Verbatim: Archiving Qualitative Data and Secondary Analysis in a French Company

Abstract

Archiving qualitative data analysis and secondary analysis, first developed in the USA and in the Northern European countries, is not a current practice in France. To our knowledge, we are the first to have developed it in a French context. Within the Research and Development Department of the French electricity company, Electricité de France, a social science research group has the task of undertaking various qualitative surveys in order to better understand customers' requirements and the problems encountered by the company's employees. The aim of VERBATIM is to keep trace not only of these studies but also of the interviews carried out in this context in order to be able to re-use them in different ways. We are presenting here the results of an experiment undertaken two years ago, the way it was carried out, the problems posed, mainly ethical and methodological, and also future development plans. URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs0003150