LibGuides: Thesis Instructions at Karelia University of Applied Sciences : Data Management Plan

Data Management Plan

Data management refers to the management of the research data in the thesis.

The planning of data management is important because:

It serves as a checklist to ensure that the thesis design takes into account the necessary licensing and agreement issues, research ethics, data protection and information security.
The material remains systematic and easy to manage when, for example, storage, processing and description are planned in advance.

The research material for a thesis is the material generated in the course of the thesis, which is collected or produced and analysed for the thesis. It is used to justify the results of the thesis. Research material may include, for example:

measurement results
surveys and interviews
audio and video recordings
research diaries and notes
drawings, photographs, text samples and other data collected
self-made software and source codes

Data Management Plan:: Instructions and Template

In the data management plan, you describe how and what kind of data you will collect, how you will store it, what legal (e.g. data protection) or contractual issues are related to the data and what will be done with the data when the thesis is completed.

Draw up a data management plan using the instructions and a planning template.

Data Management Plan Template

Instructions for Data Management Plan

Data Management Plan in the thesis
What are materials, data management and data management plan in a thesis?
Survey: Data Management Plan Example
Not for use as such
Measurement data: Data Management Plan Example
Not for use as such
Interview study: Data Management Plan Example
Not for use as such

Progressing steps

Before you can start collecting data, you need to have a considered thesis plan for your work. Your thesis plan will be complemented by a data management plan.

If you have applied for a research permit, you can only start collecting data once you have been granted one.

So do it in this order:

A thesis plan, accompanied by a data management plan. Note: If your thesis is a literature review or other literature-based thesis, you do not need to prepare a data management plan.
Possible research permit, accompanied by a data management plan and a research plan.
Data collection can start.
Appropriate preservation of the material during the thesis process.
Disposal of the material once the thesis has been completed.
If the data management plan is not included as an appendix to the thesis report, the report must clearly describe how the data was collected and how it was handled during and after the thesis project. In the ethical considerations section, it should be stated that a data management plan has been prepared in accordance with the guidelines, covering the collection, use, and storage of data during and after the thesis project.