No 65 – January 2011NIRSA Working Paper Series

Best Practice inArchiving Qualitative Data
Jane Gray,
Julius Komolafe,Hazel O’Byrne,
Aileen O’Carroll (Irish Qualitative Data Archive),
Tara Murphy (Tallaght West Childhood
Development Initiative)

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Best Practice in Archiving Qualitative Data

Table of Contents

Best Practice in Archiving Qualitative Data..…..……………………………………….2
1. Data Management Plan… …………………………………………………………...5

2. Software Tools……………………………..…………………………………….…….8

3. Data Preparation………………………………………………………………………9
4. Data Processing…….………………………………………………………….…….10

5. Data Deposit...………………………………………………………………………..11
6. Dissemination of Data…………………………………..………………………….. 12
Appendix 1: Sample Depositors License…………………………………………….. 13
Appendix 2: Archiving Formats ………………………………………………………..15

Appendix 3: Sources of Further Information…………………………………………16__________________________________________________________________________4

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Best Practice in Archiving Qualitative Data
The value of data archiving is increasingly recognized in Irish research policy.
For example, IRCHSS requires that “whenever data is to be collected with thesupport of a grant awarded by IRCHSS, applicants must specify the means bywhich that data will be made available as a public good for use by otherresearchers.” The Higher Education Authority policy on open access states that:“Data in general should as far as is feasible be made openly accessible, in
keeping with best practice for reproducibility of scientific results.”1 In order tomeet these requirements, researchers and research organisations must
consider how to manage and process data for archiving, as well as the ethicaland legal issues (see Box 1) involved, when planning research projects.

Box 1: Legal and Ethical Framework for Archiving
1. Irish Data Protection Act 1988 and (Amendment) Act 2003. This
lays out the requirements that data controllers must meet in order
to assure the privacy of individuals.
2. Freedom of Information Act 1997 (FOI) and (Amendment) Act
2003. This obliges government departments, the Health Service
Executive (HSE), local authorities and a range of other statutory
agencies to publish information on their activities and to makepersonal information available to citizens.
Social science researchers are also governed by codes of professional
ethics that specify their obligations to research informants.
The guidelines of the Sociological Association of Ireland are available at
http://www.sociology.ie/

Researchers must also ensure that the costs of archiving data are built into any
funding proposal. This handbook aims to assist social science researchers whoare planning to archive qualitative data. It provides a guide to the following six
aspects of best practice in qualitative data archiving: Data management planning Tools and software Data preparation
 Data processing
1

http://www.hea.ie/files/files/file/Open%20Access%20pdf_.pdf___________________________________________________________________________2

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 Data deposit Dissemination of data
These guidelines will be useful both to the researcher who intends to deposit
data and to the data curator who maintains the archive. In some cases this may
be the same person - for example when the researcher is maintaining apersonal data collection. Every qualitative project is different, and it is notpossible to produce a template that will address every archiving issue. This
handbook is intended to introduce the researcher and data curator to the issues
they need to consider when developing an archiving strategy appropriate totheir data set.
The following guidelines apply principally to textual data that have been
generated in qualitative research projects. Where we refer to a „document‟ wemean research data in text format. Qualitative social science research
generates a range of different types of documents. The data to be archived
might include transcripts of interviews, observational notes, or (as was the casein the RACcER2 project) minutes of meetings. Management and processing ofother forms of qualitative data (such as audio or image data) require additionalguidelines and the Irish Qualitative Data Archive can offer further advice on thisor on any other issues that may be unique to a specific research project.
This handbook on best practice was developed as part of the RACcER
research project, a joint initiative of the Irish Qualitative Data Archive and the
Tallaght West Childhood Development Initiative (CDI), co-funded by CDI and
IRCHSS as part of its Research Development Initiative. The goal of the project
was to archive documents associated with CDI and, in the process, to establish
best practices in qualitative data archiving (see Box 2). The following
guidelines were developed in consultation with the researchers and funders
who kindly agreed to be interviewed about their understandings, perceptions
and expectations of qualitative data archiving projects3. We thank themsincerely for their contribution.

