Open Data in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACT Increasingly, there is interest in using information and communications technology (ICT) to help build a “better world.” As an example, the United Kingdom has initiated an “open data” movement to disclose financial information about federal and local governments and other organizations. This has led to the use of a wide range of technologies (Internet, Databases, Web 2.0, etc.) to facilitate disclosure. However, since there is a huge cost of generating and maintaining open data, there also is a concern: “will anyone do anything with the data?” In a speech in 2009, David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, used the term “armchair auditor” to describe crowdsourcing analysis of that data. In that speech, Cameron (2009) noted: “Just imagine the effect that an army of armchair auditors is going to have on those expense claims.” Accordingly, as more and more countries and organizations generate open data, those “armchair auditors” could play an increasingly important role: to help crowdsource monitoring of government expenditures. This paper investigates a number of potential benefits and a number of emerging concerns associated with armchair auditors.

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Paradigm reinforcing: The assimilation of data journalism in the United Kingdom

Journal of Applied Journalism & Media Studies ◽

10.1386/ajms_00043_1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 00 (00) ◽

pp. 1-20

Author(s):

Jingrong Tong

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Organizational Structure ◽

Open Data ◽

Practical Guide ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

News Organizations ◽

Data Journalism ◽

Depth Interviews ◽

Desk Research

A journalistic paradigm defines what journalism is, and what journalists should do, in relation to reporting news. Drawing from desk research and in-depth interviews with eighteen data journalists and experts in the United Kingdom, this article discusses the recent development and practices of data journalism in the United Kingdom and their implications for the journalistic paradigm, which involves the substantial use of interviewing. Embracing the opportunities provided by the datafication of society and the British government's open data initiative, UK news organizations have institutionalized and incorporated data journalism into their organizational structure. However, difficulties in practice have emerged, resulting from new, mostly ethically grounded issues surrounding data. Traditional journalistic practices, in particular interviewing and cross-checking, provide a useful, practical guide to solving related problems. The institutionalization of data journalism, as well as traditional journalistic methods and skills coming as a solution, assimilate data journalism into conventional journalistic practices, reinforcing – rather than undermining – the journalistic paradigm.

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Revisiting Qualitative Data Reuse

SAGE Open ◽

10.1177/2158244016685136 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 215824401668513 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Libby Bishop ◽

Arja Kuula-Luumi

Keyword(s):

United Kingdom ◽

Qualitative Data ◽

Open Data ◽

Data Reuse ◽

Research Projects ◽

Science Data ◽

Data Repositories ◽

Data Movement ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

Data Collections

Secondary analysis of qualitative data entails reusing data created from previous research projects for new purposes. Reuse provides an opportunity to study the raw materials of past research projects to gain methodological and substantive insights. In the past decade, use of the approach has grown rapidly in the United Kingdom to become sufficiently accepted that it must now be regarded as mainstream. Several factors explain this growth: the open data movement, research funders’ and publishers’ policies supporting data sharing, and researchers seeing benefits from sharing resources, including data. Another factor enabling qualitative data reuse has been improved services and infrastructure that facilitate access to thousands of data collections. The UK Data Service is an example of a well-established facility; more recent has been the proliferation of repositories being established within universities. This article will provide evidence of the growth of data reuse in the United Kingdom and in Finland by presenting both data and case studies of reuse that illustrate the breadth and diversity of this maturing research method. We use two distinct data sources that quantify the scale, types, and trends of reuse of qualitative data: (a) downloads of archived data collections held at data repositories and (b) publication citations. Although the focus of this article is on the United Kingdom, some discussion of the international environment is provided, together with data and examples of reuse at the Finnish Social Science Data Archive. The conclusion summarizes the major findings, including some conjectures regarding what makes qualitative data attractive for reuse and sharing.

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