What Emotions Bring to Managing, Caring for, and Sharing Qualitative Data

Introduction. Motivated by increasing policies for data management, this paper presents the findings of a collaborative autoethnography designed to deeply explore how qualitative researchers relate to and care for their data. Method. We (8 researchers at a European university) collectively researched our data practices, using the established method of autoethnography. This included writing field notes, collective written reflections, a workshop, and semi-structured interviews. Analysis. Inductive coding and thematic analysis were performed. Identified themes informed the theoretical framing used in our analysis: the relational nature of data and data care. Results. The emotions experienced when working with data emerged as being integral to our (responsible) research practices. These, often negative, emotions are intertwined with three ways in which we care for data: i) as a means of caring for research participants; ii) caring for data maintenance and infrastructure; and iii) caring for data’s quality and usefulness. The emotions and caring relations we identify are often in tension with common expectations for data sharing. Conclusion. We conclude by reflecting along three lines about the implications of our findings for how data management and sharing might be carried out in ways which acknowledge the affective nature of research data practices.