What are research data? Kathryn Unsworth (Natasha Simons' slides) James Cook University...

What are research data?

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

What are research data?

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“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

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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/

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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).