Big Qual Analysis: Teaching Dataset

This teaching dataset is designed to help researchers and students get to grips with thinking about, handling and analysing large volumes of complex qualitative longitudinal data (QLR), including working with multiple archived data sets. The data set is an outcome of an ESRC National Centre for Research Methods research project 'Working across qualitative longitudinal studies: A feasibility study looking at care and intimacy'. The study examined the possibilities for developing new procedures and extending good practice for working across multiple sets of archived qualitative data. Our aim was to see whether it is possible to do Big Qual analysis across large volumes of complex qualitative material while retaining all that is distinct about rigorous qualitative research. The teaching data set comprises transcripts and metadata from 356 in-depth qualitative interviews with 150 individuals (born between 1908 and 2001) whose lives were followed over time as part of the Timescapes Qualitative Longitudinal initiative (2007-2012, http://www.timescapes.leeds.ac.uk/). We extracted data from six of the core Timescapes projects, merged all the files into one data set, and then re-organised the material to enable you to explore the data over time and across the life course by gender and age cohort.

这个教学数据集旨在帮助研究者与学生掌握对大规模复杂定性纵向数据（qualitative longitudinal data, QLR）的思考、处理及分析方法，包括如何使用多个存档数据集。该数据集是英国经济与社会研究理事会（ESRC）国家研究方法中心一项研究项目的成果，项目名称为“跨定性纵向研究协作：关于照护与亲密关系的可行性研究”。该研究探讨了开发新流程及拓展跨多组存档定性数据协作良好实践的可能性。我们的目标是验证，在对大规模复杂定性材料进行“大定性”（Big Qual）分析时，是否能够在保留严谨定性研究独特性的同时完成该分析。该教学数据集包含356份深度定性访谈的转录文本（transcripts）及元数据，访谈对象为150名个体（出生于1908年至2001年间），这些个体的生活轨迹作为“时间景观定性纵向计划”（Timescapes Qualitative Longitudinal initiative，2007-2012，网址：http://www.timescapes.leeds.ac.uk/）的一部分被长期追踪。