Ns. Mauthner et al., THE DATA ARE OUT THERE, OR ARE THEY - IMPLICATIONS FOR ARCHIVING AND REVISITING QUALITATIVE DATA, Sociology, 32(4), 1998, pp. 733-745
The usefulness of archived qualitative data has been questioned where
contextual information surrounding the conditions of its production is
not provided. It has been assumed that, without this background infor
mation, the data remain incomplete. By the same token, it has been arg
ued that the provision of such information will repair and complete th
e dataset for the purpose of generating new findings or theories. We s
uggest that these arguments stress practical solutions to what is in f
act a more fundamental epistemological issue relating to the reflexive
and interpretive nature of the research paradigm within which we, as
qualitative researchers, reside. Our experiences of revisiting our own
data, discussed in this paper, have highlighted the central part play
ed by the researcher not only in the interpretation and theorising of
data, but also in their construction. Because of this, we contend that
the conditions under which data are produced are inescapable, thus re
ndering their re-interpretation at some later date problematic. Thus,
we argue that, while 'reflexivity' is now recognised as a key feature
of qualitative research across social science disciplines, the implica
tions of this for the archiving and re-use of qualitative data have ye
t to be adequately addressed. Failure to acknowledge this epistemologi
cal issue leads researchers unwittingly to adopt a 'naively realist' p
osition.