Sharing Qualitative Data of Business and Organizational Research Problems and Solutions, Bielefeld University

In German empirical organizational research, qualitative methods are used predominantly. For this specific field of research it is typical that the samples are often very small and sensitive. Also, the data often are not usable for other researchers. Consequences are the non-exhaustion of the analysis potential of interesting research data, recurring interviews and a strain on the field. That causes an ongoing decline of the willingness of respondents to participate in interviews. Data sharing can contribute to relieve overstressed research populations and to exhaust the analysis potential of available data. Nevertheless, data sharing has no tradition in qualitative organizational research. Our presentation focuses on four central requirements for data sharing: visibility of data in its existence, data documentation, data protection and data access. We will address the specific features of data documentation, as well as the data protection procedure. Additionally, we would like to discuss specifics and possible solutions for those requirements of qualitative organizational studies.