Unit 4: Research Data Management

2024
Presenter: Mr. Ndhlovu, A. Sipho (+263 772 921
416)
Email: [email protected]
Structure of the Unit
•Background
•Objectives & Outcomes
•Research Data Management Life Cycle
•Research Data Management Plan/Strategy
•Data Life Cycle steps
•Intellectual Property Rights
•Data Preservation and Sharing
Background
Research data in general
•Data in the digital world
•Machine dependency
•Digital materials- “created as a result of converting analogue
materials to digital form (digitisation) and born digital.” (Gordon,
2018)
•Digital records include: Textual (word, rtf, PDF, text etc.), Digital
image (Camera raw, JPEG), Digital audio (MP3, WAV), Digital
video (MPEG 4, vlc), Email, Websites, Datasets (xls, csv), Flash
(animation)
Objectives
•To train students on the importance of good Research Data
Management in practice,
•To coach students on developing a data management plan and
use it during the entire research project,
•To help students document and organise data throughout the
project,
•To equip students with skills to securely store and back up your
data,
•To encourage students to share and re-use research data in an
ethical manner.
Outcomes
•Improved appreciation of the importance of good practice in
managing research data and apply it in specific research
contexts,
•Increased use of data management plan during the entire
research project,
•Store data in an organised and accessible formats that are well
secured and labelled,
•Enhanced data storage and backup in ways that ensure
compatibility and longevity,
•Enhanced ethical and legal issues surrounding access and use of
data,
Reasons for research data
management
•It increases discoverability and retrievability of data
•It ensures the quality and integrity of data throughout the
research lifecycle
•It adds value to data
•It encourages data use/re-use and preservation over time
•It maximises data access and sharing
•It encourages compliance with the ethical and legal obligations
Research Data Management Life
Cycle

Source: Liu, G., Zotoo, I. K., & Su, W. (2020).

Research data management
plan/strategy
The strategy outlines procedure and tools which will be
used to handle the research data throughout the data
lifecycle. This aims to:
• Save time,
• Increase research efficiency,
• Prevent duplication of time,
• Research visibility is increased,
• Funding agency requirement.
This is based on the DATAONE Data life cycle
Research Data Management
Plan

Source: https://intranet.ecu.edu.au/research/for-research-staff/research-integrity/responsible-research/research-data-
management/data-management-plan
Creating RDM Plan

Activity: create your DMP using:

https://dmponline.dcc.ac.uk/
DATAONE Data Lifecycle stages
•Plan - Establishing a data management strategy to regulate the handling of data
during the research work.
• Collect - Collecting data from sensors, lab instruments, and measuring equipment in
the field, then organizing it in databases or spreadsheets.
• Assure - establishing common formats, codes, and units for the data and using
quality control techniques including outlier detection, double entry, and database input
filters.
•Describe - supplying enough metadata to make sure the data is independently
comprehensible and useful.
DATAONE Data Lifecycle stages
cntd.
•Preserve - storing data in a repository or data centre to prevent
bit-level deterioration and format obsolescence.
•Discover - employing a searching interface to find relevant info
and exposing discovery metadata through it.
•Integrate - Transforming and combining several datasets into a
single representation (format, coding scheme, ontology), while
taking into account methodological and semantic variations and
maintaining a provenance trail.
• Analyse - using statistical and analytical models to analyse the
data and derive insightful responses to research questions
Research Data organisation
Housekeeping
•Based on organisation and structure of data
•Importance of consistency
•Essential elements to be considered when file naming are
version numbers, publication date / creation, name of creator /
group, content description, project number
•Keep files relevant and short
•Naming of files example: FG3_UZEL_2023-06-16
Types of data and metadata
•Textual e.g. XML, TXT,, HTML, PDF etc.
•Tabular (including spreadsheets) CSV
•Databases (HML, CSV)
•Images (JPEG, TIFF)
•Audio (FLAC, WAV, MP3)
•Multimedia
Documentation of research data

