[Air-L] Anonymizing qual interview data?

Fri Apr 9 08:16:25 PDT 2021

Ah, thank you for educating me Cory. :) Some very quick suggestions: save
the interview recordings in a password-protected device or virtual drive
that is separate from transcripts and any other data that could be used to
deduce identity. Entire transcripts, not just quotes selected for the
theses, should be anonymized if not done already; random identifiers and
fake names are common choices. Be mindful of references to locations and
other people in quotes as well. Delete the recordings at project
completion.

-Doug

On Fri, Apr 9, 2021 at 3:57 AM Cory Robinson <cory.robinson at liu.se> wrote:

> 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
>
> --
>
> Senior Lecturer/Assistant Professor in Communication Design
>
> Linköping University
> P: +46 (0)11 36 36 38
> E: cory.robinson at liu.se
>
> http://liu-se.academia.edu/StephenCoryRobinson
> <http://colostate.academia.edu/StephenCoryRobinson>
>
> Founder, Nordic Privacy Center (nordicprivacy.org)
>
>
>
>
>
> *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> 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
> <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fliu-se.academia.edu%2FStephenCoryRobinson&data=04%7C01%7Ccory.robinson%40liu.se%7C1c694220a3a0449c5a1708d8f9d48c9c%7C913f18ec7f264c5fa816784fe9a58edd%7C0%7C0%7C637534038582661449%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=ULXQYq81gcsTYTkcYPjDW%2B%2FOp7lfq7iyZZrHJGyEGEQ%3D&reserved=0>
> <http://colostate.academia.edu/StephenCoryRobinson
> <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcolostate.academia.edu%2FStephenCoryRobinson&data=04%7C01%7Ccory.robinson%40liu.se%7C1c694220a3a0449c5a1708d8f9d48c9c%7C913f18ec7f264c5fa816784fe9a58edd%7C0%7C0%7C637534038582671405%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=5nIRRHkxdk8QXqbuLz9A1V5gRrPSIzF6hgUzEblGaI8%3D&reserved=0>
> >
> Founder, Nordic Privacy Center (nordicprivacy.org
> <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnordicprivacy.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7Ccory.robinson%40liu.se%7C1c694220a3a0449c5a1708d8f9d48c9c%7C913f18ec7f264c5fa816784fe9a58edd%7C0%7C0%7C637534038582681360%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=4KQ9IMKCOKtKNs2BLeOFBE7RogIOKv7qQGd8CtvCdA0%3D&reserved=0>
> <https://nordicprivacy.org/
> <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnordicprivacy.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7Ccory.robinson%40liu.se%7C1c694220a3a0449c5a1708d8f9d48c9c%7C913f18ec7f264c5fa816784fe9a58edd%7C0%7C0%7C637534038582681360%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=o8sgeK1j585Jc%2FKg0YfJJUhyiOdp1TQYsYuHOvznFjU%3D&reserved=0>
> >)
>
> _______________________________________________
> The Air-L at listserv.aoir.org mailing list
> is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org
> <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Faoir.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7Ccory.robinson%40liu.se%7C1c694220a3a0449c5a1708d8f9d48c9c%7C913f18ec7f264c5fa816784fe9a58edd%7C0%7C0%7C637534038582681360%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=2KNEIpQu%2F3lvh%2FradJXnzeH8Ov1IazTqOKxUaIxdMqk%3D&reserved=0>
> Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at:
> http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org
> <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Flistserv.aoir.org%2Flistinfo.cgi%2Fair-l-aoir.org&data=04%7C01%7Ccory.robinson%40liu.se%7C1c694220a3a0449c5a1708d8f9d48c9c%7C913f18ec7f264c5fa816784fe9a58edd%7C0%7C0%7C637534038582691313%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=M1gmGR8QG6VN%2FBvPdHGQzQCbCuBXAPaoCEs7jbW62Zw%3D&reserved=0>
>
> Join the Association of Internet Researchers:
> http://www.aoir.org/
> <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aoir.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7Ccory.robinson%40liu.se%7C1c694220a3a0449c5a1708d8f9d48c9c%7C913f18ec7f264c5fa816784fe9a58edd%7C0%7C0%7C637534038582691313%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=Sz%2F7skjIj97%2Fy0Hzqf1ttA3AQQXXehsZALqioofs2aQ%3D&reserved=0>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Douglas Zytko, PhD
>
> Assistant Professor of Human-Computer Interaction
>
> Director of Oakland HCI Lab
>
> Oakland University
>
> Department of Computer Science and Engineering
>
> dougzytko.com
> <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdougzytko.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7Ccory.robinson%40liu.se%7C1c694220a3a0449c5a1708d8f9d48c9c%7C913f18ec7f264c5fa816784fe9a58edd%7C0%7C0%7C637534038582701271%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=pH5I2r1usJHF0ROv7A5HE0p1tXCOI%2FfuFwPBq4GP8zY%3D&reserved=0>
>
>
>
> Engineering Center 544
>
> 115 Library Drive,
> <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmaps.google.com%2F%3Fq%3D115%2BLibrary%2BDrive%2C%25C2%25A0%2BRochester%2C%2BMI%2B48309%26entry%3Dgmail%26source%3Dg&data=04%7C01%7Ccory.robinson%40liu.se%7C1c694220a3a0449c5a1708d8f9d48c9c%7C913f18ec7f264c5fa816784fe9a58edd%7C0%7C0%7C637534038582701271%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=6KqGtw%2BGjlFtjKRwJCfYJ6LxtHxB4pRFF5Zhjn%2B4KcE%3D&reserved=0>
> Rochester, MI 48309
> <https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmaps.google.com%2F%3Fq%3D115%2BLibrary%2BDrive%2C%25C2%25A0%2BRochester%2C%2BMI%2B48309%26entry%3Dgmail%26source%3Dg&data=04%7C01%7Ccory.robinson%40liu.se%7C1c694220a3a0449c5a1708d8f9d48c9c%7C913f18ec7f264c5fa816784fe9a58edd%7C0%7C0%7C637534038582711227%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=byIPRTu65RV6Pg3mSGo9ZryXYkA1eby7UpZcu7Vz%2FBc%3D&reserved=0>
>

-- 
Douglas Zytko, PhD
Assistant Professor of Human-Computer Interaction
Director of Oakland HCI Lab
Oakland University
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
dougzytko.com

Engineering Center 544
115 Library Drive,
<https://maps.google.com/?q=115+Library+Drive,%C2%A0+Rochester,+MI+48309&entry=gmail&source=g>
Rochester, MI 48309
<https://maps.google.com/?q=115+Library+Drive,%C2%A0+Rochester,+MI+48309&entry=gmail&source=g>