4. Data collection#
In the planning stage we showed how LLMs can help us writing the right questions for the interview or survey. When it comes to the actual data collection, this usually happens without the use of GenAI.
Warning
This page could be expanded to go a bit beyond AI and talk about good practices of qualitative data collection, privacy notices, concent forms, tools that can be used… Join the writing process!
At Aalto University we often use Webropol for collecting survey data that do not touch topics covered in Article 9 of the GDPR i.e. “Special categories of personal data”. We also have other tools at Aalto such as Qualtrics, and we are testing REDCap for surveys with patients and sensitive personal data. It is also possible to create your own survey platform e.g. via mobile phone app. Get in touch with Aalto Research Software Engineers and you can get help on this!
These are usually audio-visual recordings. They can be online or offline. Enrico will expand here on which tools are the best when it comes to data protection and security.
These are usually notes written by the researcher during observational work. They are usually digitised into text files (PDF, docx,…) or images (pngs, jpgs, tiff, …).
These are usually written documents (manuscripts, articles, letters). When it comes to the data formats, see same consideration as for “Observations”.
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Do you have other uses of AI for data collection? Share your knowledge with other Aalto researchers by contributing to this book!