Week 4

Lecture

Location

PdlC SC01

Reading

• Jarzabkowski et al. (2014)

For this session we are honored to welcome Dr. Andrew Hoffman, the Faculty of Social Sciences data steward, who will speak from his vantage point about data management, its institutionalization and professionalization in contemporary academic research, its relation to ethnography—but especially what it looks like in practice and why it can be a helpful skill even if you don’t intend to become an academic researcher.

About our guest speaker:

Andrew Hoffman had an early career as a research data coordinator in academic cancer medicine before going on to complete a doctoral degree in sociology/social studies of medicine at McGill University. Over the course of two subsequent postdoctoral fellowships, Andrew studied and collaborated with researchers, data scientists, and software engineers on the development of new knowledge infrastructures, predominantly in the domain of translational science.

Combining training as an ethnographer with dedication to user-centered design, Andrew aims to make data management policies and workflows legible, useful for, and responsive to the values and practices of social science researchers working across the methodological spectrum. As a Data Steward, his primary responsibility is to liaise with researchers and support staff in Cultural Anthropology & Development Sociology and the Centre for Science & Technology Studies (CWTS) to address research data management needs spanning the whole project lifecycle.

Tutorial

During tutorials, you will have a chance to show what you are working on for assignment 2. You will also discuss ethical issues you might encounter as a researchers working in different contexts.

Homework

• If possible, bring a hardcopy of your group assignment to your tutorial session (to the extent that you have completed it).
• Learn about the case of Mohammad Soroush by reading Rana (2019), and about the Crisis Text Line scandal by reading McNeil (2022). If you know of other cases of researcher misconduct, bring sources about them with you. Take some notes to prepare for a discussion in tutorials.
• Put some of this week’s lessons about data management into action by rethinking how you organize your own files and folders. You have a backup, right?