In SAS, what would be the appropriate way to denote a character string?

In SAS, character strings are denoted by surrounding the text with quotes. You can use either single quotes or double quotes to create a character string.

Choosing to use single quotes allows you to define a string straightforwardly, ensuring that any special characters within the string are treated literally unless they are single quotes themselves. For instance, if you want the string to represent the exact text 'Hello World', you'd write it as 'Hello World'.

Using double quotes is also valid, as they accomplish the same main goal of denoting a character string. In fact, double quotes allow for variable resolution, meaning that if you include a variable within the quoted string, SAS will evaluate that variable and include its value in the final output.

The other choices do not correctly denote character strings in SAS. Omitting quotes results in SAS reading the text as code or variable names, which is not what you want when you're trying to define a string. Using the $ sign is specific to variable types in SAS, indicating that the associated variable is a character variable, but it does not directly create a character string. Therefore, for defining a character string effectively, using quotes—either single or double—is essential.