Many researchers use spreadsheets to collect, analyze and archive their research data, but spreadsheets are notoriously poor data management tools that are subject to common and costly errors. As part of an ongoing series by RDS that examines the use of spreadsheets in research, the following slide deck (RDS_brownbag_20140313) is from a presentation by RDS personnel advocating for best practices for use of spreadsheets in quantitative research.
Barry Radler
Using Spreadsheets for Research Data Management
The RDS group advocates for good data management practices at UW-Madison. Data management is a topic that is attracting more and more attention in the era of Big Data. One ubiquitous practice among researchers and …
Popular Economic Paper Criticized for Undocumented Errors
A new review of an influential research article on fiscal austerity and GDP finds that the results were tainted in part by an undocumented error in the authors’ Excel dataset. The original research by Carmen …
Free E-book on Data Science
A new book by Jeffrey Stanton from Syracuse University School of Information Studies, An Introduction to Data Science, is now available for free download. The book–which uses R code to illustrate examples–begins with a clear …
DDI Workshop
Documenting research data and processes is becoming highly relevant in the age of Big Data. The Data Documentation Initiative (http://www.ddialliance.org/what) is an effort to standardize how social science metadata are described, thus leading to more …