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Best Practices for Using Spreadsheets in Research: Enhancing Documentation and Reproducibility

This presentation by Dr. Jan Cheetham and Dr. Barry Radler discusses the pervasive use of spreadsheets in research, highlighting associated challenges with documentation and reproducibility. It references the Reinhart and Rogoff paper scandal to underscore the importance of sound practices. Recommendations include saving raw spreadsheet copies, enhancing readability, and considering alternative software for analysis. Tools such as Colectica for Excel are introduced for better metadata management. For further resources on managing research data, visit the provided link.

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Best Practices for Using Spreadsheets in Research: Enhancing Documentation and Reproducibility

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  1. Jan Cheetham, PhD (DoIT Academic Technology) Barry Radler, PhD (UW Institute on Aging) Using Spreadsheets in Research – Best Practices RDS Brownbag, October 8, 2013

  2. Spreadsheets in Research • Usage is ubiquitous • Problems with documentation, reproducibility • Example: • Reinhart and Rogoff paper scandal (April, 2013) • Cited 567 times since 2010 • Referenced in stimulus/austerity debates

  3. Recommendations for Spreadsheets • Save a RAW copy of each spreadsheet • Take a class, become a power spreadsheet user • See resources at: http://researchdata.wisc.edu/manage-your-data/spreadsheets/ • Consider moving to another software for analysis • Make your spreadsheets more: • Machine readable • Human readable

  4. Machine-readable

  5. Human-readable A separate document that describes and explains: • The data set • Variables (field names, column headings, etc.) • Data values (codes, data labels, etc) • Type of values and formats • What data values mean; code lists • Formulas and analysis steps

  6. One Tool: Colectica for Excel Variable Dataset Codes Catgories?

  7. Colectica for Excel • Documents and identifies: • Datasets • Variables • Code lists • Categories • Add more metadata than Excel supports on its own • Colectica for Excel is based on DDI • www.ddialliance.org

  8. Colectica for Excel • Enables reuse of metadata through unique identification • Variables can share the same code list • Records audit trail through versioning

  9. Document Datasets

  10. Document Variables

  11. Record Custom Fields

  12. Document Code Lists

  13. Reuse Code Lists

  14. Publish Documentation • Generate Codebooks from Excel • PDF, HTML, Word, XSL-FO • Publish DDI 3.1 XML

  15. Resources Colectica for Excel: www.colectica.com/software/colecticaforexcel DataUp dataup.cdlib.org/

  16. Resources Research Data Services researchdata.wisc.edu “Practice good data management!”

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