Lapin korkeakoulukirjasto: Research Data Management for Students: Handling your data

How to handle the data during research?

Name files and folders consistently and clearly. Make sure that you do not use personal data or other confidential information in the naming process.
Create a logical folder structure that helps to interpret the dataset.
Describe the data so that it is, if necessary, also possible for others to understand what the data are about, .

Documentation

Data documentation helps you describe, both for yourself and others, what your data is about. Documentation refers to description of research data, i.e. elaborating on what the datasets consist of, how they have been created, and how they can be used. Such descriptive information is referred to as metadata.

The simplest way to document your data is to create a README file and attach it to the data a s a separate file. Important information in the README file are for example:

Names and addresses of the organization or people who created the data.
Where and when the data has been created or collected.
Where and how the data is stored
How has the data been collected or created.
How can one interpret the data.
Who can use the data and on what conditions.

If the data is to be re-used or published in the future, documentation must always be done carefully.

Do you need help?

You can find more information on documentation in Finnish Social Science Data Archive's Data Management Guide and for example in the JYU guide to data documentation.