# Challenges and benefits of implementing the CESSDA Metadata Model in an existing environment

Alina Danciu, Alexandre Mairot

► To cite this version:

Alina Danciu, Alexandre Mairot. Challenges and benefits of implementing the CESSDA Metadata Model in an existing environment. EDDI 2019 TAMPERE – 11TH ANNUAL EUROPEAN DDI USER CONFERENCE, Dec 2019, Tampere, Finland. pp.12. [hal-03621558](https://HAL Id: hal-03621558)

Submitted on 15 Dec 2022

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# Challenges and benefits of implementing the CESSDA Metadata Model in an existing environment

Alina Danciu, Alexandre Mairot

EDDI19- 11th Annual European DDI Users Conference
Tampere, Finland

December, 3 - December, 4 2019
Center for Socio-Political Data (CDSP)

* Service unit of Sciences Po and of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS)

* SSH data curation since 2005 : more than 320 surveys

* Member of PROGEDO : national infrastructure for SSH data

* PROGEDO is the CESSDA French Service Provider

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DATA
INFRASTRUCTURE

SciencesPo
CENTER FOR SOCIO-POLITICAL DATA

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Review of procedures

* How to make data FAIRer?

* How to make them more **visible** and more **reused**?

* How to implement less **time-consuming documentation protocols**?

* How to **avoid information loss** (example : one colleague is leaving)

* How to communicate with stakeholders ?

* How do you exchange metadata protocols with other institutions (for example : the library of your university)

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## Roles defined at the CDSP

* Preservation responsible

* Metadata standards responsible

* Storage and archiving responsible

* Information system responsible

* Data users (ingest and publishing data) responsible
# The DDI Alliance Controlled vocabularies

* Using 7 controlled vocabularies (Analysis Unit, General Data Format, Mode Of Collection, Sampling Procedure, Time Method, Topic Classification, Type Of Instrument)

* Translation in French of the CVs

* We worked with the CESSDA Service Provider (SODA) from Belgium to revise translation

* Published now in French : Feel free to use them !

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# The CESSDA Metadata Model

* CDSP not an official part of the project but tested the different versions of the CMM

* Find it useful for our particular case

* Our metadata are DDI-C with a “hint” of the DDI-L philosophy

* We have a **Nesstar server** and an in-house developed **DDI-C question bank**

* Currently implementing a new repository, Dataverse

* It was vital to have a “common language” and the *CMM was it*

* We used elements of the CMM to come up with a CDSP **metadata model** (mandatory, recommended elements)
Benefits

* Easier to speak to the management and partners: “CESSDA is recommending this”

* We had clear recommendations to follow and adapt to our particular situation

* We finally began to document thoroughly our metadata choices!

*In some cases, we got a little bit lost in the multitude of recommandations and elements. CMM is pretty complex ! Also, we were not sure at a certain point that the CMM version we are using won't change.*
## CDSP's metadata model (mandatory elements)

<table><tr><td>Title</td><td>Full title by which the Dataset is known.</td></tr><tr><td>Author</td><td>The person(s), corporate body(ies), or agency(ies) responsible for creating the work.</td></tr><tr><td>Contact</td><td>The contact(s) for this Dataset.</td></tr><tr><td>Description</td><td>A summary describing the purpose, nature, and scope of the Dataset.</td></tr><tr><td>Subject</td><td>Domain-specific Subject Categories that are topically relevant to the Dataset.</td></tr><tr><td>Keyword</td><td>Key terms that describe important aspects of the Dataset.</td></tr><tr><td>Topic Classification</td><td>The classification field indicates the broad important topic(s) and subjects that the data cover</td></tr><tr><td>Language</td><td>Language of the Dataset</td></tr><tr><td>Producer</td><td>Person or organization with the financial or administrative responsibility over this Dataset</td></tr><tr><td>Production Date</td><td>Date when the data collection or other materials were produced</td></tr><tr><td>Distributor</td><td>The organization designated by the author or producer to generate copies of the particular work including any necessary editions or revisions.</td></tr><tr><td>Distribution Date</td><td>Date that the work was made available for distribution/presentation.</td></tr><tr><td>Unit of Analysis</td><td>Basic unit of analysis or observation that this Dataset describes</td></tr><tr><td>Universe</td><td>Description of the population covered by the data in the file</td></tr><tr><td>Sampling Procedure</td><td>Type of sample and sample design used to select the survey respondents to represent the population</td></tr><tr><td>Collection Mode</td><td>Method used to collect the data; instrumentation characteristics</td></tr></table>
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* Finish documenting all our procedures