2

Re-use and Archiving of Complex Community-Based Evaluation Research
We would also like to acknowledge the invaluable advice of Dr. Libby Bishop of Timescapes and the
UK Data Archive, and Dr. Arja Kuula of the Finnish Social Science Data Archive. Thanks also toJustina Senkus for her help in preparing this handbook.
3___________________________________________________________________________3

Best practice in qualitative data archiving requires attention to the following six
interrelated processes:

This handbook reviews each process in turn.

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Box 2:
RACcER: Re-Use and Archiving of Complex Community-Based Evaluation
Research

The RACcER Project was a collaboration between the Irish Qualitative Data
Archive (IQDA) and the Tallaght West Childhood Development Initiative (CDI).
IQDA is a central access point for qualitative (non-numerical) social science data
generated within and about Ireland. It was established as part of the Irish Social
Science Platform under the Irish Government‟s Programme for Research in Third
Level Institutions (Cycle 4). IQDA is housed in the National Institute for Regionaland Spatial Analysis (NIRSA) at NUI Maynooth.
CDI launched a ten year strategy that aims to enable all children in Tallaght Westto reach their full potential, improve their health, learning and safety, and toincrease their sense of belonging to their community. The first five years is cofunded by the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (OMCYA) under
its Prevention and Early Intervention Programme for Children (PEIP) and by
Atlantic Philanthropies under its Disadvantaged Children and Youth Programme.
CDI has been working successfully with local partners, including eleven primaryschools, to deliver a suite of programmes that meet the identified needs ofchildren and families in Tallaght West. Each programme is being rigorously andindependently evaluated using a range of methodologies, including randomised
control trials, a quasi experiment and process evaluations.
The goal of RACcER was to explore and implement innovative approaches tomeeting the ethical and practical challenges involved in archiving and creating
appropriate levels of access to the complex qualitative and contextual data
generated by the independent evaluation teams that have been commissioned by
CDI, without overlapping or duplicating work already being undertaken.
RACcER was co-funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities andSocial Sciences (IRCHSS) and CDI.
1. Data Management Plan
It is important, both in terms of good research practice and to facilitate futurearchiving, to ensure that a comprehensive data management plan is put in place atthe onset of any research project and continued through to data archiving anddissemination.4 To enable future archiving, best practice is as follows:4

For more information on data management models, see the ESRC RELU Data Support Service(http://relu.data-archive.ac.uk/introduction.asp) and the Finnish Social Science Data Archive‟s pages
on data management planning for qualitative data
(http://www.fsd.uta.fi/english/data_management_planning/index.html___________________________________________________________________________5

___________________________________________________________________________For the Researcher (Data Depositor):
Plan to gain and record consent from research participants to ensure that
ethical and legal procedures are respected. This consent should include
consent to participate in the project and consent to archive the data.
Sample consent forms, and a discussion of other issues to beconsidered, are available on the IQDA website (www.iqda.ie).
Ensure data are collected in a format that enables archiving and usage(see Appendix 2 for more information). Remember, a key goal ofarchiving is to facilitate re-use in the long term – many file formats usedin the past are no longer accessible. In general, open source formats are
more accessible than proprietary file formats linked to a particularcompany or product. If using a digital recording device, ensure it records
using WAV files.
Develop an anonymisation plan to preserve respondent privacy andconfidentiality if required under the consent agreement. In most cases,
professional ethical standards recommend anonymisation of personal
details to preserve respondent confidentiality.
As the project progresses, identify which text within a document may beparticularly sensitive and develop an archiving plan for this data. One
approach to developing such a plan is to consider the levels of risk
attached to the text across two parameters: Is there a risk that the text will allow the research participant tobe identified?
 Is there a risk that the text will be harmful to the research
participant? For example, might the text expose the participant
to ridicule or have other adverse consequences for them?
By examining these two parameters it is possible to make an overall
assessment of the risk level of the data (see Table 1).
Table 1: Assessing Sensitivity Level of the Data

Risk of Identification
LittleSome
Any

Risk Of Harm
Low
Low
High

Sensitivity Level
Low
MediumHigh

Once the level of risk has been identified, an archiving strategy can be
developed that is appropriate to that level of risk. Common approaches___________________________________________________________________________6

