What are research data?

Kathryn Unsworth (Natasha Simons' slides) James Cook University Workshop17 September 2015

What are research data?

1

“Research data may be numerical, textual, audio- visua‐ l, digital or physical, depending on the discipline and the nature of the research.”

Source: University of Sydney Research Data Management Policy 2014 http://sydney.edu.au/policies/showdoc.aspx?recnum=PDOC2013/337

Data may be raw or analysed, experimental or observational.

http://ands.org.au/guides/what is research data.html‐ ‐ ‐

Research data

Research data may include:

• Laboratory and field notes• Raw experimental data• Analysed data• Simulations and software• Databases• Clinical data, including clinical

records• Questionnaires/surveys• Images and photographs• Audio- visual materials

Moynihan's field notes, Panama, 1958 – CC BY https://flic.kr/p/dmXHkJ

Screen capture of “Computer simulation of March 22, 2014 landslide event near Oso, Washington, by David L. George and Richard M. Iverson, USGS” http://youtu.be/2NzHCOhKr7g CC BY

Creative arts research dataResearch data in the creative arts may include:

• An artist’s statement• Exhibition catalogues• Critical reviews of a performance or publication• Visual diaries• Journals• Drawings• Photographs• Manuscripts• Musical annotations• 3D models• Audio- visual recordings of a creative work

Digital or physical

Physical examples include:Slides, artefacts, manuscripts, specimens, samples

Data file formatsThere are many different file formats available for creating and storing digital data.

docx, csv, xlsx, pdf, txt, jpg, tiff, xml, mp4, wav…

Choosing a suitable file format for data preservation and sharing is key to the sustainability of future access and reuse of that data.Source: ANDS File formats http://ands.org.au/guides/file- fo‐ rmats- ‐working.html

Armas B - CC ‐ BY 3.0 - ‐http://xoo.me/templates/download/13345

6

ANDS Guide to Publishing and Sharing Sensitive Datahttp://ands.org.au/guides/sensitivedata.pdf

Accessing dataMetadata Data

Private Private

Public Mediated

Public Public

Data can be

Open data is data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone -

subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and sharealike.

Open Knowledge Foundationhttp://opendatahandbook.org/guide/en/what is open dat‐ ‐ ‐ a/

7

Research lifecycle – traditional

Image source: Bournemouth University http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/tag/rkeo/

Data

Research lifecycle – moving toward data infused

Image source: Bournemouth University http://blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/research/tag/rkeo/

Data Find data

Data

Data

Data

Data

Plan to manage data

Collect, store, analyse data

Publish data

Cite data

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License

ANDS is supported by the Australian Government through the National

Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS).