Update: I am very excited to say that I have begun to turn these materials (plus more) into a book! You can see the ongoing progression at https://datamgmtinedresearch.com/! Any and all feedback is welcome.
I started this resource as an internal workshop series for the Missouri Prevention Science Institute (MPSI) and have continued to build it as a personal project that I want to share with anyone who is looking for more information around data management in large-scale education research studies. The modules in this resource cover best practices in data management procedures throughout the entire life cycle of research project implementation (from grant award to end of grant). While I think parts of this series will apply to any type of education research, I think the series is mainly geared towards those doing longitudinal evaluation research, specifically those conducting randomized controlled trial studies (RCTs).
As part of my writing process, I have been researching data management practices, collecting resources, and speaking with data management professionals. If you work in education research, particularly with RCTs, and would be willing to share your expertise with me to improve this manual, please contact me here. Acknowledgment and gratitude for those who have taken time out of their busy schedules to share their wisdom with me so far: Francis Huang, Mary McCraken, Ryan Estrellado, Kim Manturuk, Beth Chance, Jessica Logan, Rebecca Schmidt, Sara Hart, and Kerry Shea.
I am making these materials available for anyone who finds them useful. My hope is that when completed, this comprehensive manual will assist all new PIs, data managers, project coordinators, research assistants, and others who have been awarded their first research grant, or even those with established careers, in navigating how to implement a successful data management plan throughout their project. There are many great resources out there on data management in research and I will share those resources in this series. However, what I think will make this resource unique is the narrow focus on education research, an area with scarce data management information.
About me: I oversaw data management activities in the MPSI for 8 years, which included 8 federally funded research grants (4 of which were RCTs). In my time with the MPSI I was a part of almost every aspect of the research data life cycle. I was a project coordinator, data collector, analyst, supervisor, grant writer, and data manager, and in those roles I saw the good, the bad, and the ugly of data management. My experiences and my passion to improve data management practices in the MPSI and across the entire field of education was my motivation for creating these materials.
Currently I am working as a freelance research data management consultant. I work with researchers and their teams to develop and implement data management best practices. You can learn more about my current projects at https://cghlewis.com/.
Materials were last updated on 01/16/2024
Tentative Module Outline
| Module | Content |
|---|---|
| 1 | Documentation |
| 2 | Data collection structures |
| 3 | Style guide |
| 4 | Writing a data cleaning plan |
| 5 | Sharing data upon project completion |
| 6 | Putting it all together |