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Data management
Data management

QDR at MIT

As of 10/2023 MIT is a member of the Qualitative Data Repository (QDR); the MIT community is invited to publish their qualitative (and mixed/multi-method) research with the QDR.

Established in 2014, QDR is funded by the National Science Foundation and hosted by the Center for Qualitative and Multi-Method Inquiry, a unit of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. The QDR is an archive for storing or sharing data generated or collected through qualitative and multi-method research often by researchers in the social and health sciences, law, education, and the humanities fields.

Our membership supports the curation and preservation of data projects deposited by MIT students, faculty, and research staff for a limited number of projects each year. Individual researchers can consult with QDR about qualitative data curation, including discussions about disclosure issues, metadata creation, and more. Please start these conversations early and consult QDR at the beginning of a project before data collection or during the data management planning stage for any grant submissions. If you are applying for a large or multi-year grant, please consult with QDR before designating them as a repository. There may be additional costs for large-scale or multi-year projects.

Accessing benefits

To access MIT membership benefits at the QDR please send data-management@mit.edu an email containing this information and responding to these questions:

  1. A brief description of your research with short and long term goals
  2. The type of research you will be doing, e.g., archival,  or interview-based research, and if you are working on sensitive topics where you need to de-identify content
  3. What access restrictions do you expect for your data?
  4. What research outputs will you need to manage (e.g., data, analysis scripts, images/video)?
  5. During the execution of the project, who will need to have access to your data?
  6. Are there any funder or publisher requirements for your data (if known)?

Resources

The QDR website also provides extensive guidance for managing, sharing, citing, and reusing qualitative data:

  • Managing Qualitative Data Modules and Exercises
  • General QDR Curation Handbook
  • The types of data deposited include text, images, audio, video, maps, and computer-assisted qualitative data (CAQDAS). QDR requests to be contacted before uploading large amounts of data or individual files larger than 2 GBs to facilitate the transfer of large volumes of data.
  • Please see the FAQs with common questions answered about QDR.

Accessing QDR and Depositing Research Outputs

  1. Contact data-management@mit.edu to receive access for your project. Once project access permissions are given,
    1. Login at [qdr.syr.edu] using your MIT credentials
    2. Read the General Terms & Conditions of Use
    3. Deposit Data, Discover Data, or Browse Resources
      1. Initiate a deposit by clicking the “Deposit Data” button on the home page or the “New Project” button
      2. Access your content via the “My Data” button
      3. Deposit, draft, publish, unpublish files and projects, or see your project under review

Contact & help

If you need assistance with managing and/or publishing qualitative data, you can always reach out to us at data-management@mit.edu

If you have questions specific to the Qualitative Data Repository, feel free to reach out to them directly: qdr@syr.edu

ICPSR documentation 

 

Adapted from these library guides: https://guides.nyu.edu/QDA/publishing; https://blog.library.villanova.edu/2019/01/15/qdr-a-warehouse-of-qualitative-data/; https://guides.library.upenn.edu/QDA/qualdatasharing