essential-guide-to-qualitative-in-organizational-research

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––– PRESERVING, SHARING AND REUSING DATA –––––––––– 291the Henry A. Murray Research Center, based at Radcliffe College, Harvard have focused on theeastern USA and on themes related to women’s studies. It is a multidisciplinary research centreand unusually it collects both qualitative and quantitative data, offering analysis in the reanalysisof both kinds of data. Established in 1976, the Center now holds over 225 data sets, with especiallystrong holdings on human development and social change (James and Sorenson, 2000).The build up of a stock of qualitative data resources has thus encouraged the uptake ofsecondary analysis. As a result we have seen developments in the intellectual arguments for andagainst the reuse of data as well debates on the method. Before we explore these further it is usefulto examine the resource stocks to see what is available for reuse and how they can be accessed.TYPES AND SOURCES OF ARCHIVED QUALITATIVE DATA ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Types of qualitative dataQualitative data are collected using qualitative research methodology and techniques acrossthe range of social science disciplines. Strategies often encompass a diversity of methods andtools rather than a single one and the types of data collected depend on the aim of the study,the nature of the sample, and the discipline. As a result data types extend to: in-depth orunstructured, individual or group discussion interviews, field and observation notes,unstructured diaries, observational recordings, personal documents and photographs.Qualitative research often involves producing large amounts of raw data although the methodstypically employ small sample sizes. Finally, these data may be created in a number of differentformats: digital, paper (typed and hand-written), audio, video and photographic.By 2002, Qualidata had acquired, processed and catalogued some 140 datasets, andcatalogued a further 150 already housed in archives across the UK. Surviving ‘classic studies’data from key researchers was also rescued, including outstandingly well-known single projectssuch as Goldthorpe et al.’s The Affluent Worker (1968), the entire life’s work of pioneeringresearchers such as Peter Townsend (Family Life of Old People (1957) and The Last Refuge (1962)and Poverty in the UK (1979), and Paul Thompson including the life-history interview studiesof The Edwardians (1975) and 100 families (1991, 1993 and 1995).Archive collections of potential interest to those conducting organizational research mightinclude: Richard Brown’s 1970s study on Orientation to Work and Industrial Behaviour ofShipbuilding Workers on Tyneside; Hilary Wainwright’s collection including her 1970s tradesunion study on Lucas Aerospace and Vickers (Wainwright and Elliott, 1982); Ray Pahl’s andC. Wallace’s 1980s study of Employers on the Isle of Sheppey; Chas Critcher et al.’s 1980swork on Split at the Seams?: Community, Continuity and Change after the 1984–5 CoalDispute; and Jan Webb’s 1980s research on New Technology and the Management ofExpertise in Customer–Supplier Relations.PREPARING QUALITATIVE DATA FOR REUSE ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––In order for a data collection to be reusable, collections must be ‘processed’. This involves arange of activities that will enable a data set to be reusable including: checking, digitizing andoptical character recognition (OCR), converting, anonymizing, organizing, creating metadata