Open data in qualitative research
In the previous section we considered transparency in a quantitative study. To recap, in quantitative studies your data will usually be numerical. You might measure how quickly people respond to stimuli on a computer, or how much people would be willing to pay for a certain item.
Open data and materials can mean something quite different in qualitative research. This type of research focuses on patterns and themes in non-numerical data such as words, images, or observations. Imagine you are taking part in a qualitative study and are being interviewed about something close to your heart or your experiences. Try to imagine a topic that feels personal or emotive. Your data – instead of being a number – would be the actual words you said.
- How would you feel if you took part in an interview study about an emotive topic and your data was made open and accessible?
- Are there any situations where you would be happy for your data to be open?
- Are there any situations where you definitely wouldn’t want your data to be open?
Use the text box below to write down your thoughts.
Activity 4:
Allow about 20 minutes
Now read the vignette below, about a qualitative researcher considering sharing their data. Consider the benefits of making the data open, and the ethical issues that the researcher should consider. Make sure you work out your own responses before revealing our notes.
A researcher is conducting a qualitative study with LGBTQ+ students about their experiences of mental health problems. The students that participated took part in in-depth interviews, which were video recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. They gave consent for their data to be used in this study. The researcher is trying to work out whether or not to make the data from this study open.
- What would be the benefits of making this data open?
- What issues should the researcher consider when making this decision?
When you are ready, press 'reveal' to see our comments.
Discussion
Benefits:
- Promotes transparency as others can see exactly how the research conclusions were derived.
- The data can be used in future studies, maximising the usefulness of the data and meaning further insights can be gained from the same data.
- The data can be used by a broader audience, including policymakers, practitioners, and researchers outside of the original researcher’s team.
Issues:
- There could be risks to participants if they are identifiable, e.g., they might not be ‘out’ as LGBTQ+ or want people beyond the research study to know this information.
- Thematic analysis usually uses short quotes from interviews. Making the full interviews open and accessible can increase the likelihood of participants being identified.
- Participants only gave consent for their data to be used in this study, and did not have the opportunity to consent to their data being shared openly.
- Video recordings were made, but these are even more likely to make participants identifiable so likely shouldn’t be shared.
- Will participants be less likely to discuss their experiences if they know the data will be open?
How can qualitative researchers overcome some of these challenges when planning their studies?
We hope the suggestions in this section have helped you think about this. Qualitative researchers should consider using a data management plan at research inception, carefully anonymising their data, licensing the data or only making the data available to other researchers on request, getting consent from participants for open data up-front.
Just as quantitative researchers aspire to make their research repeatable, for qualitative researchers, a bit of forward planning is important to make studies as transparent as they can be.
Reproducibility in quantitative research