Qualitative Data Resources: Qualidata UKDA

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Qualitative Data ResourcesQualidata UKDA

• Libby Bishop
• ESDS Qualidata, University of Essex
• Timescapes, University of Leeds
• St Catherines College, Oxford
• 2 July 2008

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ESDS Qualidata

• function of the Economic and Social Data Service
  (ESDS)
• specialist service led by the UK Data Archive at
  the University of Essex
• acquires, provides access to, and support for, a
  range of qualitative datasets on a national scale
  
• responsible for enhancing qualitative data and
  documentation
• provides information and training resources for
  re-using qualitative data

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UKDA sources of data

• Data for research and teaching, used in all
  sectors, and for many different disciplines
• official agencies - mainly central government
• international statistical time series
• individual academics - research grants
• market research agencies
• public records/historical sources
• qualitative and quantitative
• links to UK census data
• access to international data via links with other
  data archives worldwide

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NSPSCA screen shot
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Qualitative data resources

• What is in the archive?
• How can I find it?
• How can I access it?
• How can I use it?

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What is in the archive?

• diverse data types in-depth interviews
  semi-structured interviews focus groups oral
  histories mixed methods data open-ended survey
  questions case notes/records of meetings
  diaries/ research diaries
• multi-media audio, video, photos and text (most
  common is interview transcriptions)
• formats digital, paper, analogue audio-visual

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Archiving criteria

• impact of the study e.g., influence in its field
  or representing the work of a significant
  researcher
• complementary to existing data holdings
• popularity of the topic (exclusion, criminology)
• consistency with national research strategy
  (e.g., environment, security, inequality)
• methodological innovation (e.g., mixed methods)
• data with untapped analytic potential
• raw data

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Collections old and new

• Inheritance, Property and Family Relationships,
  1990-1994 (Finch)
• Framing of Terrorist Threats in United States and
  Russian Elections, 2003-2004 (Oates)
• Developing Sustainable Technologies for Waste,
  2004-2006 (Fredrickson and Slater)
• Collaborative Wildlife Management and Changing
  Social Contexts in Peru, 2001-2003 (Newing)
• Concepts of Healthy Eating Food Research,
  1992-1996 (Caplan) (forthcoming)
• And paper collections currently in process Bell,
  Townsend, Pahl, and more

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Qualitative data resources

• What is in the archive?
• How can I find it?
• How can I access it?
• How can I use it?

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UKDA Catalogue screen shot
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Qualitative data resources

• What do we have?
• How can I find it?
• How can I access it?
• How can I use it?

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Qualitative data resources

• What do we have?
• How can I find it?
• How can I access it?
• How can I use it?

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Ethical and consent considerations

• questions of confidentiality and agreements made
  at the time of fieldwork
• archived data should always conform to ethical
  and legal guidelines with respect to the
  preservation of anonymity when this has been
  requested by informants or guaranteed to them
• achieve this by various strategies
• consent for archiving
• controlling access (e.g., legal undertakings to
  protect confidentiality, licences, vetting)
• editing the original data

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Timescapes is about

• Doing Research
• Personal relationships, intimacy and family life
• 5 million, 5 years, 7 projects, 5 universities
• Building a data archive
• Qualitative text, image, audio, and video
• Longitudinal
• 400 participants, 5 years with multiple
  interactions
• 5000 objects
• Over half a terabyte of data

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Web pages

• www.esds.ac.uk/qualidata/
• http//www.timescapes.leeds.ac.uk/