[Air-L] Anonymizing qual interview data?

[Douglas Zytko]

Hi Cory,

Your question seems to go beyond attributing quotes in theses, and more
about protecting the underlying data. Does your university have an
institutional review board (IRB) or equivalent? Did these studies go
through any kind of review process? Universities commonly have their own
internal requirements for protecting participants and maintaining anonymity
with qual research.

On Wed, Apr 7, 2021 at 3:47 AM Cory Robinson <cory.robinson at liu.se> wrote:

> HI all,
>
> Two Master’s students I recently met are conducting recorded interviews
> resulting in texts they will code and quote within their theses. I have
> given input about how to protect the recorded interviews (encrypted,
> password protected, not stored in the cloud). I do not work with qual data,
> so I need help recommending methodology or help for anonymizing quotes in
> their thesis.
>
> (I am inquiring about this for a student, that unfortunately, has not
> received helpful advice from their supervisor). ☹
>
> The students assumed they would assign each participating an
> identification number, and then attribute the quote and ID # in their
> thesis. However, I feel there is surely a better way to ensure anonymity?
> (Too easy to reidentify if research data was obtained).
>
> What methods do you utilize for anonymizing individual interview data? Or
> manuscripts/books helpful for this? Sadly, the students are nearing the end
> of the study, but late is better than never. (It’s indeed a failure of
> universities, as well as unequipped supervisors!)
>
> Best,
> Cory
> --
> Senior Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Communication Design
> Linköping University
> P: +46 (0)11 36 36 38
> E: cory.robinson at liu.se<mailto:cory.robinson at liu.se>
> http://liu-se.academia.edu/StephenCoryRobinson<
> http://colostate.academia.edu/StephenCoryRobinson>
> Founder, Nordic Privacy Center (nordicprivacy.org<
> https://nordicprivacy.org/>)
>
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-- 
Douglas Zytko, PhD
Assistant Professor of Human-Computer Interaction
Director of Oakland HCI Lab
Oakland University
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
dougzytko.com

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