Which of the following options describes the purpose of PROC PRINT?

PROC PRINT is primarily used in SAS to display the observations contained within a dataset. When you invoke PROC PRINT, it goes through the specified dataset and generates a straightforward list of the data, showcasing each observation along with its corresponding variables. This allows users to review the raw data directly, making it an essential tool for data exploration and preliminary analysis.

The focus of PROC PRINT is on presenting the data in a clear tabular format, which is useful for quickly verifying the contents of a dataset. While it can be customized to sort and format the output to some extent, its main utility lies in displaying all or a subset of data observations for immediate review.

This contrasts with options that pertain to generating summary statistics or merging datasets, as these tasks are accomplished using different procedures such as PROC MEANS or PROC SQL, respectively. The ability to provide detailed visibility into the dataset is what makes PROC PRINT a fundamental procedure in the SAS programming environment.