Good Research Data Management nearly Good Archival Preparation

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Good Research Data Management (nearly) Good
Archival Preparation

• Libby Bishop
• Timescapes, University of Leeds and
• ESDS Qualidata, University of Essex
• Timescapes Data Management Workshop
• Leeds 3 July 2007

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Key points

• Data management handling of data during life
  cycle of a research project to ensure best
  quality and usefulness
• Digital preservation processing of data and
  other materials (usually after project is
  completed) to enable long term archiving and
  dissemination
• There is much overlap well managed project data
  is (nearly) ready for sharing and preservation
• Opportunity for innovation preservation (like
  consent) as process, not event

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• Basics of data management

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Basic data management practices

• Backing up relevant files
• Choosing appropriate formats and enabling
  conversion
• http//www.esds.ac.uk/aandp/create/data.asp
• Controlling access for data sharing of working
  copies
• Implementing version control
• Providing suitable data storage
• Ensuring adequate security

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Back up and security

• Digital, paper and audio media are fragile.
  Digital media are easy to change, copy/delete!
• Good backup procedure will protect against
• accidental changes to data
• accidental deletion of data
• loss of data due to media or software faults
• virus infections hackers
• catastrophic events (such as fire or flood)
• Control versions
• Back up frequently, retain off site copies
• Consider storage conditions, fireproofing etc.

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What materials should be managed?

• Data
• Documentation (contextual information big
  topic)
• Metadata (data about data)
• Non-digital materials (Materials Formerly Known
  As Paper.but also analogue audio)

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Project documentation examples

• funding application
• questionnaire/interview schedules
• description of methodology (details of sample
  design, response rate, etc)
• codebook (variable names, variable
  descriptions, code names and variable formatting
  information)
• technical report describing the research project
• communication with informants on confidentiality
• coding schemes / themes
• end of award report
• software description/versions used
• bibliographies, resulting publications
• code used to create derived variables or check
  data (e.g. SPSS, STATA or SAS command files)
• Also social, historical, policy contexts
• Anything that adds insight or aids
• secondary usage

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More details here

• http//www.esds.ac.uk/support/guides/A4.pdf

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• Metadata
• Not as bad as it sounds

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• Top priority where good data management now
  means easier archiving later
• Transcription
• Ethics and consent

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Issues in Transcribing

• Format
• Headers
• Confidentiality
• removing identifiers early
• separate storage for personal details
• XML mark-up
• How much depends on intended purposes

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Transcribing qualitative data

• integrated into the ongoing research
• full transcriptions
• consistent layout
• speaker tags
• line breaks
• header with identifier / other details
• checked for errors
• One possible model

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Why use XML in transcription?

• Open standard for long term preservation
• What it does
• Creates and displays a catalogue
• Makes searching whole corpus of data easy
• Enables multiple passes through data to speed
  (re)anonymisation
• One way of enabling web publication of (selected)
  project outputs

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Informed Consent

• Processual
• Official and deontological requirements
• Prospective and retrospective
• Multiples purposes
• Current project
• Sharing within larger team
• Repository/archive

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RELU awards database