New Data Types in Social Science Research and Data Archives

During the CESSDA event "Strengthening and Widening of the European Infrastructure of Social Science Data Archives" in Skopje, North Macedonia  on 5-6 November 2019, Libby Bishop presented on New Data Types in Social Science Research and Data Archives. 

The talk addressed four questions: What are researchers doing with social media and other data? What are repositories currently doing to hold and share new forms data? Are there useful resources for repository staff, and what next steps are planned? What are repositories’ responsibilities in the broader debates?  It is challenging to share data (consistent with Open Science and FAIR principles) while also meeting obligations to obey laws and protect confidentiality. Whereas the ethical procedures for “researcher-generated” data, such as surveys and interviews are well-established, no such consensus exists for social media and other data-in-the-wild.  Even the basic conception of whether virtual spaces are public or private remains contested among researchers and the public.  The talk delineated the key ethical issues of this debate and described practical solutions that some data repositories currently offer. To date, these solutions strictly interpret legal restrictions placed on data sharing. 

Alongside the presentation, also a video introducing these issues is available. The video is also available for viewing on Youtube.