Guidelines for data preparation - ESRC Datasets Policy Louise Corti ESDS/UKDA Social Science Data Archives for Social Historians: creating, depositing and using qualitative data 25 November 2003
Data creation and deposit: best practice Early advice to data creators: –high quality data and documentation –consent and ethical issues are taken on board –IPR issues considered Promoting standards in: –research design –transcription techniques –data and project management –documenting data collection & analysis
ESRC Datasets Policy – what is expected of award holders? to preserve and share data from ESRC funded research funding allowed to prepare data for archiving all award-holders must offer data for deposit to the ESDS within 3 mths of the end of the award any potential problems should be notified to the ESDS at the earliest opportunity final payment will be withheld if dataset has not been deposited within 3 mths of the end of the award, except where a waiver has been agreed in advance ESRC Datasets Policy ng/sec17.asp
Legal issues in data preparation Copyright Act 1988 ‘duty of confidentiality’ - not governed by an Act of Parliament - not necessarily in writing - can be a legal contractual obligation Law of Defamation - a defamatory statement is one which may injure the reputation of another person, company or business Data Protection Act allows for secondary use of data for research purposes under certain conditions
Copyright protection of author’s rights automatically assigned to the speaker researcher holds the copyright in the sound recording of an interview employer holds the copyright in research data obtain copyright clearance from employer obtain written assignment of copyright from interviewee seek legal advice on problem issues
Confidentiality: legal issues disclosure of information may constitute a breach of confidentiality and possibly a breach of contract exemptions are: –relevant police investigations or proceedings –disclosure by court order –‘public interest’ - defined by the courts –ethical obligations in cases of disclosure of child abuse
Confidentiality: ethical issues anonymity and privacy of research participants should be respected data should be anonymised current and future use of the data should be explained informed consent should be sought
Consent for archiving ‘informed’ explicit consent information for research participants should include: purpose of research what is involved in participation benefits and risks storage of data access to data usage of data withdrawal of consent at any time. N.B. Additional measures are needed when participants are unable to consent through incapacity or age
Options for preserving confidentiality in archived data anonymisation consent to archive at the time of field work researcher contacts informants retrospectively user undertakings in exceptional circumstances - permission or closure of material
Depositing data with ESDS within 3 mths of the end of the award, provide details of all data collected, together with three samples of qualitative data, if applicable to do this, complete the Data Submission form on the ‘Deposit’ pages on UKDA website dataset will then be reviewed for archiving by the UKDA Acquisitions Review Committee if accepted, complete the Archive’s Deposit and Licence forms, and send the data, documentation and forms to the UK Data Archive within the required time-scales you will be notified when your data are being released via the UKDA online catalogue access to data will be granted to registered bona fide researchers only