Workshop: Bringing Digital Data Management Training Into Methods Courses (November 18-22 & January 11-15)

American Anthropological Assoc, Arlington VA

Investigators

Abstract

Developing appropriate methods of data preservation and sharing is essential for establishing pathways for public access to the data and findings from federally funded research. This project trains its research community in appropriate methods of data management. The modules that the project develops will be freely available to members of the scientific research community as well as to the public, and would be instrumental to faculty developing methods curricula. The American Anthropological Association (AAA) will produce instructional materials to help a new generation of anthropologists ensure their digital data are ready for digital deposit and made available for future use. Protecting personally identifiable data is important, but anonymizing years of data records after the fact is a lengthy and expensive process. Incorporating necessary data protections ahead of time shortens the time to making these data publicly accessible, fulfills researchers? ethical obligations, and is more cost-effective. By training anthropologists how to accommodate digital archiving requirements into research design, AAA can help anthropologists realize wider availability of the data for their own and others? use. Broader availability of these data can showcase the ways that anthropological research contributes to advancing scientific knowledge and helps solve human problems. Materials generated from the grant will be freely available at the AAA?s website to add to research methods training courses, professional development seminars, workshops, short-courses or certificate programs in research methods across the sciences. The grant will also benefit textbook authors and qualitative software developers, thus maximizing the impact of the award.