* Reviewing all our workflows and our internal documents

* Preparing for CoreTrustSeal
Get in touch!

alina.danciu@sciencespo.fr
alexandre.mairot@sciencespo.fr

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Follow us on Twitter!

@cdsp_ScPo

@alina_danciu_

@alexandremairot
## CDSP's metadata (CV)

<table><thead><tr><td>Field</td><td>Definition</td><td>Controlled Vocabulary</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Keyword</td><td>Key terms that describe important aspects of the Dataset.</td><td>ELSST</td></tr><tr><td>Topic Classification</td><td>The classification field indicates the broad important topic(s) and subjects that the data cover. Library of Congress subject terms may be used here.</td><td>CESSDA Topic Classification</td></tr><tr><td>Kind of Data</td><td>Type of data included in the file: survey data, census/enumeration data, aggregate data, clinical data, event/transaction data, program source code, machine-readable text, administrative records data, experimental data, psychological test, textual data, coded textual, coded documents, time budget diaries, observation data/ratings, process-produced data, or other.</td><td>DDI Alliance GeneralDataFormat</td></tr><tr><td>Unit of Analysis</td><td>Basic unit of analysis or observation that this Dataset describes, such as individuals, families/households, groups, institutions/organizations, administrative units, and more. For information about the DDI's controlled vocabulary for this element, please refer to the DDI web page at http://www.ddialliance.org/controlled-vocabularies.</td><td>DDI Alliance AnalysisUnit</td></tr><tr><td>Time Method</td><td>The time method or time dimension of the data collection, such as panel, cross-sectional, trend, time-series, or other.</td><td>DDI Alliance TimeMethod</td></tr><tr><td>Sampling Procedure</td><td>Type of sample and sample design used to select the survey respondents to represent the population. May include reference to the target sample size and the sampling fraction.</td><td>DDI Alliance SamplingProcedure</td></tr><tr><td>Collection Mode</td><td>Method used to collect the data; instrumentation characteristics (e.g., telephone interview, mail questionnaire, or other).</td><td>DDI Alliance ModeOfCollection</td></tr><tr><td>Type of Research Instrument</td><td>Type of data collection instrument used. Structured indicates an instrument in which all respondents are asked the same questions/tests, possibly with precoded answers. If a small portion of such a questionnaire includes open-ended questions, provide appropriate comments. Semi-structured indicates that the research instrument contains mainly open-ended questions. Unstructured indicates that in-depth interviews were conducted.</td><td>DDI Alliance TypeOfInstrument</td></tr></tbody></table>
## CDSP's metadata model (recommended elements)

<table><tr><td>Alternative Title</td></tr><tr><td>Other ID</td></tr><tr><td>Related Publication</td></tr><tr><td>Production Place</td></tr><tr><td>Contributor (Related Person/Data Collector)</td></tr><tr><td>Grant Information</td></tr><tr><td>Depositor</td></tr><tr><td>Deposit Date</td></tr><tr><td>Time Period Covered</td></tr><tr><td>Date of Collection</td></tr><tr><td>Software</td></tr><tr><td>Related Material</td></tr><tr><td>Related Datasets</td></tr></table>

<table><tr><td>Geographic</td></tr><tr><td>Geographic Unit</td></tr><tr><td>Time Method</td></tr><tr><td>Frequency</td></tr><tr><td>Major Deviations for Sample Design</td></tr><tr><td>Type of Research Instrument</td></tr><tr><td>Characteristics of Data Collection Situation</td></tr><tr><td>Actions to Minimize Losses</td></tr><tr><td>Weighting</td></tr><tr><td>Cleaning Operations</td></tr><tr><td>Response Rate</td></tr></table>