ESDS Qualidata Processing Data John Southall ESDS Qualidata, UKDA IASSIST WORKSHOP 27 May 2003

Processing Data A brief overview Its relationship with evaluation The objectives of processing First steps in processing The difficulties of processing New directions Results of processing

Relationship with evaluation Primary goals of evaluation; Assess the quality of the quantitative data Determine its secondary re-use value Assess the processing task involved Identify issues that would make processing difficult (actual or imagined)

Secondary goals of evaluation; Pre-deposit collation and checking Identification of all central and related elements Agreement on consent received Final negotiations on access

Hands on exercise : Evaluation Evaluate two submissions Read through submission form Read through the samples submitted Should they be accepted or rejected for deposit? These are actual submissions that were received in the last 12 months

The objectives of processing Preserve original data in a re-usable format Create user aides specific to that collection; coherent structure data listings contextual documentation Apply techniques of appropriate anonymisation Create a point of entry for secondary researchers

First steps in processing Collate deposit and negotiations documents Determine any access or confidentiality agreements that will affect processing Dimensions of data checked Check quality of transcription and layout Extract information for data listing Sort through contextual documentation Engage with the material

The difficulties of processing Many decisions are judgement calls Every data collection is individual Processing is time consuming with few short cuts Anonymisation can be difficult to apply in some cases

New Directions: enhanced data Electronic dissemination opens up new opportunities in data enhancement such as ; Additional contextual documentation created and appended to data Collections marked up according to theme or speaker or topic guide Transcripts linked to audio files

Hands on exercise : Anonymisation Read the unanonymised extract provided Consider ; whether heavy or light anonymisation needed How could confusion arise if initials substituted How anonymisation affects reading and understanding Highlight sections to change and list type of decisions made

Results of processing data listing for users user guide file preservation and access copies of files on UKDA system Unavoidable inconsistencies or quirks of the collection noted Catalogue record An archived and accessible research collection