See all webinars
WebinarWatch on demand

Qualitative data management for interdisciplinary research

Speakers

Steve Alexander

Steve Alexander

National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center at the University of Maryland

Steven is a Mitacs Science Policy Fellow and Science Advisor based at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Prior to this, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow dually affiliated with the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center and the Stockholm Resilience Centre. As an environmental social scientist, his research focuses on community-based conservation and natural resource management, environmental governance, and the human dimensions of environmental change. Past projects have examined the role of social networks for the management of marine protected areas in Jamaica and the governance dimensions of climate change adaptation in coastal communities. As an interdisciplinary educator, he has worked with students in a variety of bioregions including the Colorado Plateau, Adirondacks/ Northern Forest, the Greater Yellowstone Geo-ecosystem, the Caribbean, and the Canadian Rockies. He has taught and developed both curriculum and programs for several non-profits and educational institutions including the National Outdoor Leadership School, Teton Science Schools, Wild Rockies Field Institute, St. Lawrence University, and University of Waterloo.
Kristal Jones

Kristal Jones

National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center at the University of Maryland

Kristal Jones is an Assistant Research Scientist at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center at the University of Maryland, where she studies the social dimensions of natural resource management and the environmental dynamics of food systems, and leads several center-wide programs to build capacity for data-driven interdisciplinary research. She has a PhD in Rural Sociology and International Agriculture and Development from the Pennsylvania State University. Current and previous research has focused on the approaches and impacts of international agricultural research for development efforts, the human dimensions of water and nutrient management, and mixed methodological approaches to understanding human-environment interactions.
Qualitative data is increasingly being used in socio-environmental systems research and related interdisciplinary efforts to address complex sustainability challenges. A workshop at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) at the University of Maryland was held last year that brought together researchers, data managers, journal editors, funders, and other actors in the research data ecosystem to discuss the benefits and challenges to qualitative data sharing and re-use. s data sharing and re-use, as well as interdisciplinary research and open science orientations increasingly take hold, it is important to ensure that there are resources, opportunities and protocols in place to ensure that qualitative data is managed, shared and utilized to its full potential. Read more

Qualitative data is increasingly being used in socio-environmental systems research and related interdisciplinary efforts to address complex sustainability challenges. There are many scientific, descriptive and material benefits to be gained from sharing and re-using qualitative data, some of which reflect the broader push toward open science, and some of which are unique to qualitative research traditions. However, although open data availability is increasingly becoming an expectation in many fields and methodological approaches that work on interdisciplinary topics, there remain many challenges associated the sharing and re-use of qualitative data in particular.

A workshop at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) at the University of Maryland was held last year that brought together researchers, data managers, journal editors, funders, and other actors in the research data ecosystem to discuss the benefits and challenges to qualitative data sharing and re-use. The outcome of this meeting and subsequent collaborative work was a comprehensive white paper, as well as a series of two-page recommendation guides for how specific types of actors can support and facilitate improved qualitative data management and increase qualitative data sharing and re-use. These resources are meant to provide a common starting point for the entire research community to better identify the specific challenges associated with different aspects of qualitative data management, as well as to offer concrete actions that specific types of actors can take. As data sharing and re-use, as well as interdisciplinary research and open science orientations increasingly take hold, it is important to ensure that there are resources, opportunities and protocols in place to ensure that qualitative data is managed, shared and utilized to its full potential.

Watch previously recorded video
View Slides