DDI 4 Prototype Release
Wackerow, Joachim
Announcement
The DDI Alliance released a prototype of DDI 4. DDI 4 is a large UML model library for describing research and other data. Subsets of the library--called views--are provided for specific user perspectives. Encodings in other technologies, XML Schema and OWL/RDF, are available as well.
DDI 4 has potential as a metadata standard for cross-domain research data. Large parts of DDI 4 are independent from the social science domain. Especially in the areas of data description, conceptual, and workflows (for process description), DDI 4 will be useful for a cross-domain approach. The DDI 4 data description is based on two powerful techniques: first, the datum-based approach which enables the description of data in many forms (also data lakes and legacy forms); second, the variable cascade which links conceptual definitions down to the instance variable.
The current DDI 4 is a prototype release. We would like to get comments on this early release from the broader community. The comments will enable further focused development work on DDI 4.
The download and further details are available at the DDI 4 Comment and Review Page.
Existing versions of DDI (DDI Codebook and DDI Lifecycle) have been used extensively to describe the data produced by surveys and other observational methods in the social, behavioral, economic, and health sciences. They can document and manage different stages in the research data lifecycle, such as conceptualization, collection, processing, distribution, discovery, and archiving.
Joachim Wackerow
Scientific Board Chair, DDI Alliance
--
GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences
Team: Archive Instruments and Metadata Standards
Visiting address: B2 1, 68159 Mannheim, Germany
Postal address: P.O. Box 122155, 68072 Mannheim, Germany
Phone: +49 (0)621 1246 262
Fax: +49 (0)621 1246 100
E-mail: joachim....@gesis.org
From: alliance-exp...@icpsr.umich.edu [mailto:alliance-exp...@icpsr.umich.edu]
On Behalf Of Jared Lyle
Sent: Donnerstag, 25. Oktober 2018 16:09
To: ddi-...@icpsr.umich.edu; ddi-scient...@icpsr.umich.edu; DDI Structural Reform Working Group.; alliance...@icpsr.umich.edu
Cc: ddiexecu...@umich.edu
Subject: [Alliance-experts] DDI 4 prototype release
Dear colleagues,
Last December we provided an update about development of DDI work products to express continued support for our stable work products -- including DDI-Codebook (DDI 2) and DDI-Lifecycle (DDI 3) -- and to communicate a mid-2018 prototype release of a new work product called DDI 4.
We’re happy to announce the prototype release of DDI 4. This preliminary version is not intended for production but provides an opportunity to test and provide feedback on how the DDI 4 model describes and documents some basic research material, such as a dataset, an instrument, and a codebook.
DDI 4 is based on an information model that can be expressed in different technologies, including standard RDF vocabularies and XML structures. This form of model-based standard is a best practice in the standardization world, and several other domains have used this approach for years to structure their domain-specific standards. The development of DDI 4 will enable the standard to stay abreast of current technological changes and guarantee alignment across different technology implementations. More details about the history and origin of DDI 4 can be found on the “Work Products of the DDI Alliance” web page.
We look forward to the DDI community testing this prototype release and providing constructive feedback on its future development. Links to the specification and use cases, as well as instructions for comment, are found at:
We would love to have as much feedback as possible for our next development meeting on November 26th, but the comment period will extend beyond that. We hope to hear from you! Please feel free to contact ddisecr...@umich.edu with questions.
Jared Lyle
Director, DDI Alliance
ICPSR, University of Michigan