[Air-L] Anonymizing qual interview data?

Fri Apr 9 00:57:35 PDT 2021

Hi Douglas,

Sadly, we don’t’ have an IRB at my institution. They are not as common in Sweden, and is usually the supervisor and/or supervision team to determine the ethical legitimacy of a study.

(We have an “official” ethics board in what you might consider my “state” within Sweden, but it seems that more STEM or medical applications are sent that way – which also requires a considerable fee. And that fee, unfortunately, might dissuade some from using.)

Thanks again for your input!

Best,
Cory
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From: Douglas Zytko <zytko at oakland.edu>
Date: Wednesday, 7 April 2021 at 16:50
To: Cory Robinson <cory.robinson at liu.se>
Cc: "air-l at listserv.aoir.org" <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
Subject: Re: [Air-L] Anonymizing qual interview data?

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<mailto: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
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