Competent Handling of Data
Data literacy in your studies and research
The use of digital devices generates data. Data is actively generated or collected by creating texts, tables, images or other formats. A lot of data is also generated passively by using digital applications, especially online applications.
Data literacy means being aware of where and when data is generated and how we can control it.
When handling data that constitutes a work (e.g. a thesis or the data for this thesis), the following must be considered:
- Is the data protected by copyright
- If the data contains personal information (in particular sensitive personal information), it is protected by the Data Protection Act
Organizing Data in Your Own Projects and in Collaborative Work
Depending on the software, descriptive data is already created for the given files, but it is always advisable to maintain a good, clear documentation of your own data.
This includes data management, which manages storage locations, file names and versions of your data.
Research Data Management
When handling data in a research project (including student research projects), a data management plan (DMP) is drawn up. There are no defined specifications for the form of a DMP. In principle, a DMP can be formulated and drawn up individually. The DMP regulates the following areas:
- Data pool
- Data generation
- Data management (storage location, file names etc.)
- Metadata management
- Ethical and legal aspects
- Publishing and archiving
Further information including checklists, templates and examples of DMPs, can be found on various websites, for example on forschungsdaten.info