As the title suggests, the theme for this week has been refining both the Data Paper error categories, and the data manager questionnaire. In the first stage of condensing the number of data paper categories, the number went from somewhere over 100 error categories to just over 60 with eight overarching categories: Planning, Collection & Organization, Assure, Description, Preserve, Discover, Integrate, and Analyze/visualize. In this initial stage, I condensed error categories based on number of identified errors in each category. If a category had a small number of identified errors, then I combined it with other error categories. By far, the overarching categories with the most identified errors were Collection & Organization, and Description. After discussing the resulting error categories with Bill Michener and Bob Cook, I reduced the number of error categories even further. The result was seven overarching error categories, each with two to four subcategories. The next step for this project is to start writing a paper for publication.
We have also continued to refine the data manager questionnaire. First, we clarified a number of ambiguous terms and phrases. Then, we modified the format of a number of questions. Finally, we standardized the format of similar questions in order to make filling out the questionnaire easier. When we started this process, the questionnaire had over 100 questions, which everyone agreed was entirely too long. Now, the questionnaire is less than half its original size, at only 46 questions. Ideally, we will be able to deploy the questionnaire by the end of the week.