Overview
The objective of this activity is to revisit the impacts of data sharing on reproducibility and replicability in science.
Metadata is loosely defined as data that describes other data. There are many types of metadata and the definition of metadata itself is complex and nuanced [Source]. Simply knowing about its existence is the first step to realizing its value.Instructions
The underlying theme of data sharing is sciene is that someone else should be able to understand and reuse your data without asking you questions.
(Are you available for and willing to answer questions? Even if the answer is yes, most people will not reach out - they will probably move on.)
These data are examples of blood pressure readings in Systolic/Diastolic format. Without having the / sign, or information about what the data is, you cannot be sure. If you suspected they were blood pressure readings - great job! However, it is difficult to be sure what type of data this is without important context, usually captured as - you guessed it - metadata.
Here is an example of some data:
99 70
100 70
105 75
113 81
125 91
144 105
Do you have any idea what this data is capturing?
Here it is in a different format:
99 70
100 70
105 75
113 81
125 91
144 105
Now do you have any idea what this data is capturing?
Click to reveal the answer