D

• Data curation

  The actions needed to maintain research data from point of creation to ensure they are fit for contemporary purpose and available for discovery and re-use. Implicit to this are the processes of archiving and preservation. Higher levels of curation will involve maintaining links between datasets, annotation, published materials and other information resources.

   

• Database (resarch database)

  A collection of research data that is organised and allows its contents to be easily accessed, managed and updated. The types of database depends onteh requirements of each study. A common type is the relational database, where data are related to each other in a systematic manner so that they can be reorganised and accessed in a number of different ways.

  A database may house one or many datasets.

   

• Dataset

  An organised collection of data that have a common theme, source or format; usually considered as a discrete entity.

   

• DNA analysis

  The Human Tissue Act 2004 uses the term DNA analysis. This is not defined in the Codes of Practice, it could be interpreted as the investigation of variation in the nuclear or mitochondrial DNA that forms the genome of an individual and may be inherited from parent to child.

  Under the Human Tissue Act 2004, it is an offence to have bodily material with the intent of analysing its DNA without qualifying consent, subject to certain exceptions, which are outlined in the Consent Code of Practice. This applies UK-wide.