Economic and Social Data Service - Qualidata - Re-using Qualitative Data - Introduction, Articles, Case Studies and Popular Data
ESDS Qualidata is dedicated to supporting quality research and education by documenting, disseminating and providing advice on using qualitative research data for secondary analysis. ESDS Qualidata is committed to ensuring that access to qualitative data is as free, open, and easy as possible, while conforming to ethical and legal standards.
In the UK, and indeed in many countries still, one of the barriers to re-using data, has been the lack of an infrastructure to enable access to the rich research data collected in the academic community. Until recently in the UK, potential users have had a limited choice of qualitative data that has been made available compared to the 5000 plus quantitative datasets held by the Economic and Social Data Service. However, the choice has grown over the past ten years: in 2006 over 175 collections were catalogued, with over 80 available in digital format via the ESDS. Evidence of growing support for re-use can be seen in events such as the September 2005 workshop, Re-using Qualitative Data, sponsored by the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change at Manchester.
Since 2000, ESDS has conducted two national surveys of academics and researchers to ascertain their views on access to qualitative data including: what kind of data and in which format. Many users want to be able to access datasets across a wide range of disciplines primarily in electronic format for both research and teaching purposes. Social class and social change, health and criminology come out as the most popular topics, whilst the ability to browse qualitative data online is viewed as a very useful resource. The ESDS Qualidata web site offers some examples of data in these areas, and ESDS Qualidata Online allows browsing of some of the classic interviews online (at present Paul Thompson's life story studies - the Edwardians and 100 Families, and Mildred Blaxter's study of Mothers and Daughters).
Re-use provides a unique opportunity to study the raw materials of the recent or more distant past to gain insights for both methodological and substantive purposes.
