Research data is any information that has been collected, observed, generated or created to validate original research findings.
Research data can take many forms. It might be:
- documents, spreadsheets
- laboratory notebooks, field notebooks, diaries
- questionnaires, transcripts, codebooks
- audiotapes, videotapes
- photographs, films
- test responses
- slides, artefacts, specimens, samples
- collections of digital outputs
- data files
- database contents (video, audio, text, images)
- models, algorithms, scripts
- contents of an application (input, output, logfiles for analysis software, simulation software, schemas)
- methodologies and workflows
- standard operating procedures and protocols
Research data can be generated for different purposes and through different processes.