Research data

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Research data diversity

Research data are data that arise during the planning, implementation and documentation of scientific projects or are used in such a project. They form an essential foundation of scientific work and document their results. Evaluation, analysis and interpretation of the research data enables conclusions to be drawn, generates information and provides new knowledge.

A test facility of the Technical University of Munich , Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.

Depending on the subject area or research project, research data can be generated in very different ways (e.g. observations , experiments , measurements , surveys , surveys) and in very different forms (e.g. texts, tables, images, measurement data or videos). Nowadays they are almost always saved in digital formats in a structured (e.g. databases , files ), semi-structured (e.g. XML ) or unstructured (e.g. documents , texts , graphics ) form. They are subject to a life cycle and are available for re-use (such as research , further analysis, secondary research ) after archiving .

The diversity of scientific disciplines and research processes leads to different understandings of the term research data and different requirements for handling (processing, evaluation, administration, archiving). The methods for handling research data are the subject of research data management and the research data infrastructure .

APEX telescope ( Atacama Pathfinder Experiment ) operated by three European research institutes in Chajnantor, in the north of Chile .

Scientific branches such as natural , social and economic sciences , which work predominantly with quantitative methods, often differentiate research data into primary or raw data and secondary data , sometimes also into initial data and result data . The humanities tend to use the terms source instead of initial data and publication instead of result data and place the level of work data between source and publication.

Further definitions of research data

  • According to the definition of the Alliance of German Science Organizations, research data are data "that arise in the course of scientific projects, e.g. through digitization, source research, experiments, measurements, surveys or surveys."
  • “By digital research data we mean all digitally available data that arise during the research process or are its result. The research process encompasses the entire cycle from the generation of research data, for example through an experiment in the natural sciences , a documented observation in a cultural studies or an empirical study in the social sciences , through the processing and analysis to the publication and archiving of research data. Digital research data is created in all scientific disciplines and using various methods, depending on the research question. As a result, they appear in different media types, aggregation levels and data formats. In order to enable research data to be provided and re-used, metadata and data documentation that describe the context of the research data and the tools with which it was generated, stored, processed and analyzed are essential . "
  • "Humanities research data are all those data that are selected and prepared for longer-term and public archiving in the context of a humanities question and in the work with the sources viewed, including secondary literature."

Examples of research data

The diversity of research data is reflected in the diversity of different scientific disciplines and research methods. Research data include, for example

The DFG (German Research Foundation) also counts objects from collections or samples that are created, developed or evaluated during scientific work as research data.

Life cycle research data

Research data are subject to a life cycle that can be broken down as follows:

  • Planning the research project; this also includes collecting research data from previous research projects and processing them for subsequent use.
  • Collecting the data required for the research project and adding metadata . The survey can be carried out, for example, through an experiment in the natural sciences , a documented observation in the cultural sciences or an empirical study in the social sciences .
  • Preparation, evaluation and analysis; methods of primary data processing are often used here.
  • Interpretation and documentation.
  • Publication of the results.
  • Long-term archiving guarantees permanent availability. The archived data are available for follow-up research projects, for secondary analyzes and for teaching.

Handling research data

Secure administration and storage of research data over the entire life cycle from planning to long-term archiving is the task of research data management . Since research data form an essential basis for scientific work, their sustainable protection and provision makes a contribution to the traceability and quality assurance of the data. There are also connection options for further research projects.

Many scientific institutions deal with this current topic, also with regard to the discussions about good scientific practice and open access to research data.

The Alliance of German Science Organizations has adopted appropriate "rules for dealing with research data" in the year of 2010.

The EU is also committed to open access to at least publicly funded research data and believes it is imperative to be able to "make data from different sources across sectors and disciplines accessible, merge and reuse".

Projects are currently underway in Germany to set up a national research data infrastructure (NFDI) in which research data stocks are to be merged.

In many big data sciences, it has been established practice for many years to permanently store research data and make it reusable. An example of this from the field of earth system research and environmental sciences is the data repository PANGEA . In contrast, in many long-tail disciplines (i.e. research areas outside of Big Data), systematic research data management has not yet been established.

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 20, 2019 on open data and the re-use of public sector information. In: Official Journal of the European Union L172 / 56. June 26, 2019, accessed July 9, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b "Digital Information" priority initiative : research data, description of the field of activity of the Digital Information alliance initiative. Retrieved July 9, 2020 .
  3. ^ A b c Maxi Kindling, Peter Schirmbacher, Elena Simukovic: Research data management at universities: the example of the Humboldt University in Berlin. In: LIBREAS. Library Ideas # 23 (2013). 2013, accessed July 9, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b c d German Research Foundation: Guidelines for handling research data. September 30, 2015, accessed July 9, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b Freie Universität Berlin: What are research data? Retrieved July 9, 2020 .
  6. ↑ a b c Research data working group of the priority initiative “Digital Information” of the Alliance of German Science Organizations: Research data management - a handout. May 2018, accessed July 9, 2020 .
  7. ^ A b Peter Andorfer: Research data in the (digital) humanities. Attempt at a specification. In: GOEDOC, document and publication server of the Georg-August University (DARIAH-DE Working Papers No. 14). 2015, accessed July 9, 2020 .
  8. ↑ a b "Digital Information" priority initiative of the Alliance of German Science Organizations: Principles for dealing with research data. June 24, 2010, accessed September 7, 2020 .
  9. ↑ a b Angelina Kraft, Matthias Razum, Jan Potthoff, Andrea Porzel, Thomas Engel, Frank Lange, Karina van den Broek: Archiving and Publishing Research Data: The Role of Digital Repositories Using the Example of the RADAR Project. In: Library Service Volume 50, Issue 7, pages 623–635. Verlag De Gruyter Saur, June 10, 2016, accessed on July 9, 2020 .
  10. ^ German Research Foundation: National Research Data Infrastructure: DFG welcomes first funding decisions for consortia. In: Press release No. 23 June 26, 2020, accessed on July 9, 2020 .