Archived data are fit for both quantitative and qualitative theses

FSD’s Aila Data Service contains roughly 1,500 datasets, most of which are available for students to use in their theses. In fact, students working on their theses are one of the largest user groups of data archived at FSD.

Over 500 Master’s theses and 160 Bachelor’s theses are listed as related publications in the study descriptions of archived data. In reality, the number of theses that utilise archived data is even larger. The collection of information on Bachelor’s theses only started in 2015, and students do not always remember to notify FSD of their finished theses where archived data have been used.

In 2019, data archived at FSD were used in the Master’s theses of Oskari Helve from the University of Helsinki and Elisa Sinikallio from Tampere University, who both obtained their Master of Social Sciences degrees last spring.

Photograph of an open book with a magnifying glass and a pen on top.

Oskari Helve used the University Student Health Survey 2016 (FSD3224). dataset, produced by the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS), in his Master’s thesis that studies the connection between different social resources and students’ burnout and engagement. Although Helve had decided on the overall topic beforehand, the focus of his thesis shifted from an occupational environment to students after discovering a suitable dataset.

“I started by looking for a dataset with a work-life context, but when I found this dataset, I thought of focusing on students instead.”

On the other hand, Elisa Sinikallio decided on her Master’s thesis topic only after finding a dataset. Sinikallio conducted a content analysis on the perceptions of working atmosphere in organisations, utilising the interview dataset Call Centre Work 2005 (FSD2641) collected by Tuija Koivunen from Tampere University.

“Actually, I was looking for inspiration,” Sinikallio says. “I went to see what kinds of data could be found and discovered this dataset. I formulated my topic based on the data.”

Better analysis with broader data

The datasets that were used in the Master’s theses of Helve and Sinikallio are both extensive. The quantitative questionnaire-based dataset used by Helve has 548 variables and 3110 respondents. The qualitative dataset used by Sinikallio consists of 59 interview transcriptions.

Both Helve and Sinikallio consider that an existing dataset is likely to be more extensive and of higher quality than data collected by a student using their own resources. Collecting data for a thesis is often a laborious and time-consuming task, and both students were advised to try and find an existing dataset to use for their Master’s theses. In Helve’s view, the value of a self-collected dataset is decreased by the lack of statistical power: students often collect their samples by e.g. sharing the questionnaire on social media to their acquaintances.

“I don’t think anyone has the resources to collect a high-quality quantitative dataset from scratch for a Master’s thesis”, says Helve.

According to Helve, using an existing dataset did result in some additional work in ensuring that the thesis would not be too similar to other research based on the same dataset. In his view, interpretation of the data is also limited by the fact that the variables and response scales used in an existing dataset were originally designed for another study.

“In a way, it is not possible to use the measures or scales that you theoretically would have used in collecting your own data. However, the feeling of having a high-quality dataset is more important; if some connections are found, I can still draw conclusions from them.”

According to Sinikallio, high-quality qualitative datasets are also well suited for reuse. Finding a fresh perspective to the extensive interview dataset did not trouble her, because the data were originally collected for research in a different scientific field.

“The original research was conducted in the field of gender studies, so it had a completely different perspective.”

In Sinikallio’s view, using an existing dataset leaves more time for analysing the data. She was especially satisfied with not having to transcribe interviews herself. However, she does not think that using an existing dataset is any easier than collecting data on your own, or that a good thesis can automatically be achieved by using either your own or archived data.

“I thought that it would be easier because I wouldn’t have to collect my own data, but since the dataset was so extensive, a lot of time went into getting to know the data. Time-wise the workload was probably the same as with collecting your own data, but the focus of the work was different.”

A reusable dataset benefits everyone

Both Sinikallio and Helve think that access to reusable research data in studies and theses is important. In Helve’s view, access to high-quality research data is especially important for research method courses.

“You don’t really learn from looking at the slides only. To learn properly, you have to be doing something related at the same time. And when you have a more extensive dataset, there are more variables and it is possible to construct more varied research designs.”

According to Sinikallio, the efforts of the researcher and research participants will partly be in vain if the reuse potential of the dataset is not utilised.

“We should utilise what has already been done to the fullest extent. There are also a lot of students who just want to get their Master’s thesis done to move on to paid employment. With an existing dataset it will be easier to finish the thesis, because in a sense one part of the work is already done.”

Text: Niko Koski, photo: Joao Silas (Unsplash)

Translation: Anna Kleemola

In 2019, 19 master’s theses used data archived at FSD (based on students’ notices of finished theses).

* The author of the thesis has deposited the data for archiving at FSD.

