To further the public dissemination of primary qualitative data to other researchers by using the Malawi project data to set a standard and by collaboration with ICPSR to promote the development of new software and/or technology to facilitate the process of anonymizing qualitative data.
The overall aim of this proposal is to further the public dissemination of primary qualitative data to other researchers by using the Malawi project data to set a standard, and by collaboration with ICPSR to promote the development of new software and/or technology to facilitate the process of anonymizing qualitative data. Demographers as well as other quantitative social scientists are increasingly collecting qualitative data, usually in conjunction with a survey but sometimes in discrete projects. Although the importance of making survey data publicly available, especially when public funds are used to collect the data, is acknowledged in the scientific community, there is no tradition of disseminating primary qualitative data. A major barrier to the public dissemination of qualitative data is the difficulty and thus expense involved in preserving confidentiality for individuals as well as third parties.