In the spotlight - Encouraging the use of archived research in methods teaching
Article dated: 18 December 2008
ESDS Qualidata recently completed an online teaching resource, a suite of web pages
specifically designed to assist in qualitative methods teaching. This resource is part of an
ongoing initiative which aims to encourage the use of qualitative archived materials by a wider
audience, one that is positioned for not only academic research but also for more public usage, for
example methods training, journalism and teaching.
The resource distinguishes different styles of qualitative interviewing whilst highlighting
and promoting some of the most interesting and important collections held in the archive. It offers
summaries of seven distinct interview types: structured, unstructured, semi-structured, feminist,
psycho-social, oral history and life story interviews. Each typology begins with a summary of what
characterises that particular type of interview and is illustrated by selected extracts from the
wide range of research materials held in the UK Data Archive (UKDA) collection. These include examples
from Thompson's collection on Family Life and Work Experience before 1918, 1870-1973, and Green, Bradby,
Lee, and Eldridge’s study into the Mental Health of Chinese Women in Britain, 1945-2000.
The resource has been designed as a reference point for students and as a teaching tool for
tutors. It demonstrates the wide ranging potential for re-using qualitative datasets that have
been archived and made available for secondary use. It includes a number of activities which
have been designed with classroom exercises in mind.
ESDS Qualidata has organised and delivered two workshops this year to promote the teaching pack. In
April 2008 a workshop was successfully held at the University of Essex. Comment and feedback were invited
after this event and the conclusions of this were used to develop a second event. This took place in
November 2008 at the University of Manchester. Both events were squarely aimed at qualitative methods
tutors, students and academics who would benefit from the resource and the intention was that it would
help them reflect upon the experience of using archived research.
The half-day workshops were well attended and received. Each day opened with a general introduction
to the UK Data Archive, before focusing on the work of ESDS Qualidata
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