  • Erkkilä, Hanni (2019). Ihanteellinen työntekijä-asiakassuhde lastensuojelun sosiaalityöntekijöiden ryhmäkeskusteluiden valossa. University of Eastern Finland. http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:uef-20190087 [FSD2845]
  • Helve, Oskari (2019). Burnout and engagement in higher education: Relationships with social support, guidance and sense of belonging. University of Helsinki. [FSD3224]
  • Holländer, Eva (2019). Yhteisöllisyys elämänkulussa ikääntyneiden kokemana : narratiivinen tutkimus suurten ikäluokkien yhteisöllisyyden kokemuksista elämänkulun kirjoituksissa. University of Turku. [FSD2823]
  • Kaskinen, Maarit (2019). Elämä vammautumisen jälkeen: muutos ja identiteetti fyysisesti vammautuneiden naisten kertomuksissa. University of Jyväskylä. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201903251940 [FSD3040]
  • Klasila, Isa-Emilia (2019). Tehoaako työkykyä ylläpitävä toiminta? Tyky-toiminnan yhteys koettuun työhyvinvointiin Suomessa. University of Turku. [FSD3220]
  • Laaninen, Markus (2019). Luottavatko yksinäiset? : Yleistyneen luottamuksen väestöryhmittäiset erot yksinäisyyden kokemuksen mukaan. University of Turku. [FSD3310]
  • Lahdenperä, Johanna (2019). Neuvonta Pelastakaa lapset ry:n Suunta-chatissa. Keskustelunanalyyttinen tutkimus. University of Helsinki. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:hulib-201906132822 [FSD3087]
  • Leinonen, Nelli (2019). Ne pitää olla niin kuin vaaliohjelman mukaisia ne vastaukset - puolueiden eduskuntavaaliehdokkaiden vaalikonevastausten yhtenäisyys. Tampere University. [FSD3067]
  • Mannonen, Markus (2019). Äänestäjät kuluttajina: puoluevalintaan ja äänestäjien käyttäytymiseen vaikuttavat tekijät Suomen eduskuntavaaleissa. University of Jyväskylä. URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201909164157 [FSD3067]
  • Mäkelä-Korhonen, Tiina (2019) Arjen valinnat osana ilmastotaistelua: Sosiodemografisten tekijöiden yhteys ilmastoasenteisiin ja kestävään energiankulutukseen. University of Helsinki. [FSD3217]
  • Nissinen, Jarkko (2019). Poliittinen luottamus ja sen horjuttajat - Tutkimus suomalaisten demokratiakäsityksistä ja heidän kokemastaan informaatiovaikuttamisen uhasta. University of Helsinki. [FSD3192]
  • Perko, Mari (2019). Isovanhemmuus lapsenlapsettomuuden kontekstissa. Tampere University. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201906282316. [FSD2815]
  • Riiho, Sofia (2019). Simppeli selviytymistarina vai jatkuva prosessi? Masennukselle ja toipumiselle annetut merkitykset toipuneiden narratiiveissa. University of Jyväskylä. [FSD2823]
  • Rosenqvist, Tellu (2019), Jaetusta arjesta etäyhteydenpitoon. Lapsenlapsistaan etäällä asuvien isovanhempien kokemuksia isovanhemmuudesta. Tampere University. [FSD2815]
  • Simpson, Tiina (2019). "Kerta kaikkiaan niiden suhde on niin välitön nyt". Lasten läheissuhteet ja suhdetyö läheisverkostosijoituksessa sosiaalityöntekijöiden kuvaamina. Tampere University. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201907052472 [FSD3203]
  • Sinikallio, Elisa (2019) Näkökulma ratkaisee. Tutkimus työntekijöiden ilmapiirihavaintojen eroista kolmessa yhteyskeskusorganisaatiossa. Tampere University. http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201904011448 [FSD2641]
  • Strand-Niemelä, Tuulikki (2019). Vaikka Suomessa sanotaan, että taustalla ei ole merkitystä, niin kyllä on. Työläistaustaisten yliopisto-opiskelijoiden korkeakoulutukseen hakeutumisen motivaatiot ja opiskelukokemukset. Tampere University. [FSD2542]
  • Vehkala, Sohvi (2019). Kriisikokemuksen kertomaa: Iäkkäiden suomalaisten muistoja lapsuudesta vanhuuteen. University of Turku. [FSD2823]
  • Virrankari, Lotta (2019) Vapaus ois se, et mä pystyisin tekemään, mitä mä haluaisin - Pitkäaikaissairaiden ja fyysisesti vammaisten nuorten aikuisten vapauden kokemukset osana toimintavalmiuksia. University of Helsinki. [FSD3359]*