Entails defining data so that it is discoverable and steps taken

include:
•Organisation of data- structure of data including folders, files
and sub files
• Associate data to rich metadata- context and description
• Develop a system for creating metadata that accurately
describes your data, including information such as data type,
date created, as well as the creator.
• Document everything
Storing and backing up data
•Full backup where all of your files for every backup
process are taken care of.
•Incremental backup which include only copy files that
have been added or changed since the last backup.
•Differential backup includes the copying of any files that
have been added or changed since the last full backup
Passwords and data safety
•“Use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters,
numbers, and symbols” (Apple, 2013)
•Avoid using personal or common information, such as
names, dates, or words
•Change passwords regularly and do not reuse them for
different accounts
•Do not share passwords with anyone or write them
down
•
Encryption and destruction of
sensitive data
Research data in general
• There are third-party, commercial file-sharing services
that make it possible to move files.
• Services like Google Docs, Dropbox, or YouSendIt are
frequently based outside of the country and as a result
are not protected by local laws like UK law
• What does the data protection act (Zimbabwe) say
about this?
•How do you erase data from hard-drives, memory sticks,
Secure disposal

Data disposal software

•BCWipe- uses ‘military-grade procedures to
surgically remove all traces of any file’–Can be
applied to entire disk drives
•AxCrypt- free open source file and folder shredding –
Integrates into Windows well, useful for single files
•Physically destroy portable media, as you would
shred paper
 Intellectual Property Rights and
Research Data
•Researchers should explain whether the project will generate
any products that are protected by intellectual property rights,
and mention which laws and policy apply. This is especially
crucial in the case of patents, original software, or
commercialised products.
•It is essential that researchers comply with copyright laws when
publishing or sharing their research outputs.
• Ethical requirements for data involving human subjects requires
one to be aware of legal issues and any specific details before
the research process
•Researchers should be aware of legal issues related to research
data and ensure that they comply with relevant laws and policies
 Intellectual Property Rights and
Research Data
•Privacy and confidentiality (masking, aggregation, pseudo
names usage)
•Consent and access-ethical rules which govern research on
humans is that participants must give their informed consent
before taking part in a study
•The name(s) and contact details of the researcher(s) involved in
the study must be made available to allow participants to obtain
more information about the study if required.
•Future use of information
•Participants should be informed about their right to decline
participation or to withdraw consent at any stage of the research
Citing data and how to do it
•DataCite
• DataCite provides persistent identifiers (DOIs) for research data
and other research outputs” (Ares, 2021).
•DataCite works with data centres, libraries, publishers, and other
research organizations to enable data citation, discovery, access,
and reuse.
•DataCite also offers services and tools to help researchers and
data providers manage, share, and preserve their data.
•DataCite's mission is to make research data more visible,
valuable, and trustworthy.
Data sharing and preservation
As software and computer systems change, digital data
can deteriorate more quickly. In order to effectively
preserve your data, it is advisable to upload the final
version to a reputable repository
Which data should be preserved?
 Data which cannot be re-created or produced, costly
data to be reproduced, data of one-time events,
experimental data
Activity
Identify secure repositories for data preservation
and outline their key features.
References
ECU, 2023. Research intranet - for research staff.
https://intranet.ecu.edu.au/research/for-research-staff/r
esearch-integrity/responsible-research/research-data-m
anagement/data-management-plan

Liu, G., Zotoo, I. K., & Su, W., 2020. Research data
management policies in USA, UK and Australia
universities: An online survey. Malaysian Journal of
Library & Information Science, 25(2), 21-42.
Mosha, N. F., & Ngulube, P., 2023a. Teaching research
data management courses in higher learning
institutions in Tanzania. Library Management, 44(1/2),
References
Mooney, H., 2011. Citing data sources in the social
sciences: Do authors do it? Learned Publishing, 24(2),
99–108. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1087/20110204
(Accessed: 21 June 2023).
Notoatmodjo, G., &Thomborson, C., n.d. Passwords and
Perceptions.Samaru journal of information studies vol.
20(1) 2020. Available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234787032_P
asswords_and_perceptions
(Accessed 20 June 2023).
THE END