A Data Management Workflow for Cultural Geography Projects: Tips, Tricks, and Lessons Learned

This original research was presented at the 2020 Pennsylvania Geographical Society Annual Meeting (virtual) on November 6th.

Data management is an important part of any research project as it can ensure your data are accessible, organized, and secure, benefiting not only yourself as the researcher but your collaborators and audience. In geographic research settings, education around data management is usually focused on those using GIS techniques and/or working with quantitative data. However, for cultural geographers working with more qualitative data, the research objects associated with a project are not always classified as “data” and therefore in this subfield there are less formal conversations around data management. Data in cultural geography projects can be varying in format, including photographs, fieldwalk notes, ethnographic interviews, content analysis, and audio/video files, all of which have their own unique data management considerations. In this presentation, as a case study I outline my data management workflow for a current cultural geography project I am undertaking, and provide general tips, tricks, and advice for those seeking better data management practices for their own cultural geography projects. Holistically, I use this presentation to invite attendees to share their own struggles and challenges with managing cultural geography data, and open up an invitation to build a community around these research endeavors.

This record includes both the slide deck (in PDF format) and the recorded presentation (in mp4 format).