continue with step 06.