What's [Yet] to be Seen? Re-Using Qualitative Data

This paper considers current debates about re-using qualitative research data byreflecting on its implications for the nature of social science knowledgecreated in this process and the ways in which the disclosure of researchers’practices are linked with the making of professional academic careers. Itexamines a research project using two different approaches – a ‘virtual’ and a‘classic’ ethnography – to argue that issues concerned with re-use of datadepend on the methods employed and the overall processes of investigation. Thepaper argues for an appreciation of the contexts involved in the generation ofresearch material which takes into account both the development of the study andrelated fieldwork processes as well as the academic context in which knowledgeis produced, particularly those involved in the construction of academic selvesand professional careers, which are part of a wider situation bearing uponscientific enquiry.