Should we share qualitative data? Epistemological and practical insights from conversation analysis

Citation

Joyce JB, Douglass T, Benwell B, Rhys CS, Parry R, Simmons R & Kerrison A (2022) Should we share qualitative data? Epistemological and practical insights from conversation analysis. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. https://doi.org/10.1080/13645579.2022.2087851

Abstract
Over the last 30 years, there has been substantial debate about the practical, ethical and epistemological issues uniquely associated with qualitative data sharing. In this paper, we contribute to these debates by examining established data sharing practices in Conversation Analysis (CA). CA is an approach to the analysis of social interaction that relies on audio/video recordings of naturally occurring human interactions and moreover works at a level of detail that presents challenges for assumptions about participant anonymity. Nonetheless, data sharing occupies a central position in both the methodology and the wider academic culture of CA as a discipline and a community. Despite this, CA has largely been ignored in qualitative data sharing debates and discussions. We argue that the methodological traditions of CA present a strong case for the value of qualitative data sharing and offer open data sharing practices that might be usefully adopted in other qualitative approaches.

Keywords
Data sharing; conversation analysis; Open Science; qualitative data

Notes
Output Status: Forthcoming/Available Online

Journal
International Journal of Social Research Methodology

People

Dr Bethan Benwell

Senior Lecturer, English Studies

Professor Richard Simmons

Professor, Sociology, Social Policy & Criminology