Research Data Management in Ethnographic Research

A practical introduction

Abstract

How to handle (digital) research data has been increasingly discussed and problematized in recent years. The term research data management (FDM) covers all activities in the so-called data life cycle, from basic scientific operations, such as organizing material and documenting work steps, to preparing material for permanent digital archiving, such as creating metadata, to contextualizing research processes with the aim of making material available for further use. At all levels, legal and ethical issues arise in addition to technical/technological and practical ones. The article formulates suggestions for the responsible handling of data/materials collected and analyzed by students and researchers. It focuses on steps of FDM that accompany the research process and takes a particular look at digitally available ethnographic field research data.