Despite the advantages mentioned, data reuse and the question of whether and to what extent it is meaningful and feasible remain controversial. In socio-cultural anthropology, the close personal entanglement of researchers with their data is particularly problematic. Ethnographic data often contain emotional and biographical information about the researchers themselves, which would need to be extracted to protect their privacy. Making research situations and researchers‘ involvement comprehensible would require transferring this information into the contextual documentation, a significant effort that can “empty” the data of important content.

Behrends et al. (2022) note that increasing demands for open science'Open Science encompasses strategies and practices aimed at making all components of the scientific process openly accessible and reusable on the internet. This approach is intended to open up new possibilities for science, society, and industry in handling scientific knowledge” (AG Open Science, 2014, translation by Saskia Köbschall). Read More and data sharing either force researchers to publicly disclose personal aspects of their research or depersonalize their data, potentially reintroducing the illusion of objective knowledge. Furthermore, data reuse can threaten the trust built over long periods between participants and researchers, as shared information, conversations, and recordings become accessible to unknown third parties (Huber, 2019, p. 5).

Solutions for these issues, some of which have been developed by Qualiservice, may include:

• Careful and detailed data documentation (see article on Data Documentation) that highlights key aspects for reuse while safeguarding the privacy of researchers
• Development of informed consent formsInformed consent refers to the agreement of research participants to take part in a study based on the basis of comprehensive and understandable information. The design of an informed consent must address both ethical principles and data protection requirements. Read More tailored to research contexts, clearly outlining potential data reuse scenarios
• Schemas for documenting oral consents
• Well-negotiated reuse and licensing agreementsIn a license agreement or through an open license, copyright holders specify how and under what conditions their copyrighted work may be used and/or exploited by third parties. Read More with secure data accessIn archives or repositories, access rights regulate who has access to data and to what extent, particularly for reuse. Typically, access is categorized as follows: Read More, as shown in the application example
• Classification into data genres (or types) and curation/selection of data suitable for reuse (see article on Archiving), with ethical considerations playing a key role

While the value of data reuse is increasingly recognized in the open science movementSince the early 2000s, the Open Science movement has advocated for an open and transparent approach to science in which all stages of the scientific knowledge process are made openly accessible online. This means that not only the final results of research, such as monographs or articles, are shared publicly, but also materials that accompanied the research process, such as lab notebooks, research data, software used, and research reports. This approach aims to promote public participation in science and knowledge, engaging interested audiences. It also seeks to encourage creativity, innovation, and new collaborations, while enabling the verification of findings in terms of quality, accuracy, and authenticity – a process intended to democratize research. Components of Open Science include Open Access and Open Data, which provide the infrastructure for sharing interim research results. Read More, ethnographic disciplines require a fundamental shift in thinking for secondary analysis (even as a complement to primary data collection) to be seen as worthwhile and attractive. This particularly affects how such work is valued in qualification projects, where fieldwork is often central. Conversely, the popularity of collecting one’s own data should not diminish, to avoid an uncritical data positivism (DGfE, 2020, p. 19). Although the path to successful data reuse in ethnographic disciplines remains challenging, this shift in thinking is gradually beginning. Research data management, dialogue, exchange, the expansion of online databases, and careful planning of research projects should serve as initial tools and support measures (Huber, 2019, p. 16).