Merge pull request #3038 from edx/ahodges/documentation/dataczar

AN-167 New chapter on role & skills of data czar and research team

docs/en_us/data/source/index.rst

@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ These documents describe how we store course structure, student state/progress,
    :maxdepth: 2
 
    internal_data_formats/change_log.rst
+   internal_data_formats/data_czar.rst
    internal_data_formats/sql_schema.rst
    internal_data_formats/discussion_data.rst
    internal_data_formats/wiki_data.rst

docs/en_us/data/source/internal_data_formats/change_log.rst

@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ Change Log
 
    * - Date
      - Change
+   * - 28 Mar 2014
+     - Added the :ref:'Data_Czar' chapter.
    * - 24 Mar 2014
      - Added the ``user_api_usercoursetag`` table to the :ref:`Student_Info` chapter and the ``assigned_user_to_partition`` and ``child_render`` event types to the :ref:`Tracking Logs` chapter.
    * - 19 Mar 2014

docs/en_us/data/source/internal_data_formats/data_czar.rst

+.. _Data_Czar:
+
+####################################################
+Data Czar/Data Team Selection and Responsibilities
+####################################################
+
+A data czar is the single representative at a partner institution who has the
+credentials to download and decrypt edX data packages. The data czar is
+responsible for transferring data securely to researchers and other interested
+parties after it is received. Due to the sensitivity of this data, the
+responsibility for these activities is restricted to one individual. At each
+partner institution, the data czar is the primary point of contact for
+information about edX data.
+
+* :ref:`Skills_Experience_Data_Czar`
+
+* :ref:`Getting_Credentials_Data_Czar`
+
+* :ref:`Resources_Information`
+
+At some institutions, only the data czar works on research projects that use
+the course data in edX data packages. At other institutions, the data czar
+works with a team of additional contributors, or is responsible only for
+making a secure transfer of the data to the research team. Typically, the data
+team includes members in the following roles (or a data czar with these skill
+sets):
+
+* Database administrators work with the SQL and NoSQL data files and write
+ queries on the data.
+
+* Statisticians and data analysts mine the data.
+
+* Educational researchers pose questions and interpret the results of queries on the data.
+
+See :ref:`Skills_Experience_Contributors`.
+
+All of the individuals who are permitted to access the data should be trained
+in, and comply with, their institution's secure data handling protocols.
+
+.. _Skills_Experience_Data_Czar:
+
+**************************************
+Skills and Experience of Data Czars
+**************************************
+
+The individuals who are selected by a partner institution to be edX data czars
+typically have experience working with sensitive student data, are familiar
+with encryption/decryption and file transfer protocols, and can validate,
+copy, move, and store large files. The data czar is responsible for ensuring
+compliance with your institution's and country's regulations with respect to
+the sharing of this data.
+
+=====================
+General Skills
+=====================
+
+- Ability to set up and manage data access.
+
+- Knowledgeable of general data privacy and security best practices.
+
+- Experience with management of sensitive student data.
+
+=====================
+Technical Skills
+=====================
+
+- Familiarity with PGP and GPG encryption and decryption.
+
+- Ability to download large files from Amazon Web Service (AWS) Simple Storage
+  Service (S3).
+
+- Experience working with archive files in TAR, GZ, and ZIP formats.
+
+- Familiarity with SQL and noSQL (Mongo) databases.
+
+- Familiarity with CSV and JSON file formats. 
+
+- Experience copying, moving, and storing large files in bulk.
+
+- Ability to validate the data and files received and distributed.
+
+.. _Getting_Credentials_Data_Czar:
+
+**************************************
+Getting Credentials for Data Czars
+**************************************
+
+The designated data czar at each institution works with an edX Program Manager
+to set up a public/private key pair for GNU Privacy Guard (GNUPG).
+
+* The edX Analytics team creates an account on the Amazon Web Service (AWS)
+  Simple Storage Service (S3), and provides the Program Manager with the
+  public key for account access.
+
+* When a data package is available, the data czar downloads it from S3 and
+  decrypts it using the private key.
+
+For detailed information on this procedure, see the *How Do I get my Research
+Data Package?* article on the Open edX Analytics wiki_.
+
+.. _wiki: https://edx-wiki.atlassian.net/wiki/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=36044863
+
+.. _Resources_Information:
+
+**************************************
+Resources and Information
+**************************************
+
+The edX Analytics team adds every data czar to a Google Group and mailing
+list_ called course-data.
+
+.. _list: http://groups.google.com/a/edx.org/forum/#!forum/course-data
+
+EdX also hosts an **Open edX Analytics** wiki_ that is available to the
+public. The wiki provides links to the engineering roadmap, information about
+operational issues, and release notes describing past releases.
+
+.. _wiki: http://edx-wiki.atlassian.net/wiki/display/OA/Open+edX+Analytics+Home
+
+.. _Skills_Experience_Contributors:
+
+*************************************************
+Skills and Experience of Other Contributors
+*************************************************
+
+In addition to the data czar, each partner institution assembles a team of
+contributors to their research projects. This team can include database
+administrators, software engineers, data specialists, and educational
+researchers. The team can be large or small, but collectively its members need
+to be able to work with SQL and NoSQL databases, write queries, and convert
+the data from raw formats into standard research packages, such as CSV files,
+spreadsheets, or other desired formats.
+
+=====================
+General Skills
+=====================
+
+- Attention to detail.
+
+- Experience setting up and testing a data conversion pipeline.
+
+- Ability to identify interesting features in a complex and rich data set.
+
+- Familiarity with anonymization and obfuscation techniques.
+
+- Familiarity with data privacy and security best practices.
+
+- Experience managing sensitive student data.
+
+=====================
+Technical Skills
+=====================
+
+- Familiarity with CSV, MongoDB, JSON, Unicode, XML, HTML.
+
+- Ability to set up, query, and administer both SQL and noSQL databases. 
+
+- Experience with console/bash scripts.
+
+- Basic or advanced scripting (for example, using Python or Ruby) to convert,
+  join, and aggregate data from different data sources, handle JSON
+  serialization, and Unicode specificities.
+
+- Experience with data mining and data aggregation across a rich, varied data set.
+
+- Ability to write parsing scripts that properly handle JSON serialization and
+  Unicode.