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to dealing with sensitive data include removal of sensitive text segments
or placing a time embargo on dissemination of the archived document.
Where text has been excised, it is essential that this is noted either in
the archived documents, or in the user guide. An example of such a
strategy is shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Developing an Archiving Strategy Appropriate to the Level of Sensitivity
Sensitivity
Level
(See
Table 1)

Participant
Consent

Anonymised

AccessRemoveSensitive
Text

Embargo(Anonymised
Sensitive Text
Removed)Low
Medium
High

Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes
Yes

Restricted
Restricted
Restricted

N/A
No
Yes

No
No
No

30
Year
Embargo(Sensitive
Text
Not
Removed)
No
No
No

Implementation of the strategy will ensure that the sensitivity levels of thearchived documents are reduced following data preparation andprocessing.
Create a robust back up procedure to protect data from the threat oftechnical failure. “321 backup” is a handy rule of thumb: have threecopies of your data, on two different types of media, with one version at
an offsite location.

For the Data Curator
Develop clear and easily used data encryption procedures to collect thedata from the depositors in a manner that ensures preservation of
respondent privacy and confidentiality. We provide information on
software for encryption in Section 2, below.
Confirm with the depositors that there are no legal barriers to archiving
their data (e.g. ascertain where ownership of the data lies).
Confirm that there are no ethical obstacles to archiving (e.g. ascertain
the level of consent obtained).
Identify clearly which person among the depositors (i.e. within theorganisation or research team) has responsibility for making decisions
about archiving, including access to the data. It is important to rememberthat archives are created for long-term use, and will outlive depositors,
whether they are individuals or organisations. For this reason, accessagreements need to transfer decisions on access from the depositor to
the archive at a specified date. The agreement with the depositor and___________________________________________________________________________7

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the archive must allow for situations in which the depositor ceases to be
in a position to make decisions on access.
Ensure that there are established, clearly understood, and transparent
licensing arrangements with the depositors. These arrangements will
normally state that (a) ownership of the data lies with the depositor and(b) the depositor confers on the archive the right to disseminate the datafor other researchers to re-use. The licence should also ensure thatusers of the data acknowledge the original producers of the data using astandard citation procedure (for an example of the IQDA depositor
licence see Appendix 2).

2. Software Tools
A number of tools exist that can assist both the researcher and the data curator
during the archiving process. Those mentioned below have been used, either by the
RACcER Project, the IQDA or ESDS Qualidata in the UK.
Encryption software, which is used when receiving and storing the data
to ensure that the data are not accessible to unauthorised users.
Common encryption programs used in archiving projects include
TruCrypt5, GnuPG or PGP.
Automated anonymisation tools enable a more standardised andrigorous anonymisation process for textual materials. They are useful inensuring that consistent anonymisation decisions are made, particularly
when the data are processed by a team. They do not, however,completely automate the process, and responsibility for ensuring that theanonymisation procedure protects research informants remains with thedepositor. All documents anonymised using an automated tool should be
manually reviewed before deposit. One such tool has been created by
the IQDA and can be downloaded from the website. A similar tool,
QualAnon, has been created by the Inter-University Consortium for
Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and is available on their webpage(see Appendix 3)6.
These anonymisation tools produce two outputs: one fully anonymised
document and a second document which contains both the original text
and the anonymised text. This is known as a comparison file. The
comparison file is useful if the anonymisation decisions are being
reviewed by a third party, for example when data processing is being
carried out by a research team.
5
6

CDI used this software to encrypt their data
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/___________________________________________________________________________8

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3. Data Preparation
This phase of the archiving process reduces the levels of sensitivity attached tothe data and ensures re-usability. Here standard decisions are made withrespect to anonymisation, which can then be applied across the data set. Thisis a time-intensive process that, like the Data Processing stage, is generally
carried out by the researcher or the research team. As such it is wise to build
the costs associated with this process into any application for funding. The
IQDA will be able to advise on estimating costs.
The key to success is to arrive at an appropriate level of anonymisation that will
not reduce the re-use value of the data. The general approach is as follows:
Remove major identifying data (real names, place and company
names);
Remove all identifying details (names, street-names, real names,
occupational details);
Replace with descriptions that reflect the significance of the originaltext within the context of the transcript.
The IQDA has produced a more detailed guide to anonymising data, which canbe downloaded from its webpage (www.iqda.ie).
Whether or not an automated tool is used, it is best practice to:Create a „Changes File‟ in which the pseudonyms that have beenused to anonymise data are recorded (Table 3). It is particularly
important to note any areas where there is doubt as to the best way
to proceed. These alerts can be reviewed at the end of the process,in consultation with other members of the research team (ifapplicable) or with the data curator.
Use a clear and consistent unique identifier to indicate text that has
been anonymised in the documents. This shows whereanonymisation has occurred, in order to inform secondary
researchers and to facilitate checking and proofing the process ofanonymisation itself.
We recommend the following approach7:
At the start of the text to be anonymised, use the characters@@.
At the end of the text, use the characters ##.
7

