The long and winding road: archiving and re-using qualitative data from twelve research projects spanning sixteen years

We describe a pilot project designed to assess the feasibility of re-use across 12 diverse qualitative datasets related to HIV in the UK, from research projects undertaken between 1997 and 2013 – an approach which is chronically under-used. First, we consider the sweeping biomedical changes and imperatives relating to HIV in this timeframe, offering a rationale for data re-use at this point in the epidemic. We then reflexively situate the processes and procedures we devised for this study with reference to relevant methodological literature. Hammersley’s commentary (2010) illuminates the lessons learned through this process, and following his lead, we conclude with further considerations for those undertaking qualitative data re-use, reflecting on the extent to which qualitative data re-use as a practice requires attention to both the given and the constructed aspects of data when assembled as evidence.