The Notion of "Research Data": Types and Kinds of Research Data in the Context of Data Management Practice

Abstract

With the rapid development of the concept of Open Science, the quantitative growth of data obtained during the research, scientific attention to the practice of research data management (research data management) increases, which actualizes the definition of “research data” and identifying types of research data within the practice of their management, justification and coverage of the specifics of such data. The methodological tools of the study are based on the terminological method, the use of which was due to the need to identify relevant interpretations of the concept of “research data”, as well as analysis of repositories for data from various fields of science, indexed by re3data.org., in the general areas presented in the register, namely: descriptions of repositories, including information on the types of data deposited by scientists and data curators. The analysis made it possible to define research data as materials obtained and collected to substantiate the scientific results of research in any field and in any form: numerical, textual, computer code, etc., as well as to identify types of data specific to different branches of science, which, in turn, allowed us to conclude the existing data formats, the most common among both natural and human sciences: text, numerical and graphic formats. As a result of the analysis, it was found that research data can be considered textual, numerical, software, archival, graphic and other objects (files) that serve as the basis of the study and the factual basis for scientific conclusions in a particular field of science. It was found that the type of data directly depends on the nature of the study and the characteristics of the discipline or field of research.