Week 3: Data management: source, structure, standardization
How does the way data were produced limit what you can learn?
Design stage: Data management. Examine how a source, its structure, and a standardized workflow shape the evidence you can use, then build and document your own corpus.
Prepare for class
Read: Chapter 3; data as relational and process. The chapters are in Canvas, and the companion page has the materials that go with them.
Reading focus: Use the 3S framework (source, structure, standardization) to read one empirical study. Note how the chapter classifies a source by format, security, and interface, and what each predicts about cost.
Write a half-page Practice note on one study from the data-management list. Discussion leaders prepare a 10-minute opening instead. Submit Milestone 1 before Wednesday’s class.
Weekly time budget
Outside class: 360 minutes (6 clock hours) maximum planned work per student. These allocations include all required preparation and submissions; they are planning estimates, not time logs for grading.
| Work | Planned minutes |
|---|---|
| Reading and discussion preparation | 120 |
| Exercises and project work, including troubleshooting | 150 |
| Writing, documentation, and reflection | 90 |
| Total | 360 |
Finish Milestone 1 early in the week. Read Chapter 3 for the 3S framework, write the half-page Practice note on one study, and begin the source review.
How the weekly cap works. If required work will exceed the budget, save your attempt and contact the instructor to adjust scope or arrange support.
From the book
Chapter 3’s Practice section asks you to critique how published studies managed their data. Chapter 4 then applies the same three questions to a corpus you build. This week you begin Exercise 4.1.3, the source review that decides whether a source is worth retrieving.
- Exercise 4.1.3: Inspecting a data source. Required.
The book gives each exercise’s steps. What to submit, and when.
On the companion website: Chapter 3 studies, filtered to data management · Chapter 4 materials · Working with text data
Monday, January 25: Practice discussion: data management in empirical studies
12:45–2:00 PM · PV A203
Begin with the student-led opening on one study, then critique its source, structure, and standardization as Chapter 3’s Practice section asks. Compare a study that repurposes existing records with one that collects its own. Classify OpenAlex on the chapter’s three axes.
Check the reasoning: A complete download is complete only relative to its source and its query. Name one claim about your topic that a corpus built from OpenAlex could not support, and say which axis explains why.
Wednesday, January 27: Source and structure clinic
12:45–2:00 PM · PV A203
Start Exercise 4.1.3 by reading the OpenAlex documentation for how its records are produced, processed, and retrieved. Open one raw record in a JSON viewer and list its nested and repeated parts. Sketch the entities and relationships you will need for Exercise 4.2.1.
Check the reasoning: State the unit of analysis for each table you sketched. One work can have many authors, so a table of works and a table of authorships do not have the same number of rows.
Work to carry forward
Finish the source review. Decide the boundary of your corpus: search terms, years, document types, and languages.
Due this week, at the start of Wednesday’s class:
- Milestone 1: Project setup and direction (5 points)
Assignments and deliverables · Your project · The book and companion website