Archiving Data

Many kinds of data are generated and used over the course of communication research. Archiving these data is an important part in the life cycle of research. Archiving allows the researcher, and (most commonly) others, to access research materials in the future. Archiving is also an important step in the process of data sharing. Depending on the type of research materials and the nature of the archive, the process of archiving data can take different forms. This entry discusses several of the major topics in archiving that are relevant to communication researchers as well as researchers in allied disciplines (e.g., media studies, linguistics, discourse analysis). An overview of the preservation of data is first provided, followed by a discussion about how to archive ...