Re-Use of Qualitative Data

Types of Re-Use of Qualitative Data

Janet Heaton distinguishes five types of re-use according to the following two structuring dimensions: (1) purpose of the re-use with respect to the initial study (new or the same) and (2) one or multiple qualitative data sets. The five types of re-use are discussed in the following paragraphs.

First, re-analysis of qualitative data is conducted on a single set of data or on a unique data source. It consists of replicating the initial research project to verify whether it supports the original interpretations. The results can be confirmed and validated or questioned and refuted. This may allow the researcher to check the robustness of the results of a former study by using new techniques of data analysis.

It is then possible to conduct re-use by means of the second type, in which the researcher seeks, with one set of data, to treat a new research question, which may consist of a supplementary research question (additional analysis), digging deeper into the initial research question, or by using the third type of re-use, addressing a new research question (supra-analysis). In the former case, the additional analysis consists of proceeding with a more in-depth analysis of a [Page 828]subset or a singular aspect of the data. In the latter case, the objective is to reintroduce data into a frame that potentially goes beyond the initial analysis.

The last two forms of re-use consist of simultaneously mobilizing distinct sets of data, or data derived from different research projects. In an amplified analysis, which is the fourth type of reuse, data from different studies on the same topic are crossed in order to observe common and distinct points. There is thus a certain unity in the formulated questions, and the re-use here takes on the form of a comparative analysis. Finally, in the fifth type of data re-use, assorted analysis, in which materials from various studies are diverted from the purposes for which they were initially collected to become part of a new research project.

Accessibility

The re-use of qualitative data addresses ethical questions in part related to the quality/reliability of re-used data. However, the main problem is how to access the data.

First, data may come from previous research projects performed by the same researcher. Second, the existence of data collected and processed within a laboratory enables access to those data. These domestic opportunities reduce research costs and limit the control procedures, but the sturdiness of outcomes depends on the transparency. Third, the re-use of data usually arises out of social interaction among (and the social lives of) researchers, including professional conferences and workshops. Finally, institutional programs aim at permitting direct access to qualitative databases and sharing them among researchers, enabling re-use on a broad scale (e.g., the Qualidata program in the United Kingdom).

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