Research funders in the UK, USA and across Europe are implementing data management and sharing policies to maximize openness of data, transparency and accountability of the research they support. Written by experts from the UK Data Archive with over 20 years experience, this book gives post-graduate students, researchers and research support staff the data management skills required in today's changing research environment.
The book features guidance on:
Louise Corti is an Associate Director at the UK Data Archive and is Service Director of Collections Development and Data Publishing, overseeing the acquisition and ingest of high quality data of interest to social scientists. Her research activities are focused around standards and technologies for reviewing, curating and presenting digital social science data, particularly using open source infrastructures and tools.
She has led research awards and regularly publishes, edits and advises internationally on a wide range of issues relating to the archiving, sharing and reuse of data. In the 90s, Louise helped establish Qualidata, the world first national qualitative data archive, pioneering approaches for and solutions to qualitative data archiving. She has taught sociology, social research methods and statistics, and spent six years working on the design, implementation and analysis of the British Household Panel Study at Essex.
Data are a major asset of economic and social research - the basis for research and also the ultimate product of research. Research data quality and provenance then become paramount in underpinning subsequent sharing and secondary scientific use. As the UK's largest funder of research on economic and social issues, the ESRC has been at the forefront of promoting the culture of sharing the results and data of the research it funds. The ESRC considers that effective data management is an essential precondition for generating high quality reusable data. Researchers need to be armed with the knowledge and skills to ensure that the data they create and manage can be exploited to the maximum potential for further research. This book offers these skills in an approachable way.
This is a timely, comprehensive and really useful guide to good practice in the management and sharing of research data. It outlines the processes and practices needed to ensure the highest standards of data management and addresses the potential pitfalls of poor practice - from the importance of early planning, to the issues of confidentiality and consent, rights and permissions, and citation.
Its great strength is the way it combines clear 'how to' case studies and checklists for action, with the rationale for action on each topic, addressing potential concerns and pitfalls. It should be required reading at the beginning - and end - of all research projects.
The breadth and depth of the cumulative expertise of the authors is evident throughout the sections of Managing and Sharing Research Data: A Guide to Good Practice that systematically highlight and address key trends and topics in research data management. The text is full of a rich combination of detailed examples, diagrams, exercises, and extensive references. As a result, the Guide simultaneously provides a practical handbook for getting on with research data management now, an instructional text for students and practitioners, a well-documented record of current practice that adds a valuable reference work to the literature of the community, and a roadmap for near-term and longer-term planning.
At the heart of good research lies good data management practice. Corti and her co-authors give us a vivid and comprehensive account of the ins-and-outs of this vital professional skill, from managing and sharing data, understanding the data lifecycle and realistically costing data management, through documenting and organising data, to securing, preserving and reusing data while honouring ethical accountability and intellectual property considerations. Whether beginner or experienced professor, every researcher will find helpful up-to-data advice in the pages of Managing and Sharing Research Data, whose message is all the more important for hitherto receiving too little attention in the research curriculum. Coverage is extended by thought-provoking practical exercises, exemplars, case studies and a well-specified companion website. This book is a much-needed resource that will serve the field well.