Qualitative data

FAIR Qualitative data

While at first glance it might seem more difficult to make qualitative data FAIR, by following the steps in the Applying FAIR section of this resource, you should, more often than not, find that this is possible at least to some degree.

With qualitative data, the richness and individuality of the data is what makes it so important to make available for other researchers where possible. Sharing qualitative research data can also increase the amount of research that can be conducted on a topic, avoiding repetition of the time-consuming and costly process of data collection.

For general information on making your data FAIR, see the following information:

Personal and sensitive data

It is often a good idea to treat certain types of qualitative data with the same regard as personal and sensitive data, as, by its very definition, the data may include participants' opinions on potentially sensitive topics. In the case of more free-flowing forms of collection, such as unstructured participant interviews, it can be very easy for a participant to state some personal information (e.g. their religious beliefs or ethnic origin), or for such disclosures to form part of the interview (e.g. asking them to state their name at the very start).

Audio and video recordings

Audio and video recordings of research participants should be considered personal data as it may be possible to identify a person from their voice, or from a combination of their voice and the reason for the recording or what was said. It should also be considered whether the audio and video recordings include sensitive data. 

For these reasons, it is often the best approach (unless explicit informed consent has been given; see below) that audio or video recordings are transcribed. Transcriptions can be easily altered to remove any identifiable data (see anonymisation; below), and are therefore more conducive to sharing and depositing in a repository, where appropriate consent exists.

If you have transcribed your recordings, you may wish to consider incorporating additional information that might be useful to other researchers and which may otherwise be lost in the process of transcription. This may include mannerisms or tone, for example, that could alter the possible interpretation of the data. Once the recording has been transcribed, you should consider whether the recording itself can now be deleted for data protection reasons, in accordance with the stipulations of your consent agreement and ethics application.

Data that can be shared

While there may be qualitative data that cannot be shared, such as some video or audio recordings, there are usually other outputs that can be shared, as detailed elsewhere in this resource. For qualitative work, this might include your interview guide, field notes. You could also make available your coding scheme, or any procedures that were created and followed when following a framework for thematic analysis -  essentially, anything that would make it easier for others to understand your research process. 

Informed Consent

More information around the use of informed consent and examples of consent forms can be found on the Planning Your Research page. As noted, it is advisable to clearly distinguish between consent for the research and consent for storage and sharing.

Staged informed consent

In some instances, it may be appropriate to seek staged consent - for example, where it is not possible to determine at the outset whether the qualitative data gathered will be too sensitive to enable any degree of sharing (and where a delineation of what will and will not be shared is therefore difficult to create for the initial consent form). In such instances, it is possible to first seek consent for participation and then at a later stage, once the data has been gathered and subject to an initial evaluation, seek consent for the degree of sharing you feel may be possible and appropriate. Appropriate ethics approval would need to be in place before seeking further consent.