Haly.Id project: qualitative interviews with participants and practitioners

Abstract 

This study consists of qualitative interviews carried out with members of the Haly.Id project (https://www.haly-id.eu; Almstedt et al., 2024), an ERANET ICT project (2020-2024) based in Northern Italy and focused on pest-plant interactions. It aimed at developing innovative information and communication technologies and generating extensive data to monitor and manage the presence in crop fields of the brown marmorated stink bug Halyomorpha halys (H. halys). Halyomorpha halys is a highly invasive pest that feeds on fruits and which has caused substantial crop damage and economic losses in southern Europe, eastern Asia, and the U.S. (Leskey et al., 2012; Bariselli, Bugiani and Maistrello, 2016; Giannetti et al., 2022). The research was conducted as part of the ERC project ‘A Philosophy of Open Science for Diverse Research Environments’ and it received ethics approval from the University of Exeter Ethics Committee and the European Research Council.

Methods

The ethnographic work encompassed 16 semi-structured interviews (1-2 hours each) with PhD students, postdocs, researchers, and PIs. They followed a common structure to provide all participants with an equal opportunity to express their views and facilitate comparison and integration of results. Interviewees discussed their working conditions, research habits, methods, equipment, support systems, and perspectives. They were also invited to reflect on how their environment underpins their research directions, methods and decisions. 

Interviews were conducted in Italy between February 2023 and July 2024. Interviews were conducted both in italian and english, and both in person and online on Zoom. Interviews lasted 60-100 minutes. When participants provided their written consent, interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed using Dictate. Transcripts were proofread and de-identified before publication. Interviews conducted in Italian were translated in english by the author (Emma Cavazzoni).

Description of the data and file structure

Documentation files include interview guide, consent forms, information sheets, ethics approval, and code.

Data files consist of transcripts of selected interviews in italian and english. One participant declined to have their interview shared. 

Notes

This study was conducted as part of the project A Philosophy of Open Science for Diverse Research Environments (PHIL_OS). More information can be found at https://opensciencestudies.eu

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 101001145).