ESDS Qualidata
Encyclopedia
ESDS Qualidata is a specialist service of the Economic and Social Data Service
(ESDS), led by the UK Data Archive
at the University of Essex
, jointly funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee
(JISC) and the Economic and Social Research Council
(ESRC). The service provides access to a wide range of qualitative data from the social sciences as well as user-support, promoting the increased use of secondary analysis in social research and related learning and teaching resources.
and structured interview
s, focus groups, field notes, observations, personal documents, photographs and audio. The majority of acquired data can be searched and downloaded through an online catalogue.
The selection of data considers each study’s relative importance, the particular format, the degree of usability and condition of the materials on offer, the re-use potential and issues of copyright
and confidentiality
.
The service also provides access to some of the classic studies of British society including:
Access to the data is reliant upon the UK Access Management Federation for Education and Research (supported by the Shibboleth (Internet2)
software) and is free of charge.
Economic and Social Data Service
The Economic and Social Data Service is a national data archiving and dissemination service that was founded in January 2003. It is funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Joint Information Systems Committee ....
(ESDS), led by the UK Data Archive
UK Data Archive
The UK Data Archive is a national centre of expertise in data archiving in the United Kingdom . It houses the largest collection of digital data in the social sciences and humanities in the UK....
at the University of Essex
University of Essex
The University of Essex is a British campus university whose original and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, England. Established in 1963 and receiving its Royal Charter in 1965...
, jointly funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee
Joint Information Systems Committee
JISC is a United Kingdom non-departmental public body whose role is to support post-16 and higher education and research by providing leadership in the use of ICT in learning, teaching, research and administration...
(JISC) and the Economic and Social Research Council
Economic and Social Research Council
The Economic and Social Research Council is one of the seven Research Councils in the United Kingdom. It receives most of its funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and provides funding and support for research and training work in social and economic issues, such as...
(ESRC). The service provides access to a wide range of qualitative data from the social sciences as well as user-support, promoting the increased use of secondary analysis in social research and related learning and teaching resources.
Data
The data acquired by ESDS Qualidata are part of contemporary qualitative research across a wide range of social science disciplines and are derived from a varied spectrum of methodological approaches, such as: in-depth, semi-structuredSemi-structured interview
A semi-structured interview is a method of research used in the social sciences. While a structured interview has a formalized, limited set questions, a semi-structured interview is flexible, allowing new questions to be brought up during the interview as a result of what the interviewee says...
and structured interview
Structured interview
A structured interview is a quantitative research method commonly employed in survey research. The aim of this approach is to ensure that each interview is presented with exactly the same questions in the same order...
s, focus groups, field notes, observations, personal documents, photographs and audio. The majority of acquired data can be searched and downloaded through an online catalogue.
The selection of data considers each study’s relative importance, the particular format, the degree of usability and condition of the materials on offer, the re-use potential and issues of copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
and confidentiality
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is an ethical principle associated with several professions . In ethics, and in law and alternative forms of legal resolution such as mediation, some types of communication between a person and one of these professionals are "privileged" and may not be discussed or divulged to...
.
The service also provides access to some of the classic studies of British society including:
- Family Life of Old People (1955), The Last Refuge (1959) and Poverty in the UK (1979) by Peter Townsend
- The Edwardians (1975) by Paul ThompsonPaul Thompson (oral historian)Paul Thompson is a British sociologist and oral historian. Prior to his recent retirement, he held the position of Research Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex...
- Stanley CohenStanley Cohen (sociologist)Professor Stanley Cohen is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics.-Life:Cohen was born in Johannesberg, South Africa in 1942. He grew up in South Africa and was an undergraduate at the University of Witwatersrand, studying Sociology and Social Work. He came to London in...
's Folk Devils and Moral Panics (1967) - The Affluent Worker (1962) by John H. Goldthorpe et al.
Access to the data is reliant upon the UK Access Management Federation for Education and Research (supported by the Shibboleth (Internet2)
Shibboleth (Internet2)
Shibboleth is an Internet2 project that has created an architecture and open-source implementation for federated identity-based authentication and authorization infrastructure based on Security Assertion Markup Language . Federated identity allows for information about users in one security domain...
software) and is free of charge.