These annotations were recommended to us by Timescapes, an ESRC Qualitative Longitudinal
Study___________________________________________________________________________9

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These characters are unlikely to appear for any other reason in the text.
For example: “My mother‟s name was Mary Brown” becomes “My
mother‟s name was @@Ann Smith##.”Check the data for any statements that may be sensitive and require
specific decisions to be made in order to reduce the level ofsensitivity (see Table 2). Note these in the Changes File.
Table 3: Example of a ‘Changes File’

Name inTranscript

Nature ofIndividual orPlace (e.g.
relationship to
respondent,
place of work)

Anonymised
Name

John
LondonHusband
Husband‟sbirthplacePeter

Names Not
Anonymised

Rationale,
Special Alerts
and Queries

LondonPlace too large
for disclosurerisk“I run a stall
selling military
stamps on
Sundays”
Identificationrisk?

4. Data Processing
Once the data preparation phase has been completed, the next stage is tomake various changes, additions, and deletions to the dataset which arerequired to ensure that commitments to confidentiality are met. Best practice isto:Review the sensitive statements noted in the Changes File created in
the preparation stage. Alter these statements if possible. If thestatement cannot be anonymised, the entire text may need to be
removed and explicitly marked as such e.g., @@removed##
Data require additional contextualizing in order to facilitate re-use. In
archiving language this is referred to as „metadata.‟ Include a header
within each document (transcription etc.) giving brief details of thatdata unit (for example gender of those present, location of interview).

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___________________________________________________________________________The decision on what to include in the header will also be informed by
the confidentiality agreements attached to the data.
Review the anonymisation decisions noted in the Changes Filecreated in the Data Preparation stage. Anonymise the data following
these decisions, either manually or using an automatic tool such as
those referred to above.
Prepare a “User Guide” which gives an overview of the data to assist
re-use in the future. This may include the original consent forms, andgrant applications. A guide to other material that may be included isavailable on the IQDA website (www.iqda.com).
If using an automated anonymisation tool:
Create a comparison document for data verification;
Note that documents may be incorrectly anonymised or lost (forexample, if you automatically replace the name TED with the name
SEAN, words that contain “ted” will also be altered, such that “alerted”
would become “alersean”). Make a thorough visual check of theanonymised documents to ensure that they have been sufficiently
and appropriately anonymised.
5. Data Deposit
Once the data has been processed it is ready to be deposited in the archive.
Best practice is as follows:
For the Researcher:
Deposit final anonymised document as a read-only file. This ensuresthat the archival document will not be altered by the users, but willallow users to copy and paste as required in the course of theirresearch.
If it has been necessary to remove sensitive segments from the dataset, create a dataset that contains all the sensitive segments. If
possible, apply a long-term embargo on access to this dataset. This
ensures that in the future researchers will have access to the full
data-set, as the level of sensitivity is reduced by the passage of time.
For the Data Curator
Ensure that research data are stored in a secure environment, withability to control access.
Monitor file formats within the archive and ensure that long termpreservation plans are in place.

