When conceptualizing QUALANTH, I wanted to build a digital repository for researchers, like myself, who work with human research participants. Over the past year, I have tackled issues around privacy, protection of human subjects, IRB and consent form and tried to embody these issues when designing QUALANTH but this work is far from over. An overview about QUALANTH is available here.
Over the past 2011-2012, I was able to complete Phase One of QUALANTH, which basically entailed constructing the backend of the repository. There are a few issues that need to be addressed before QUALANTH can be launched publicly. Phase Two will consist of me actively seeking evaluation and critiques of QUALANTH, as a physical product and conceptually, from outside peers. I plan to continue to write blog posts about QUALANTH as well as seek out opportunities to present about the digital platform at anthropology conferences. After gathering feedback about QUALANTH, Phase Three will consist of embodying this feedback into a series of documents:
Supplementary Documents for Target Audience
- A User’s guide in the form of a video for website navigation.
- The development of a best practices document regarding working with human subjects data, IRB, open access and privacy concerns.
- Construction of consent agreements for interested contributors.
Lastly, Phase Four will entail constructing the front end of QUALANTH and launching the platform publically.
The fact remains is that I do see a place for researchers who work with human populations. While I can’t predict the future, an important step is to begin to have these conversations as well as offer up prototypes such as QUALANTH.
I want to thank the 2011-2012 MSU CHI collective, Ethan Watrall, Rachael Hodder, Emily Niespodziewanski, Charlotte Cable, and Alex Galarza, for troubleshooting with me during our weekly meetings. I also would like to thank Catherine Foley for taking out the time to work with me in working out the mechanics for QUALANTH.
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