Contexts and recontextualisation Libby Bishop ESDS Qualidata, University of Essex Context Workshop - QUADS Southbank University, London 3 May 2006

Context for “secondary” data The objective is not to recreate original context (which is not possible), but rather… …to recontextualise data

‘Secondary’ analysis “Thus secondary analysis is not the analysis of pre-existing data; rather ‘secondary analysis’ involves the process of re- contextualising data… [T]hrough recontextualisation, the order of the data has been transformed, thus secondary analysis is perhaps more usefully rendered as primary analysis of a different order of data.” (Moore, 2005)

Levels of contexts Holstein and Gubrium (in Seale, 04) van den Berg (FQS, 05) Institutional, cultural Extra-discursive SituationalConditions of discursive production Conversational, interact ional Intra-discursive

Contexts and reusing data Original project Current project “Data” records transcripts, audio, etc. transcripts, often no more Interview setting room, dress, appearance often not documented Projectoriginal questions, messy analysis new questions, ‘official methodology’ Cultural, institutional relevance depends on the res. Q

So, how much context? It always depends…on research goals, questions, data, but We have to start somewhere –Conversational context (interview) –Situational context –Institutional context Project context Cultural context

Metadata for model transcript output Study Name Mothers and Daughters Depositor Mildred Blaxter Interview number 4943int01 Date of interview 3 May 1979 Interview ID g24 Date of birth 1930 Gender Female Occupation pharmacy assistant Geo region Scotland Marital status Married

Minimal contextual metadata for interviews (and full transcript)

Situational context “Knowable or visible” background characteristics-all participants Place, time, setting Selection and recruitment (project knowledge, gatekeepers) vdBerg, 2005 (n.b. TEI supports these categories)

Cultural context Project –Objectives –Any published methodology –Unpublished analyses –Funding source(s) Cultural/institutional

Cultural context is most difficult Defining men “interrupting” women is linked to context of social structures of gender inequality In one study, contexts shaped not the themes found, but their framing (Armstrong, 97) Health and food example Transparency in original project is best foundation for recontextualisation

Selected references Hammersley, 1997 Moore, 2006 Van den Berg, 2005 Holstein and Gubrium, 2004 Armstrong, et al., 1997

Other matters… When is the call for “more context” actually functioning as “immunisation against possible criticism”? (van den Berg, 2005)