The European Landscape of Qualitative Social Research Archives: Methodological and Practical Issues

In this article I set about describing current practices in archiving and reusing qualitative data. I discuss where can you find archived sources of qualitative data, and discuss some of the debates surrounding methodological, ethical and theoretical considerations relating to re-using data. I then address more pragmatic issues involved acquiring, preserving, providing access to and supporting the use of the data. Where best do qualitative data collections sit?in traditional libraries or archives alongside historical documents or as part of more holistic digital collections of contemporary social science research resources? This question relates to accessibility, resource discovery and cataloging methods, data preparation and documentation and promotional and outreach efforts to encourage data use. The ESDS Qualidata unit at the UK Data Archive is used as case study for showcasing archival practices, and is situated within the broader European landscape of social science-oriented data archives. Infrastructure requirements for running an archive are discussed and a look forward future developments

Facing the future of the Research Library: managing and sharing data in China

Louise Corti reports on her recent time spent at Fudan University, Shanghai as part of their centennial celebrations, which also looked forward to the future of the research library and research data management

Show me the data: research reproducibility in qualitative research

In quantitative methods, reproducibility is held as the gold standard for demonstrating research integrity. But threats to scientific integrity, such as fabrication of data and results, have led to some journals requiring data, syntax and prior registration of hypotheses to be made available as part of peer-review. While qualitative research reproducibility has been questioned in the past, it has been protected from the recent transparency agenda. What if journals mandated the sharing of data and analysis for qualitative research

Text, Sound and Videotape: The Future of Qualitative Data in the Global Network

We are currently seeing a new culture emerging in the social sciences, of a new form of secondary analysis - that of primary qualitative data. It has come about largely as a result of the moves by British social science funding organisations towards formalising archiving policies of data created in the course of research they fund. Funders want added value from research and believe in sustaining a solid research base for the future, in the form of the preservation of empirical findings. Now, this includes qualitative data in addition to quantitative. However, not only is this is a new methodological approach for traditional qualitative researchers it is also challenging the way qualitative researchers view ownership of ‘their’ raw data. New ideas about sharing and providing access to qualitative data are emerging - and in the UK, this is being championed by the Qualidata Resource Centre at the University of Essex. This paper seeks to address a number of issues. From an archival point of view, how do qualitative data differ from quantitative data? Second, what might the implications be for the acquisition, preservation, dissemination and re-use of qualitative data archives for Data Archives? Thirdly, I want to discuss the kinds of procedures required to document and provide access to qualitative data. Inherent in this are the special problems relating to confidentiality of some qualitative materials, and I will suggest ways of overcoming these. Finally, I want to raise a number of questions relating to how the traditional Data Archives might want to consider acquiring, storing and disseminating qualitative data. Is it in their interest to acquire them? What kind of infrastructure needs to be in place to accomplish this

Qualitative archives and biographical research methods. An introduction to the FQS special issue

The use of archival materials as a point of departure when designing and launching social research takes for granted that a culture of archiving (for sharing and re-use) has rooted time ago in our complex societies. This mentality and research practice first flourished and is fairly well installed in the case of statistics, surveys and certain other primary or secondary documents. On the contrary, it is less frequent and certainly not a routine activity for qualitative data. Only some of the raw and elaborated materials gathered during qualitative research become part of an archive for further reanalysis. These can include the backstage practices and experiences of a project, raw materials such as field notes, audio and visual recordings, and other documents produced during the research process. This issue presents a colorful range of articles that deal with experiences, challenges and opportunities of archiving and re-using qualitative material, particularly under the umbrella of biographical and narrative research. It aims to raise awareness of the importance of archiving in qualitative social research and highlights some of the new methodological reflections and approaches that have been and that are being developed within the European landscape. We hope that the articles in this issue will help promote further communication and exchange among qualitative archival practitioners from different countries and with different sensitivities and conceptual horizons. © 2011 FQS

“Get to it!” Clinical data sharing: Myth-busting and strategy

On 5 July Cochrane Pregnancy & Childbirth and the UK Data Service held a half-day workshop aimed at demystifying some of the conceptions and misconceptions around sharing and archiving data derived from academically run clinical trials. There is no proposal to share any personal data without appropriate security, as outlined below. The purpose of this workshop was to discuss and identify situations where it might be appropriate to share data and how best practice would make this process secure and safe. On behalf of the UK Data Service, Louise has led discussions with a range of interest groups and policymakers on the practicalities of archiving and sharing data from completed clinical trials. The conversations address calls from funders to improve data sharing of research they have supported and requests from the clinical trials community for practical steps that can be taken to safely archive data