By data, we mean different types of qualitative or quantitative materials. Data can consist, for example, of: numeric data files; survey databases; interview transcripts; audio or video recordings; photographs. A data collection can result from primary data collection or can be derived from existing sources of data.

Discuss Data differentiates between a) the data itself, b) the metadata with standardized basic information which makes datasets searchable and findable, and c) the description of data collection, where the broader context of the data is provided.