Meta Data Standards for Managing and Archiving Longitudinal Data: Achieving Best Practice

This session examines best practice standards associated with managing and archiving longitudinal data. The data structure of longitudinal studies is more complex than for one-dimensional study designs and therefore new issues typically arise with the process of data management, archiving and analysis. There are a number of different types of longitudinal studies now in existence, including but not limited to: - panel surveys following a cohort of individuals - panel surveys following a random population sample of individuals over a period of time - repeated cross-sectional surveys with a different cross-section of individuals sampled at each time point. Five major longitudinal panel studies are currently archived at the Australian Social Science Data Archive, and there is increasing demand to archive data from regional and national longitudinal surveys, as well as repeated cross-sectional data such as Australian election campaigns. The presentations in this session will examine archiving practices associated with the different stages of longitudinal data archiving, including: - Archiving cross-sectional time series data (Leanne den Hartog) - Archiving longitudinal panel data (Steven McEachern) - Visualisation of longitudinal panel data (Kevin Pulo)