Project management

Principles of project management

  • Organizing your project — a clear, predictable folder structure so anyone (including future you) can find anything.
  • Versioning — use git/version control so changes are tracked and reversible.
  • File names — descriptive, machine-sortable names (e.g., 001_stroop_raw.csv); avoid spaces and "final_final_v2".

Data management

  • Save your raw data — never overwrite the original; keep it immutable.
  • Document your data-collection process — log decisions and deviations.
  • Organize for analysis: spreadsheets — tidy data (one row per observation, one column per variable); bad variable naming causes analytic errors.
  • Organize for analysis: software — scripts, not manual clicks; document the data format so others can read it.

Sharing research products

  • What you can and can't share — share materials and code freely; share participant data only with consent and legal basis.
  • Really anonymous? — check that "anonymized" data can't be re-identified, especially with rich or small samples.
  • The FAIR principles — make data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable.

Key terms

  • FAIR — Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable data practices.
  • Tidy data — each variable a column, each observation a row.
  • Version control — tracked, reversible changes to files.

Further reading

Last updated: 2026-10-20

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