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6. Dissemination of Data
Once the dataset has been deposited in the archive, the data curator must
manage access to it and promote its re-use.
Best practice is to:Have validation procedures in place before granting access to endusers. This will include establishing that users have a comprehensive
data security arrangement in place before providing access. An
example of an end-user licence can be found on the IQDA website(www.iqda.ie)
Have in place a standard citation protocol to acknowledge data
creation and ownership
Promote the dissemination of the archived data
Plan to manage user queries and access on behalf of the data
depositor___________________________________________________________________________12

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Appendix 1: Sample Depositors License=

Depositor Agreement
Dataset Title:
Conditions of archiving and re-use:
With this agreement and completed online catalogue entry, I/We submit theabove mentioned dataset with its supplementary documents to be archived at the
Irish Qualitative Data Archive (IQDA).
Unless otherwise stated in this agreement, the depositor or the depositing bodywill retain the ownership and copyright to the dataset and related material.
The depositor affirms that the dataset has been prepared in such manner as toprotect the confidentiality of individuals and bodies whose details appear in thedata, in compliance with professional norms. The depositor undertakes that thedataset does not contravene any laws including but not limited to those relating
to defamation or obscenity. IQDA may revise and validitate the depositeddataset, and distribute it for research or teaching purposes under the conditions
agreed upon below. IQDA may promote and advertise the dataset in any
publicity. Where appropriate, and with the agreement of the depositor, IQDA
may make named data (itemized in Condition II, below) openly available forpublicity purposes.
IQDA takes responsibility for digital storage of the dataset in accordance withdata protection and security norms. The archive will ensure that, with the
exception of data identified for publicity purposes, the data are distributed for reuse only to persons who have signed appropriate access agreements, and thatthe conditions set out in this agreement are complied with.
Conditions stipulated by the depositor
I Distribution of the dataset for re-use: access provisions)(Please tick your preferred option)
1. IQDA may distribute the dataset for research and teaching purposes
without asking permission from the depositor
2. IQDA may distribute the dataset for research and teaching purposes
without asking permission from the depositor, after a specified period of___________________________________________________________________________13

___________________________________________________________________________
time agreed in writing with the Director of the Archive.
3. IQDA may not distribute the dataset without the permission of thedepositor. (This option should be selected only in exceptional
circumstances, after consultation with the Archive staff).
II. Other conditions or wishes stipulated by the depositor concerning thearchiving and re-use of the dataset:

Name (Block Capitals)
Depositor:

SignedDate______/______/_________
IQDA Representative:______/______/____________________________________________________________________________________14

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Appendix 2: Archiving Formats

Text Formats:

Preferred* Rich Text Format (.rtf)* Plain text data, ASCII (.txt)* eXtensible Markup Language (XML) marked-up text according to an
appropriate Document Type Definition (DTD) or schema

Accepted* Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)* widely-used proprietary formats e.g. Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx)* Proprietary/software-specific formats such as NUD*IST, NVivo and
ATLAS.ti

Audio Formats:
Preferred:* Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) (.flac)* WAV file (.wav)

Accepted:* MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)*Audio Interchange File Format (.aiff)

Note. Many commercial digital diction recorders produced by Olympus,
Philips and Grundig record in DSS format, which is not ideal if the data
are to be archived. When buying a recorder ensure it records in WAV
format and at a minimum 44.1k sampling rate.

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Appendix 3: Sources of Further Information
ESDS Qualidata
Economic and Social Data Service Qualidata
http://www.esds.ac.uk/qualidata/
FSD – Finnish Social Science Data Archive
http://www.fsd.uta.fi/english/index.html
ICPSR
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research
http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/ICPSR/
IQDA
Irish Qualitative Data Archive
http://www.iqda.ie
RACcER
Re-use and Archiving of Complex Community-Based Evaluation Research
http://www.iqda.ie
The Respect Project
The RESPECT project was funded by the European Commission‟ Information
Society Technologies (IST) Programme, to draw up professional and ethicalguidelines for the conduct of socio-economic research.
http://www.respectproject.org/
The RELU Data Support Service
The Rural Economy and Land Use Programme Data Support Service is a dedicatedsupport service that provides information and guidance to researchers and project
managers from the programme on data management, data sharing and preservation.
RELU is the data management model used by the ESRC in the United Kingdom.
http://relu.data-archive.ac.uk/
SAI
Sociological Association of Ireland
http://www.sociology.ie
Tallaght West Childhood Development Initiative (CDI)
http://connect.southdublin.ie/cdi/index.php
Timescapes
An ESRC Qualitative Longitudinal Study
http://www.timescapes.leeds.ac.uk___________________________________________________________________________
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