ABSTRACT
The term ‘data’ derives from and is associated with observations and experiments in the natural sciences and continues to carry the implications and resonance of science for activity in the social sciences, including qualitative research. The Oxford English Dictionary defines data as “Related items of (chiefly numerical) information considered collectively, typically obtained by scientific work and used for reference, analysis, or calculation.” Considerable debate has been prompted in qualitative research about the nature of ‘data’, what counts as ‘evidence’ in debates over policy, and in what ways qualitative research might be able to dispense with the idea of data and embrace a more entangled, emergent, and intra-active notion of the role of the researcher in the creation of research activity and outcomes. The definition and utility of ‘data’ is also beginning to morph and develop in the field of social policy and public service management.
